On 24th August 1992 in the eastern German city of Rostock, a rampaging mob, to the applause and cheering of more than 3,000 bystanders, besieged and set fire to a residential building containing, among others, more than 120 Vietnamese men, women, and children on what has since become known as "The Night of the Fire." The riots became a symbol of xenophobia in the just-reunited Germany. This film recounts the incident from the perspectives of three very different characters.
Direction
Qurbani weaponizes perspective shifts.
Acting
Nay's slow radicalization is terrifying.
Director
Burhan Qurbani
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rostock-Lichtenhagen remains Germany's most photographed xenophobic attack; the phrase 'Wir sind das Volk' was repurposed here from its 1989 pro-democracy origins.
Qurbani, son of Afghan refugees, deliberately cast the Vietnamese family with actual Rostock survivors—some hadn't spoken of that night in decades.
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