culture well enough exotic plants do glean is one of the most important novels written about the time of the weimar republic just before hitler came to power the 1st film did not he thought he won then famously by run of anna fassbender for t.v. in 985th as long now there's a brand new version of this old story set in modern day berlin. alexandre plots the center of berlin francis has made it here after a long traumatic journey from west africa. he's hoping for a fresh start in the german capital but instead he falls into the clutches of a kind heart a sub who seems to be evil incarnate. in class and i'm going to. talk to my luncheon despite francis is the best intentions i know it pulls him into a life of crime francis finds himself part of a break in at

a jewelry store. every. show. the film shows the harsh reality for refugees in berlin with scene shot in a refugee hostel and in a park notorious for drugs where many of the dealers are desperate african migrants german director boar hunt who bonny is the son of afghan refugees he knew he wanted to tell the story of today's refugees just a few get up this phrase know that if i simply took the story of one of these drug dealers in this park that people here in germany wouldn't take much notice of it so that it would just go ignored it. and so co bunny decided to tell the story through the lens of a classic $920.00 s. german novel berlin alexandre pops by alfred to pay. back in 1031 the story was turned into one of the 1st german films with sound. and in the

early 1980 s. the legendary director of vienna fassbender made it into a t.v. series. a little different but. now bronco bonnie has retold the story of berlin alexanderplatz in the year 2023 our film still contains the book central story a man who wants to be good for finds himself unable to escape a life of crime. and if you look to 13 is the microcosms where you'll see that he's a glimpse of the dreaming state where everybody tries to elevate itself and it doesn't matter what they do but the most important piece they are the character francis falls in love with a prostitute named meets or she gets pregnant but their love is hopeless francis is unable to save her from himself and from time hard.

for len alexandre plots a journey through the dark side of humanity and a city anchored in the present a present that in many ways evokes the instability of the 1920 s. this. is the and all film critic scott roxboro joins us from the heart of the. score a lot of expectations for this movie in the german press so does it live up to the hype. well almost i mean this is a crazily ambitious film i mean that xander plots is one of the truly great epics of german literature i mean you can compare it to james joyce's ulysses in english so condensing that epic story down to even a very long film this is a 3 hour movie is quite a big task but. the director almost pulls it off i think is

a master stroke is the decision to take the main character from a cop and make him in this case into a african refugee because that really highlights the sort of themes of poverty and desperation from doublings novel and also makes the bridge between the berlin of the 1020s from the book and the modern day berlin of 2020 so this. transforming actually 100 years old well almost 100 years old it does well. yeah i think setting up the modern day actually works very very well and i think the film works best when it actually since very close to the to the plot in the characterization from the novel i mean in some cases even have some of this character speak and do billions antiquated german which i thought were perfectly i think the only time this film doesn't work is when the director tries to sort of shoehorn in 21st century discussions and debates of identity or race politics

in a way that i think is a bit too on the nose and feels a bit clunky but the closer he comes to do billions original text the better it works just generally how german movies doing at this year's belin. oh actually quite well we've had 3 german films in competition here all been fairly well received my favorite was descent that sells and dino which is a love story based on the myth of a water nymph and has probably the absolute best meet cute scene i've seen in movies involving that dramatically it's an exploding aquarium that drenches them both a really really nice movie very very delicately done i'm a real huge fan of course john that's old he's been in berlin a number of times but i think this film is his best for years and is the best chance for a german film to win the golden bear this year ok stay with the scott we're going to have a look at something else right now we have a film that moves between reality and fiction down tasha is one of many films that

have resulted from a crazy project where 400 people were transported back in time and lived for over 2 years in a in a version of stalin's soviet union is a short clip. of the buddha. the one who was with. me but he was really. good this group because. those of us who know. scott as i mentioned this movie was one of many made over recent years about this extraordinary dial project so is it a movie is it a documentary is it a reality show what he's. yeah i think it's actually more of

a soviet russian version of the truman show i mean these were all these actors were put in this this complex and filmed 24 hours a day but but these are also the performing roles so you have a soviet scientists they are. waitress a member of the secret police and this film that showing here is tells just one of those stories head in together some of this these thousands of hours of footage to create a i don't know the equivalent of almost a fly on the wall documentary of what it must've been like to live in soviet russia . is it any good. i really liked it remind me a lot of the old dog films from sort of few of authenticity but it's a very rough film at $718.00 plus and it's not for the for the faint of heart but if you want to real different look at soviet russia and maybe get maybe a bit of a feel for what what it must been like to live in that kind of society i definitely

recommend ok disco rocks as always many many things will be speaking to the same songs from our own by. about. now whether it's jackson pollock splashing technique or. primitivism is always a matter of taste of course meet a young man experimenting with these styles and more and when i say young make up is still in primary school but already made him an impression on the international scene. this little man is making a big splash whenever mikhail a car exhibits his paintings he's the center of attention the artist behind these pictures is just 70 years old. sometimes i get books from artists i look at them play she traced them with my fingers and just start painting i still. here in berlin

mikhail is opening his 10th exhibition of his paintings sell for a cool 621-3000 euros some people are reminded of works by famous artists make a i have to take this life will basically make arrow has 3 role models for one we have these pictures made with the dripping technique modeled on jackson pollock and action painting which started in 1946 and here we have the trowel or squeegee technique modeled on care how to touch down before we think it is good he remembers the style of. those are his 3 role models he doesn't a guy like me. at home near cologne mikheil likes to spend his time in his basement studio experimenting with paints and techniques he's never taken a course he started working intuitively after his parents gave him finger paints and a canvas for his 4th birthday. cake all for nothing until after the show the very

next day he was painting. i came home from work and saw the 1st picture about my wife had done it. but she hadn't. rick. father posted his son's painting on facebook with unexpected results rectifiers contacted him now mikhail paints $2.00 to $4.00 works a month. he's a darling of the media and art circles together with german national team goalkeeper money. he painted a picture that was auctioned off to benefit underprivileged children for 11000 years so. when mikhail isn't painting he attends school like other kids his age. publish our school find that they want to do. good art and start a. harem of a car gave up his job and now devotes his energy to managing his son. very

careful to make sure he doesn't get to be too much for mikhail. if it does we put on the brakes immediately. and it certainly can be a lot they've come to a studio where mikhail's works are being turned into prints for a limited edition the young artist is painting over 5 copies of his composition billie jean named after the michael jackson song. with exhibitions in paris amsterdam and new york already planned for the little artist it doesn't seem mikhail a car will be slowing down anytime soon. he seems to be enjoying himself and good luck to him i leave you with pictures from another 400 years old whose works just fine an exhibition in madrid shows us the genius of rembrandt's portraiture a man generally regarded as the greatest painter of the 17th century thanks very

much for watching join me in the rest of the queue at same time tomorrow if you can buy.

a simple heroes our weekly. fire fighting here is a bit unusual. forest fires have been increasing in the past years in portugal and so locals are turning to go and cows to graze firebreaks their owners think their livestock could help solve a huge problem so how helpful are these 4 legged firefighters who are. in 30 minutes on t w. india . how can a country's economy grow in harmony with its people violent when there are do worse than look at the bigger picture india a country that faces many challenges and whose people are striving to create

a sustainable future clever projects from europe and india eco. body w. . told it is for me. is for. beethoven is for him. and beethoven it is for. beethoven it is for everyone. beethoven 2020. 150th anniversary here on d w. have fun in pyongyang. the capital city of north korea is reinventing itself. but only a few can enjoy the benefits. of the long hours. kim jong un has

introduced an insidious reward system to coerce allegiance to the regime. those who don't make it into the fun metropolis are often feel free. to have fun in pyongyang starts feb 28th on w. t v. this is news and these are top stories the international community is racing to respond to soaring global cases of the new coronavirus for the 1st time the number of new infections outside china is higher than inside the country germany has announced a public health emergency south korea has reported its biggest one day jump in infections and brazil has.