Das Apartment

In two seasons, the web series tells the entertaining story of everyday life in a wildly diverse shared apartment in Berlin – short, witty, and urban. Rachel, Lenni, and Chris couldn't be more different: Rachel is an ambitious Canadian app designer in Berlin's startup scene, Lenni is a Finnish free spirit who lives out his carpe diem philosophy to the point of self-parody, and Chris is a French political idealist activist who tries to reconcile principles and reality – mostly in vain. Spontaneous, authentic, and with a touch of improvisation, Reinaldo Pinto Almeida's series explores the typical areas of conflict in shared apartment life: misunderstandings, clashing daily habits, relationship and career problems, and the pressure of a city that demands constant movement. Particularly striking is the contrast between Rachel's pressure to perform in the tech world and Lenny's worldview, which, in its naive consistency, repeatedly leads to lovingly absurd situations. Chris, on the other hand, embodies a morally strict attitude, which his environment often comments on with ironic refraction. This mixture makes for a charming series of sometimes quiet, sometimes loud conflicts and small emotional moments. At seven minutes each, the episodes of “Das Apartment” are entertaining to watch in one sitting. The refreshing charm of the indie web series lies above all in its immersive atmosphere and the likeable, lightly drawn characters. This earned it the grand prize in “YourTurn – The Video Creator Competition,” organized by YouTube, Endemol Beyond, and the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. ---- Rachel's got a new app, and while the router isn't working Chris bears witness to fruits of miscommunication. Lenni found all the things he can do with a plastic bag. And we get to meet Kerstin.