
We Are All Detroit
What Stays and What Disappears
DOCU | FILM | CINEMA
Germany 2021
118 Min (Original with english subtitles)
Directors: Ulrike Franke, Michael Loeken
Distribution: realfiction
International Distributor: New Docs
A look at two cities located far apart – Bochum and Detroit – where the departure of the automobile industry has left behind enormous challenges. The industry disappears, and what remains are the people. Ultimately, it is a journey into the hearts of each city’s inhabitants, who are in search of a new identity following the end of the industrial age. Despite all their differences, what unites them is the desire for a dignified and happy life.
TRAILER
AWARDS



FESTIVALS
2021 — 55. Internationale Hofer Filmtage plus7streamdays
2021 — 45. Duisburger Filmwoche
2021 — Kinofest Lünen
2022 — Stranger Than Fiction / Documention Filmfestival / Opening Film /
2022 — Cinema Release Germany:
12 May 2022
PRESS
„WE ARE ALL DETROIT is an excellently told story of capitalism and market economy, of decay and (re)construction, and above all of sympathetic protagonists always looking optimistically into an unknown future, which the jury unanimously awarded the rating „especially valuable“.“
Jury statement FBW predicate „especially valuable“
„It’s not surprising that the iconic neon sign is taken down under cover of darkness in order to avoid an outcry. Only that in the morning the word „Opel“ is still there, clearly readable, outlined in decades of dust. The image of it that this film preserves has the beauty of an Ed Ruscha painting.“
Daniel Kothenschulte / Frankfurter Rundschau
„Ulrike Franke and Michael Loeken prove once again that the important themes of urban development and the world of work aren’t too unwieldy or too abstract for the genre of documentary film.“
Bianka Pieringer / Kinozeit
„WE ARE ALL DETROIT is a century-long narrative spanning two continents.“
Andreas Wilink // kultur.west // 10/29/2021
„A touchingly melancholic long-term observation giving people a voice who became victims of global economic interests and asking questions of identity. Absolutely worth seeing.“
WDR Westart / 01/29/2022
„Loeken and Ulrike Franke observe all of this very precisely, affectionately paying attention to the little things, the supposed trivialities in the margins. They depict still lifes of decay like pictures in a photo album and, with the same stillness, Mrs. Riechmann’s gestures and the boxes of screws in the hardware store of days gone by. In the Detroit of their film, the sun never shines, even when the flowers bloom in summer and the people sweat in their attempt to make something of their city, of their lives.“
Annika Fischer / WAZ / 04/29/2022
STILLS












SYNOPSIS
WE ARE ALL DETROIT – WHAT STAYS AND WHAT DISAPPEARS follows the explosive development of two cities on two different continents and its effect on the people who live there.
These two very different cities – Bochum, in Germany’s Ruhr region, and Detroit, in the US Rust Belt – have something very important in common: both Detroit and Bochum were substantially shaped by the automobile industry. And both the beginning and the end of Bochum’s auto industry can be traced to Detroit. Following the end of the industrial age, the people on both sides of the globe are in search of a new identity. The audience is introduced both to the residents affected by these developments, whose reality is defined by them, and to the active players – planners, scientists and politicians – in the transformation, all announcing promises and visions for a future that is more than uncertain. Despite all their differences, the residents of Bochum and Detroit are connected by their desire for a dignified and happy life and this cinematic journey through the two cities becomes a journey into the hearts of their people.
CREDITS
We Are All Detroit
What Stays and What Disappears
Germany 2021
118 Min (Original with english subtitles)
We Are All Detroit
Vom Bleiben und Verschwinden
Deutschland 2021
118 Min (D/EN)
Directors: Ulrike Franke, Michael Loeken
Director of Photography: Uwe Schäfer, Philip Hallay, Fabrizio Costantini, Michael Loeken, Michael Chauvistré, Jörg Adams
Location Sound: Florian Högerle, Ulrike Franke, Bal-Aton Bori, Michael Loeken, Max Walter
Editor: Guido Krajewski, Bert Schmidt
Music: Maciej Śledziecki
Commissioning Editor: Jutta Krug (WDR)
Supported by: Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, BKM, DFFF