Berlin Alexanderplatz

Rainer Werner Fassbinder both adapted and directed Berlin Alexanderplatz, a fourteen-part West German crime miniseries based on Alfred Döblin's novel of the same name, published in 1929. It aired on WDR from 12 October to 29 December 1980 and was also shown at Venice. The full work runs about fifteen hours; though made for television, it is counted among the major works of cinema.

The story is set in Berlin in the late 1920s. Franz Biberkopf (Günter Lamprecht), who served time in prison for causing his girlfriend's death, vows on release to live honestly. But the city he returns to has turned hard and corrupt, and the underworld draws him back in. The cast includes Hanna Schygulla (Eva), Barbara Sukowa (Mieze), Elisabeth Trissenaar, Gottfried John, Margit Carstensen and Udo Kier.

The series was co-produced by Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Bavaria Film and Italy's RAI. In 1983 TeleCulture released it in American cinemas, two or three parts a night, where it built a cult following before airing on PBS and Bravo. In 1985 it was seen in the United Kingdom on Channel 4. Restoration began in 2006, and the renewed version had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on 9 February 2007; Time magazine named the 15-hour edition among the ten best DVDs.