The harshness of Neukölln: The comedian Felix Lobrecht felt it early on and has now turned it into the film “Sonne und Beton” with director David Wnendt. A conversation about the way out – three weeks before Lobrecht announced his withdrawal from the public eye.
This article comes from the stern archive and is one of the most read texts in 2023. We are therefore publishing it again at the end of the year.
He is a star comedian, he is a best-selling author, and he has his own fashion label. Around a million people listen to his podcast “Gemischtes Hack”, which he runs with Tommi Schmitt, every week. In 2017 he published the novel “Sonne and Concrete”, which traces a youth in Berlin-Neukölln: a youth like his, von Felix Lobrechtnow 34. The film adaptation is currently in the cinema.
The book and film take place in the hot summer of 2003. Gropiusstadt, Berlin-Neukölln. Withered parks, garbage everywhere, next door the “suicide house” where neighbors throw themselves to their deaths from the tenth floor. The focus is on 15-year-old Lukas, the name of the main character, who is inspired by Lobrecht’s youth. Lukas gets into a fight with friends and gets a protection racket. In order to raise the required 500 euros, the boys steal the new computers from the school. But a classmate finds out about them. Are they flying?
Directed “Sun and Concrete”. David Wnendt46, known for “Warrior” and “He’s Back.”
Prada in the backyard: Felix Lobrecht (l.) next to director David Wnendt
© Marvin Ruppert
A Tuesday in February. I meet Wnendt and Lobrecht in his office in the Tiergarten district of Berlin. Large, bright rooms, a handful of prizes on the dresser, several pictures of Lobrecht on the walls, on the stage in front of a cheering audience. The host rushes in slightly late from the next room, where he has just recorded his podcast. Quick hello, make an espresso, turn the fag. He pulls his hood low over his face.
Lobrecht wears Rolex gold watch, white sneakers and Givenchy-Pullover. He quickly sends the podcast file and checks the Internet at the same time: “Look, David, our film only has three ratings, but we already have 7.8 stars on IMDb.”
Mr. Lobrecht, Mr. Wnendt, how do you make a film about Neukölln without clichés?
LOBRECHT: When I wrote my novel, I wanted to tell an authentic story that didn’t yet exist in this form. There were two Neukölln books, but I read in every sentence that the author was at least from Hanover. The details weren’t right. No gangster calls himself a “Tiger.”