Concrete Circum­stance

Umstand & Beton is an experimental documentary that delves into the urban fabric of Berlin in search of images of embodied memory. I reconstruct the circumstances of my early childhood, shaped by my father's heroin addiction and his death at Kottbusser Tor in 1992.

“Kotti” is a multifaceted place where vastly different lived realities intersect. My personal story becomes intertwined with the social, political, and urban transformations Berlin underwent around the fall of the Wall.

The film explores how these experiences have become inscribed in my body's memory. Playful and performative exercises open up a new way of connecting with my mother, who has been clean for 27 years and shares her memories with us. Encounters with former and current drug users broaden the personal narrative, bringing in additional perspectives.

What emerges is a polyphonic exploration of the body and urban space, memory and addiction — and of the longings that heroin promises to fulfill, as well as the social conditions from which those longings arise.