ZDF Series “Uncivilized”   Living with everyday racism

Crises and wars have an impact not only on politics, but also on the lives of communities. The series “Uncivilized” shines a spotlight on the ways in which everyday racism and the social divide in Germany shape daily life – and shows how major events such as 9/11 and the Ukraine war affect post-migrant lives.

Five dramatic events – from 9/11 to the Ukraine war – form the starting points for each episode of Uncivilized. The brainchild of Bilal Bahadır, the series revolves around watershed moments that had a lasting impact not only on politics but also on the way we live together as a society. By highlighting individual stories, Uncivilized allows the viewer to understand how an increasingly racist climate affects everyday life for many people. The series was awarded the renowned Grimme Prize.

Head writer Bahadır based his script on autobiographical accounts and over 150 interviews with people who had experienced racist violence. The individual episodes, each of which covers just a few hours in the lives of its protagonists, portray these experiences with great sensitivity and open the viewer’s eyes to a broad social spectrum.

Hanau Shootings

In the first episode, we accompany a group of young men on a night out in Cologne. In the wake of the racist shootings in Hanau, Can and his friends just want to party – but they are turned away from clubs, shisha bars and pubs, face hostile reactions and increasingly start becoming loud and angry themselves. The situation threatens to escalate and, for the group of young men who are perceived as migrants, the city becomes a place of rejection and tension.

Stuttgart Riot Night

The episode “Stuttgarter Krawallnacht” (Stuttgart Riot Night) is similarly oppressive. An unfortunate coincidence draws the attention of a police patrol to Leyla and her brother. The officers refuse to let them go even though Leyla urgently needs to get to a job interview. The police harassment makes her increasingly outraged at yet again being the victim of racial profiling.

Charlie Hebdo

Kenan, an art student in the episode Charlie Hebdo, also loses his cool at a vernissage at his academy. He feels the pressure of having to navigate between the views and opinions of his Islam-critical uni bubble and those of his two Muslim friends. The former launch a “je suis Charlie” protest, while the latter are critical of the caricature of Mohammed and the history of Western war policy. When a visitor to the vernissage pushes Kenan aside and claims he has no business being there at the art university, it’s the last straw. Just like the other events featured in Uncivilized, the attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in 2015, which provides the backdrop for this episode, brought a profound social division to the fore.

Ukraine War

In the episode Ukraine, this division becomes visible once again around seven years later. Karla is keen to take in refugees from Ukraine and is expecting a woman with a child. Instead, she is assigned a young Syrian man. She tries to talk her way out of it and withdraw her offer, but fails in the process to hide her double standards. This reflects exactly the kind of “othering” that also lent the series its name: the hashtag #uncivilized went viral following 24 February 2022 when journalists talked of Ukraine being a “civilized” country – and thus implicitly distinguished it from supposedly “uncivilized” countries in war-torn regions. This was associated with people displaying different degrees of sympathy with refugees and a sense that Western and predominantly white countries are somehow superior.

Nine Eleven

We jump back to the year 2001: Sahra, a teacher, is also subject to constant othering because she wears a headscarf. When the subject of the 9/11 attacks is to be raised with pupils, her colleagues just assume that Sahra, being a Muslim, will not take a minute of silence seriously. Jumping to conclusions in this way is precisely what lays the foundation for everyday racism and threatens to spread like wildfire through society. The series homes in on such all-too-human failings and highlights how global political events and crises influence the way we treat one another in our daily lives.

Their Story, My Reality

Uncivilized stirs up the emotions – and so it should! At the same time, the stories give us hope that encounters on an equal footing are possible. At best, they can raise our awareness in everyday situations or give us comfort in the light of our own experiences. The last episode, a documentary entitled Ihre Story, meine Realität (Their Story, My Reality), features interviews that allow viewers to share in the depictions of personal experiences, thereby bridging the gap between reality, media reporting and fiction. Whether in real life or on our screens, one thing should at least be clear by the end: it is those who are prejudiced in their treatment of others who are uncivilized.  

October 2025