In Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, two people meet whose lives could hardly be more different. Monika is in her mid-forties and is a curator in the city's art and culture scene. When she accidentally gets caught in a raid, she meets Joseph, a Congolese businessman who is looking for investors for a diamond mine in the Congo and in the meantime keeps his head above water with import/export business. An intense love story emerges from this unusual encounter. But while the two believe that they can survive against all external odds and prejudices, a mutual distrust gradually creeps into their relationship. Inexorably, their lives become the stage for postcolonial conflicts. Is it even possible for Monika and Joseph to love each other as equals?
Inspired by her mother's story, Lisa Bierwirth's feature-length directorial debut LE PRINCE questions realistically and precisely how postcolonial structures and power relations can be reflected in a European-African relationship. The story tells of the pitfalls, but also of the courage to live a love in the tension of social conventions. Between world metropolis and shadow economy, the cultural melting pot Frankfurt am Main shows itself as an ambivalent protagonist of the film.
In Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, two people meet whose lives could hardly be more different. Monika is in her mid-forties and is a curator in the city's art and culture scene. When she accidentally gets caught in a raid, she meets Joseph, a Congolese businessman who is looking for investors for a diamond mine in the Congo and in the meantime keeps his head above water with import/export business. An intense love story emerges from this unusual encounter. But while the two believe that they can survive against all external odds and prejudices, a mutual distrust gradually creeps into their relationship. Inexorably, their lives become the stage for postcolonial conflicts. Is it even possible for Monika and Joseph to love each other as equals?
Inspired by her mother's story, Lisa Bierwirth's feature-length directorial debut LE PRINCE questions realistically and precisely how postcolonial structures and power relations can be reflected in a European-African relationship. The story tells of the pitfalls, but also of the courage to live a love in the tension of social conventions. Between world metropolis and shadow economy, the cultural melting pot Frankfurt am Main shows itself as an ambivalent protagonist of the film.