Directors’ paradise

Viewers will be transported to Berlin in the Roaring Twenties in epic German period drama Babylon Berlin.

Based on Volker Kutscher’s novels, the story follows Gereon Rath, a police officer from Cologne investigating in the capital with his own agenda. Yet the story only serves as a way into a city overrun by organised crime and political extremism. Berlin is a metropolis for those with talent and ambition but a dead end for the impoverished masses striving for a better life.

Writers and directors Tom Tykwer, Henrik Handloegten and Achim von Borries discuss how they used to books as the basis of the 16-episode series, which they say also asks questions about German society during the emergence of the Nazis.

They also reveal how they shared responsibilities in pre-production, during shooting and in the editing process, on a production that ran to 185 shooting days and filmed on a backlot built at Studio Babelsberg, complete with four streets and squares.

Babylon Berlin is produced by X Filme, ARD Degeto, Sky and distributor Beta Film.

tagged in: Achim von Borries, ARD Degeto, Babylon Berlin, Beta Film, Henrik Handloegten, Sky, Tom Tykwer, X-Filme