Heiko is actually a classic loser around 40 with no job or girlfriend, he lives with his mother and drinks too much. Suddenly he has one goal in life: play darts to scrape together the money for his mother’s eye surgery. This is what the film “Heiko’s World” by Dominik Galizia from Trier tells about. The film was shot in real corner bars in Berlin, some of which have real regulars, so you can literally smell the stale smoke and the stale beer.
Darts turns the protagonist’s life around
Heiko is someone you could – well – call a classic loser. He must be around 40, he has no job, no girlfriend, he drinks far too much, lives with his mother and commutes between her kitchen table and the bar of a corner pub.
One evening, during another beer-loving evening, it turns out that Heiko can do one thing better than almost everyone else: play darts, but only when very drunk.
Heiko’s career as a darts player only really gets moving when he realizes that he can also earn money with it. Money that he urgently needs so that his mother can have an operation on her eyes. Because Heiko’s love for his mom is even greater than his weaker self.
Heiko falls in love
Suddenly Heiko has a goal in life, he roams the corner bars of Berlin, animates others with tricks against him and to play darts for money – winning a big darts bar tournament with high prize money seems almost certain. Until the mysterious jade fox enters his life – a player against whom Heiko not only loses at darts, but with whom he also falls head over heels in love.
The two make a pact, from then on the film really picks up speed, the whole thing culminating in an absurd burglary at the home of a well-known hit star. “Heiko’s world” should actually be called Dominik’s world, says director Dominik Galizia, who was born in Trier.
The trailer for the film:
A budget of only 150,000 euros
Despite all the abstruseness, the tragic comedy also included many topics and situations that had occupied him for a long time or that he had been confronted with. Ultimately, however, he wrote the story around the main actor Martin Rohde, whom he met while shooting videos for various music groups.
The idea for the internet series “Heiko’s World” was born. From then on, Martin Rohde was observed as Heiko doing everyday things, for example eating currywurst, fishing or playing volleyball. At some point the idea for a full-fledged film came up. Only nobody wanted to finance it.
Ultimately, the crew had just 150,000 euros available for the film. The advantage was that nobody from outside had a say. “Heiko’s World” was filmed in real corner bars in Berlin, sometimes with their regular audience.
An ode to corner bars in Berlin
Almost all of the performers are not trained actors, not even Martin Rohde, who plays Heiko. And who was honored as best actor at the Munich Film Festival last year. The whole thing makes the film so real that you think you can smell the stale smoke and stale beer in the film.
“Heiko’s World” is also an ode to Berlin’s corner pubs. The ensemble is brimming with enthusiasm, guys appear who are completely bizarre and who almost everyone has somehow observed somewhere.
Leaving them their dignity was Dominik Galizia’s main goal. A noble claim, which, however, actually leads to the fact that the topic of alcoholism is not really critically examined.
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