Experiencing Interruptions?

TOUBAB

Matured through two years in prison, Babtou is looking forward to a new beginning with his buddy Dennis. A free man in a free world! But of all things, his welcome party where all the boys from the block are gathered ends in a police operation. Babtou has his hands cuffed again and is confronted with dramatic news. He will soon be deported to his “home country” of Senegal. To prevent a deportation, Babtou and Dennis are willing to do anything.

  • Florian Dietrich
    Director
    Berliner Kurzfilmszene – 2014 (short film), Breaking Through – 2012 (short film), GhettoLoveGrief – 2011 (short film), TOUBAB - 2020 (Featurefilm), Doppelhaushälfte (AT) 2021 (TV-Series)
  • Florian Dietrich
    Writer
    Berliner Kurzfilmszene – 2014 (short film), Breaking Through – 2012 (short film), GhettoLoveGrief – 2011 (short film), TOUBAB - 2020 (Featurefilm), Doppelhaushälfte (AT) 2021 (TV-Series)
  • Arne Dechow
    Writer
    TOUBAB – 2018 (Featurefilm), The Digital Gardener – 2020 (Imagefilm), Bio.NRW – 2021 (Imagefilm)
  • Marcos Kantis
    Producer
    Manifesto – 2014 (feature film), Fluss des Lebens – Geliebte Loire – 2016 (TV-Series), Styx – 2016 (feature film), Fremder Feind – 2017 (TV-film), Lara – 2017 (feature film), Fluss des Lebens Kwai – Familienbande – 2017 (TV-Series), Ostfrieslandkrimis – Ostfriesenblut – 2018 (TV-Series), Ostfrieslandkrimis – Ostfriesensünde – 2018 (TV-Series), Toubab – 2018 (feature film), Fluss des Lebens – Yukon. Ruf der Wildnis – 2018 (TV-Series), Ostfriesengrab – 2019 (TV-Series), Ein Simmer an der Moldau – 2019 (TV-Series), Ostfriesenangst – 2019 (TV-Series), America (AT) – 2020 (feature film), Barfuß durch Australien – 2020 (TV-film), Dr. Hoffmann – Die russische Spende – 2020 (TV-film), Tatort – Die Kalten und die Toten (TV-Series), Wann kommst du meine Wunden küssen (AT) – 2021 (feature film), Inside – 2021 (feature film), Imperium (AT) – 2021 (feature film),
  • Louise von Johnston
    Producer
    Toubab – 2018 (Feature film), Fremder Feind – 2017 (TV-film), König von Deutschland – 2012 (Feature film), Flucht nach vorn – 2012 (Short film), Stolz des Ostens – 2011 (Short film), Die Summe meiner einzelnen Teile – 2010 (Feature film), Jagdgründe – 2010 (Short film), Tandem (AT) – 2010 (Short film), Das Hemd – 2009 (Short film), Flüsterpost (AT) – 2008 (Short film), Reamonn – Only Ones – 2006 (music video), Auf Nummer Sicher? – 2006 (TV film),
  • Farba Dieng
    Key Cast
    "Baptu"
    Skylines – 2018 (Netflix series), Toubab – 2018 (Feature film), Cortex – 2019 (Feature film), Pastewka – 2019 (Amazon Prime series), Breaking Even – 2019 (TV series), Fly – 2019 (Feature film), 5 Seasons – Eine Reise (AT) – 2020 (Feature film)
  • Julius Nitschkoff
    Key Cast
    "Dennis"
    Schuld II - 2016 (TV Film), Schuld II - 2016 (TV Film), Dogs of Berlin - 2018 (Netflix series), Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo – 2019 (Amazon Prime series), Into the Beat – 2019 (TV film), In Berlin wächst kein Orangenbaum – 2019 (TV Film), TOUBAB – 2020 (Feature film)
  • Seyneb Saleh
    Key Cast
    "Yara"
    TOUBAB – 2020 (Feature film), Golden Twenties – 2018 (Feature film), Die Lügen der Sieger – 2013 (Feature film), Offroad – 2010 (Feature film), Das Rote Zimmer – 2010 (Feature film), Eine flexible Frau – 2009 (Feature film)
  • Uwe Preuss
    Key Cast
    "Siggi"
    Weihnachten sind wir tot (AT) – 2022 (Feature film), Jessy – 2021 (Feature film), TOUBAB – 2020 (Feature film), Sweethearts – 2018 (Feature film), Haus ohne Dach – 2016 (Feature film), Kriegerin – 2010 (Feature film)
  • Gerdy Zint
    Key Cast
    "Simon"
    TOUBAB – 2020 (Feature film), Wuff – 2017 (Feature film), Als wir träumten – 2013 (Feature film), Kriegerin – 2010 (Feature film), Weltstadt – 2006 (Feature film), Lucy – 2005 (Feature film),
  • Valerie Koch
    Key Cast
    "Astrid Zeug"
    Die Kinder vom bahnhof Zoo – 2019 (Netflix Series), TOUBAB – 2020 (Feature film), Tatort – Wir – Ihr – Sie – 2015 (TV Series), Tatort – Freigang – 2013 (TV Series), Die Anruferin – 2007 (Feature Film), Sie haben Knut – 2002 (Feature Film)
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    TOUBAB
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Comedy
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 37 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    September 1, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    1,332,900 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany, Senegal
  • Language:
    English, French, German, Turkish
  • Shooting Format:
    ARRI Alexa
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:2,34
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 37. Warsaw International Film Festival
    Warsaw
    Poland
    October 20, 2021
    International Premiere
    Audience Award, Best Feature Film
  • Sofia International Film Festival
    Sofia
    Bulgaria
    March 16, 2022
    Bulgarian Premiere
    International Competition
  • Gijon International Film Festival
    Gijon
    Spain
    November 21, 2021
    Spanish Premiere
  • MCM Festival International Music & Cinema Marseille
    Marseille
    France
    April 5, 2022
    French Premiere
    International Competition
  • KINO – Mostra de Cinema de Expressão Alemã
    Lisbon
    Portugal
    January 31, 2022
    Portugal Premiere
    Audience Award
  • 30th FilmArtFestival Mecklenburg-Pomerania
    Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Pomerania
    Germany
    NDR Director's Award, Best Acting Feature Film Performance, Audience Award
  • Bavarian Film Awards 2021
    Munich, Bavaria
    Germany
    Best Young Actor
  • New Faces Award
    Frankfurt, Hesse
    Germany
    Best Debut Film
  • Bremen International Film Festival
    Bremen
    Germany
    April 20, 2022
    International Competition
  • Festival del Cinema Tedesco
    Rome
    Italy
    March 25, 2022
    Italian Premiere
    Opening Film
  • 45th Grenzland Filmtage Selb
    Selb
    Germany
    April 21, 2022
    Opening Film
Distribution Information
  • Beta Cinema GmbH
    Sales Agent
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights, Internet, Video on Demand, Pay Per View, Hotel, Airline, Ship, Theatrical, Video / Disc, Free TV, Paid TV, Console / Handheld Device
  • Camino Filmverleih GmbH
    Distributor
    Country: Germany
    Rights: Video on Demand, Theatrical, Free TV
Director Biography - Florian Dietrich

Florian Dietrich was born in Wiesbaden in 1986. After graduating from high school, he worked as an assistant director and studied media dramaturgy in Mainz from 2005 to 2007 as well as directing at the German Film and Television Academy (dffb) in Berlin and Tel Aviv University from 2007. TOUBAB is Dietrich's graduation film at the dffb and also his feature film debut.

FILMOGRAPHY (Selection)

TOUBAB – 2021, feature film
Warsaw International Film Festival, Gijon International Film Festival, Filmkunstfest Mecklenburg Vorpommern

Berliner Kurzfilmszene – 2014, short film
17th Brussels International Short Film Festival 2014, Milano International Film Festival 2014 and others

Breaking Through – 2012, short film
Best Short Film at 24th Filmfest Dresden 2013, Next Generation Short Tiger at 66th Cannes International Film Festival 2013, 29th International Short Film Festival Berlin 2013 (interfilm), 16th Brussels Short Film Festival and others

GhettoLoveGrief – 2011, short film
27th International Short Film Festival Berlin 2011 (interfilm), 42nd Molodist Kyiv Film Festival 2012, 14th Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival 2012 and others

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The idea for TOUBAB came about while I was working on theater projects with co-author Arne Dechow in a juvenile detention center in Wiesbaden. Some of the young prisoners we were permitted to meet were under acute risk of deportation. Even though they were born in Germany. Until then, I had not been aware that this was even possible: to deport people who have spent their entire lives in Germany from the day they were born. To countries they may know from their summer vacation, but which they also may never have set foot in because they are simply not safe. And this while they and their families have been systematically pushed to the fringes of society and criminalized repeatedly over the course of their lives by being denied secure resident status.

We spoke to many of the young people about their powerlessness, their desperate struggles against racism. We saw how uprooted many of them were when they were actually deported to the places that the German state attributes as their “homeland.” With TOUBAB we urgently wanted to offer something that counters this brutality of the German right of residence laws.

At the same time, I wanted to make a film that didn't focus on and reproduce the pain of people who experience discrimination on a daily basis. I wanted it to celebrate them for their courage, their strength, and also their creativity in dealing with the authorities. For me, this also clearly means that the film casts a (self-)critical look at the ongoing violence emanating from German mainstream society. And a narrative style that also invites the people who are its subject to become part of the audience. As a result, it has deliberately not become a “quiet” film, but one that makes use of the codes, the power, and sometimes the flaws of its protagonists. This was always an absolutely decisive point for me and I believe this makes TOUBAB particularly relevant and important. Far too rarely have I seen films in Germany that attack burning social issues in a way that does not exclude a large part of our society as an audience.

Right from the start, this was the balancing act that I was committed to as a director. That TOUBAB will be a film that is not elitist and still has a clear political message: a colorful, strong, upright “middle finger,” so to speak.