26/08/2021 - Several German TV channels, together with Constantin and UFA, are producing this high-end series that uses the famous KaDeWe warehouse in Berlin as its setting

l-r: Eldorado KaDeWe cast members Joel Basman, Valerie Stoll, Lia von Blarer and Damian Thüne (© ARD Degeto/RBB/Constantin Television/UFA Fiction/Dávid Lukács)

The shooting of a mini-series comprising six episodes, bearing the working title Eldorado KaDeWe, is under way in Budapest and Berlin. German filmmaker Julia von Heinz is directing this high-end production. von Heinz is known for her recently released drama And Tomorrow the Entire World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Julia von Heinz
film profile], which premiered at Venice in 2020 and was the German entry for the Oscars in 2021. She wrote the script together with John Quester (And Tomorrow the Entire World), Sabine Steyer-Violet and Oskar Sulowski (Rosebuds). Daniela Knapp is in charge of the cinematography.

As a setting for this story of the friendship between four young people, the script uses the famous KaDeWe warehouse, founded in the 1920s by Jewish-German entrepreneur Adolf Jandorf. The KaDeWe still exists in western Berlin, and is considered an important architectural and cultural symbol of the city. In the so-called Roaring Twenties, Berlin was a modern metropolis with a vibrant nightlife, where sexual diversity and social utopias were part of everyday life. But at the same time, it was a period when political radicalisation arose as well as concerns owing to inflation.

A varied European cast stars in the series. In the four main roles, we find German actors Valerie Stoll (Trübe Wolken) and Damian Thüne (Jugend ohne Gott [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) as well as Swiss thesps Lia von Blarer and Joel Basman (Monte Verità [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefan Jäger
film profile], Tides [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]). Supporting parts are played by Bineta Hansen, Jörg Pose, Victoria Trauttmansdorff (System Crasher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nora Fingscheidt
film profile]), Rüdiger Hentzschel, Tonio Schneider (And Tomorrow the Entire World), Neele Buchholz, Martin Ontrop, Christine Grant, Martin Bruchmann, Oliver Polak and Lana Cooper.

The story follows friends Hedi (Valerie Stoll), Fritzi (Lia von Blarer), Harry (Joel Basman) and Georg (Damian Thüne). Hedi is a sales assistant in the warehouse owned by Fritzi's father. During a robbery at the KaDeWe, the two meet and fall in love. Despite considerable social resistance, as well as their families’ disapproval, the two very different young women start a relationship. Another unusual alliance is formed when Harry (Joel Basman), the older brother of Fritzi, who is a war veteran and comes back to take over the warehouse, has to confront young clerk Georg (Damian Thüne), in whom Harry's strict father has placed his trust.

Eldorado KaDeWe is a production by Constantin Television and UFA Fiction in co-production with ARD Degeto and RBB. The series is funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (MBB), FilmFernsehFonds Bayern (FFF), the German Motion Picture Fund (GMPF) and the Hungarian Tax Credit. Fremantle is in charge of the worldwide distribution.