Felix Lobrecht: The comedian and his moving Neukölln story!

Felix Lobrecht has established himself as a successful comedian and best-selling author and also runs his own fashion label. His podcast “Gemischtes Hack” with Tommi Schmitt has weekly listener numbers of around one million. A crucial part of his artistic work is the novel “Sun and Concrete,” which Lobrecht published in 2017. This deals with his youth in Berlin-Neukölln and is currently being made into a film.

In “Sonne and Concrete” the action takes place in the summer of 2003 in Gropiusstadt, a district of Berlin-Neukölln. The 15-year-old first-person narrator Lukas gets into a fight with his friends and becomes an involuntary part of a protection racket. In order to raise the required 500 euros, they decide to steal computers from the school. The film adaptation, directed by David Wnendt, is intended to address the challenges that come with capturing an authentic image of Neukölln without common clichés. Lobrecht and Wnendt reported on the conversations they had to tell such a story and show novel perspectives, like the article by stern.de explained.

The narrative in the novel

The novel tells of Lukas, who has some crucial experiences that shape his childhood and youth. So Lukas forgets his school ID and instead decides to go to the park with Gino. There they try to buy drugs and get into a fight with a group of Arabs. When Lukas tries to protect Julius, he is injured, which leads to a conflict with her drug dealer Cem. He plans a confrontation in which Lukas will be forced to deal with violence.

Further events lead to a series of challenges for Lukas and his friends. They steal computers and get into trouble with the police. It is discussed that Lukas is involved in the break-in and the resulting consequences. The novel sheds light on the social structures and challenges that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds face, which has increased the response to Lobrecht's work in both literary and film circles. Informed about the content of the novel Wikipedia.