In Again / Noch Einmal (2018), Mario Pfeifer addresses an incident that has become so typical for Germany: In May 2016, an unpleasant scene occurred at the checkout of a supermarket in Arnsdorf (near Dresden, Saxony). The young man Shabaz Al-Aziz, who fled Iraq to Germany in 2015, tried to exchange a faulty SIM card – and had an epileptic seizure, which made him noticeable. Instead of helping the man, four men in black immediately appeared, dragged him out of the supermarket, and tied him to a tree. A customer filmed the situation, and the footage went viral, particularly in far-right circles. The four men were charged with deprivation of liberty and were acquitted in 2017. The victim could not testify in court: One week before the trial began, he was found dead in the forests of Central Saxony.
In his film project, in which I participated, Pfeifer reconstructs the situation and brings together German citizens in a jury – tasked with re-examining the events and coming to a collective verdict. Moderated by actors Mark Waschke and Dennenesch Zoudé, Again / Noch Einmal raises questions about civil courage and vigilantism – How can we maintain a dialogue as society drifts apart? How does the construction of certain narratives shape our perception of reality?