Introduction by Enoka Ayemba

A balcony door stands open, the only source of light in a darkened room. The sound of birds. A young woman stands, motionless, watching. This woman, Deniz, is an actress, and the film accompanies her across the course of a whole day, with natural light and sound recorded on location. We follow her as she meets people, sorts laundry and auditions for a leading role. She often takes the U-Bahn, and her movements across the city lend the film structure and determine its rhythm. Der Schöne Tag completes Thomas Arslan’s Berlin trilogy, following Kardeşler (1997) and Dealer (1999), a trio of films which focus on second generation Turkish characters, yet never really broach the questions of identity which remain always under the surface. In one scene, we see Deniz working as a voice artist, dubbing Éric Rohmer’s Conte D'été into German: like the character in the film whose lines she delivers, Deniz too finds herself in a state of uncertainty. (BP)