Berlin Alexanderplatz

Director: Burhan Qurbani
Germany, Netherlands | 2020 | 183 mins 

When Francis, 30, the only survivor of an illegal crossing from Africa, awakes at a beach in Southern Europe, he swears an oath to God: From now on he wants to be a new, a better, and a decent man. Soon after, Francis finds himself in Berlin, where he realizes how hard it is to be righteous when you are an illegal refugee in Germany – without papers, without a nation and without a work permit. When he receives an enticing offer from the charismatic German Reinhold, 31, to earn easy money, Francis initially resists the temptation, maintains his oath and stays away from Reinhold's shady dealings. But eventually he is sucked into Berlin's underworld and his life spirals out of control. Award winning film director Burhan Qurbani transposes the plot from Alfred Döblin’s famous 1920s novel to contemporary Berlin.