NELKENSTRASSE 16
Audience Design Consultancy (2025)

Musical/Drama      90 min.

Production Stage: Development

Production Company: BASIS BERLIN (Germany)

Participating film team: Silke Merzhäuser (writer), Julia Roesler (writer/director), Insa Rudolph (composer), Uschi Feldges (producer)

SYNOPSIS

Seven tenants live under one roof at the house number Nelkenstrasse 16: 42-year-old nurse Rieke with her daughter Emmy on the first floor, and 79-year-old Lore below them. All suffer from the relentless heat wave. While some neighbors leave for vacation, Rieke works exhausting shifts. After a grueling night shift, she comes home desperate to sleep and puts in earplugs—ignoring a faint knocking. Lore has fallen in her bathroom, broken her hip, and can’t get up. No one hears her calls for help. After two days, neighbors wonder why Lore isn’t answering her door or picking up packages as usual. Rieke finally persuades the building manager to open the apartment—three days after the fall. They find Lore dead. Her estranged daughter Annette arrives to handle the funeral and estate. As she meets the residents, she grows suspicious: Did no one really hear her mother in this poorly insulated building? Why didn’t they check on her sooner? Everyone must now confront questions of responsibility. This musical chamber piece and social drama follows the residents over three sweltering weeks, never leaving the building, never finding relief from the heat.