The web series “After Hours” might not be news to some of you. Actually, the documentary about Berlin’s notorious techno scene already premiered in 2009 on the web portal “3min.de”. However, when the streaming service was discontinued “After Hours” disappeared in internet limbo. Gladly, we can report that you can now watch all 12 episodes right here…
Just a little over a year ago motion designer Oliver Latta a.k.a. Extraweg started to share his artwork on Instagram and, quickly, hundreds of thousands of people fell in love with his unusual and captivating animations. Especially his recent videos, marked by their unique clean pink style and the elasticity of his figures, fascinated a whole generation of social media users and left us questioning: What is it that he created, that holds such a strong spell over the viewer? But before you get lost in one of his captivating loop videos, make sure to check out our talk with him. He, who we found through his artwork on his Facebook page, has one especially important message about that: Find inspiration in everything everywhere – outside of the realms of phones and computers.
It’s Monday, guys and you’re just rolling out the club heading straight to work not having changed or showered in 3 days. So what? It’s Berlin!
This video series by comedian Daniel-Ryan Spaulding hilariously mocks some of the biggest cliches of our outrages Berlin lifestyle. It’s so painfully true sometimes the only thing you can do is laugh at the absurdity. Probably the funniest Berlin videos ever! But see for yourself.
If you want to see Daniel live doing stand-up in Berlin you are in luck as he is having shows all the time in Berlin in various bars over town. Also, you should subscribe to his Facebook page for upcoming shows and there’s also a line of merch with some of his most beloved catch-phrases.
We updated our story with new videos from 2019 in the very bottom of the article. Enjoy Daniel’s take on the Cologne Carnival, the Anmeldung and gentrification…
With this year’s election results and the failing coalition negotiations you would think that Angela Merkel has more reasons than ever to roll her eyes. All that on top of all the megalomaniac male presidents she has to deal with on a daily basis. I think the occasional eye roll is totally understandable. However, it’s not so practical when in fact you want to maintain a serene pokerface…
The Holocaust Memorial right in the center of Berlin is definitely a controversial sight. From tourist taking selfies on it for their Tinder(or Grindr)-Profiles to right-wing politicians calling it a monstrosity, the poor memorial has received quite a lot of attention for the wrong reasons. But we have to bring you a tremendous news. The Memorial is not alone anymore because since yesterday a second Holocaust Memorial was build right in front of the home of Björn Höcke. Who is the horrible right-wing politician that insulted the memorial in the first place.
In just one day the Zentrum für Politische Schönheit (Center für Political Beauty), the artist collective responsible for the idea, collected almost 80 000 EUR donation via crowdfunding to build this memorial exceeding their goal way ahead of time.
Of course, this provocation by the Berlin-based collective which is well known for its cool but always controversial art projects is already targeted by angry Nazis that want to get rid of it. Let’s hope they won’t succeed and that the memorial stays there for quite a while. Chapeau to this funny and very disruptive way of using art for political protest.
“What’s going on musically in Berlin?” – you ask? Don’t worry, iHeartberlin comes to the rescue. We put together a list of artists who are pushing the capital’s music scene right now. These artists are far from interchangeable, or even remotely comparable. They stress what Berlin is today: An international, inclusive and diverse metropolis. Their music is the product of a city where you can do what you wanna do. Berlin’s creative freedom is what brought them or kept them here, and still is what makes our city different from other places. The results are loud, emotional, strikingly weird at times, sometimes obscure and sometimes catchy as f***. Let’s take a look and a listen…
”We drift in the glitter age.” That’s how iconic Berlin director Ralf Schmerberg captions his erotic music video called Glitter Porn. And you should definitely take this title literally. The inspirations are without a doubt coming from Berlins intense nightlife where glitter parties are not uncommon. I remember back in the days of the Bar 25 how a bag full of different types of glitter was not unusual to bring. And still today at certain parties or open airs and street parades glitter is a welcomed accessory.
What surprises me every time I have it with me, how much of a social catalyst glitter can be. And to be honest, some kisses with strangers I had in the last years where exchanged thanks to glitter. So even though I never had a glitter porn fantasy so far, I can totally relate to the shiny sparkly narrative of this music video for Tiefschwarz which is part of a longer sequence called Lunacy’s Children.
Heading into the colder season I find myself oddly disappointed with what is normally the highlight of the year: Summer in Berlin.
I know, what is the point of lamenting it any further. It is what it is, and there were a couple of nice days. So we shall not complain too much. But you can’t take the summer away from the Berliner and at the same time also his right to complain. You need to leave him at least one!
I don’t see myself as someone who complains much about the weather. I try to keep an optimistic spin on things. But hell, this year really stretched my limits. I wasn’t at the lakes once this year, because on those 3 days where it would have been possible I had to work. This is not ok. We Berliners have to suffer through so many grey months and cold weathers the short but intense summers are completely necessary for us to recharge our batteries (and good will). I looked at those last couple of months pass by us without giving us much of a summer with great frustration. The temperatures were so skewed I think I have never felt cold and sweaty at the same time this often (maybe it’s also my progressing age?). And on top of that I even missed the train to book a end-of-season short trip South to get my summer fix and now it feels a little too late for that.
The Berlin crowd fosters its inclusive and multicultural status by standing up against intolerance and bigotry. ”Donald” by Uma Burel is yet another example. This time, Berlin expresses its protest with what it does best: techno.
The song comes from Uma Burel‘s very first EP on the OffBeat Music Group record label that comprises two songs reflecting different approaches to the story we can currently see unfolding before us. The hypnotizing beat we’re featuring today – ”Donald” – is a disturbing, gloomy picture filled with hate and dread. The other one, entitled ”Se7en”, is more of a smooth minimal house track to leave you on a positive note, hoping for the light at the end of the tunnel.
One year after the burning down of the Blub, the coolest water park Berlin ever had that was shut down in 2005, this cute music video, “The Ballad of Shelley and Hamza”, is bound to bring back memories both to those who used to have fun at the water slides in the 80s and 90s, as well as to us who visited it when it was already abandoned. “The Ballad of Shelley and Hamza” tells the story of two people, who, on their way to find themselves, they found each other; It is an entirely imagined, unconventional cross-continental love song about 2 friends from university, performed by James McBreen and recorded on a boat on the River Spree. In the music video, the two performers dance all over the abandoned place and through their moves they bring it back to life. Coincidentally, it was filmed only 2 weeks before Blub was burnt down last July. It’s a collaborative project between Overland Originals and Kopper Kollektiv, both Berlin-based creative production companies. The dancers, Berlin-based Samuel Olatidoye from Italy and Natalie Deryn Johnson from New York, met only 10 minutes before they started filming, James told us, but looks like they managed to find their common rhythm pretty fast.