Lamin Leroy Gibba On His Breakout Series ‘Black Fruit’ & The Fight To Maintain Progressive Storytelling In Germany: “We Have To Be Loud” — BFI Flare
There was some disgruntled chatter within parts of the German contingent at this year’s Berlinale about what had been perceived as a shortage of local projects in the festival’s main competition lineup. Much of that criticism was overblown, as German filmmakers were positively represented across the wider festival programme. On the ground in Berlin, it was also difficult to ignore the increased presence of a new and diverse generation of local artists.
Chief among them was Lamin Leroy Gibba, who was one of the buzziest names at the festival. The 31-year-old is the showrunner behind Black fruit (black fruits)the breakout series of 2024 in Germany.
A Co-Production Between Young Film, Studio Central, and ARD Degeto, Black Fruit debuted at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival before a highly publicized release on ARD in Germany. The show is currently screening at the BFI Flare Film Festival in London. ZDF Studios is handling international distribution rights.
The series is set in contemporary Hamburg and follows the journey of mid-twenty Lalo (Gibba) as he grapples with the sudden loss of his father, embarking on a tumultuous path of impulsive decisions that reverberate through his life and those around him. Alongside his ambitious best friend Karla, Lalo strives to define his identity amidst societal pressures and personal struggles. Think Donald Glover’s Atlantawith a little sprinkle of Issa Rae’s Insecureand the ambitious visual compositions of Sam Levinson’s Euphoria.
“I’m really excited to bring the show to London and see how people respond because it’s a completely different context,” Gibba tells us from Berlin. “I’m looking forward to all the conversations.”
Circuit Stars in the series aonngside his showruning duties. Writers on the show include include Sophia Ayissi, Naomi kelechi Odhiambo, Lisa tracy Michalik, and Sarah Claire wray. The wider cast melodie simina, vanessa yeboah, Benjamin Radjaipour, Daniel Hernandez, Nick Romeo Reimmann, Simon Kluth, Thapelo Mashiane, Christine Roller, Sheri Hagen, Jerry Kwarteng, and more. Elisha Smith-Leverock and David Uzochukwu Directed the next-episode series.
Below, Gibba digs into the show’s origins, it’s unconventional release in German, and how the production was born of a uniquely progressive pocket of time in German society. (Black Fruit is one of the first serial productions in Germany to chronicle the lives of Queer people of color.)
“I do think politically, we were at a different time. It was after 2020, and there was a different kind of awareness,” Gibba says.
DEADLINE: Lamin, how did you get here as a young showrunner with your own series? I read somewhere that you studied acting in New York?
Lamin Lamoy Gibba: I’ve been acting and writing since I was young. But at a certain point, most of the feedback I got was that I had to choose one path. I couldn’t write, act, and direct at the same time. So I did a lot of theater and studied acting. At that time, I was already in contact with other Black actors and people working here in Germany. I saw how hard it was for them to find any opportunities here to make a career. So I decided to leave the country. I thought about the UK and the U.S.. I was 18 or 19. I have an aunt in New York, so I just thought I’d give it a try. I got a scholarship to study and stayed there for five years.
I left Germany thinking I wouldn’t return. I thought I’d continue to work and live in the U.S. I wrote my first feature when I was in College. The story was completely American. All the characters were American. That was interesting, but I had a niggling feeling that I should be writing from a Black German perspective. So I decided my energy would be better invested in coming back to Germany and trying to work here. I first gave myself one year to see if I could get any traction or find a film community with whom I could work.
DEADLINE: What was New York like for a young German creative?
Gibba: It was amazing. I loved being in New York. I learned so much as an artist. I did a bunch of projects with fellow students independently of the university. We would just write and perform. Sometimes we wrote a play, the five of us together, and we would put it up a few weeks later. We made short films with like $10. It was a creative time, specifically in terms of thinking about Black stories where Black characters are centered. That was something I couldn’t imagine, but it was just something I hadn’t seen close up. I always saw this in the UK and the U.S., but being there and feeling that energy was different. I was empowered by that experience.
DEADLINE: What did you find when you returned to Germany?
Gibba: When I first came back, it was like freshman year of college. I was going to every event and trying to connect with people at a similar stage to myself, who were hungry to tell stories. I joined the Black Filmmakers Collective, the BIPOC Film Society, and other similar groups. I met a lot of people and we started working together. It was a very exciting time. But it was still challenging to find access to the actual industry.
DEADLINE: So tell me, how did you get from there to making Black Fruit?
Gibba: It was a whole process. I first met Jünglinge Film, which was the first production company that got on board. We then applied to the film fund in Hamburg. So we got independent funding before a network was attached. They funded the first writer’s room. So we had episodes with descriptions and created a big 50-page package. But to start the process of making that into scripts, I wanted to write with a writers’ room. I found my writers through social media. I did a call out and found all these people from very different backgrounds. Some of them were journalists, others worked in prose or theater. We then partnered with Studio Zentral, the big production company connected to ZDF Studios. They helped with infrastructure and building the production. But this is very much a Jünglinge production, with their political style and stance. This show has a real connection to other Jünglinge productions.
DEADLINE: What was the timescale for this?
Gibba: We had our writers’ room in February 2021. And then we started pitching it to networks. We eventually partnered with ARD. They had just made their new streamer. So they were making productions specifically for the streaming platform, which was great, because there were no restrictions on how stories could be told. You could have one episode be 10 minutes and another be 30 minutes. It could be very different kinds of storytelling, which is not the case on regular TV in Germany, which is very strict and conservative in many ways. So we had a lot of freedom.
DEADLINE: The show looks great. It has that very ‘elevated’ visual style. How did you put together your technical collaborators?
Gibba: It was an incredibly talented team. I’m grateful that the studio and production companies gave me so much freedom in choosing the team because many of them hadn’t been hired in roles like this before. For example, neither of our directors had done a feature film before. They had worked on shorts and music videos. But there was so much trust. As soon as I met them, I knew they were perfect for the show. We had a good budget. But still, there were certain limitations, but everyone worked to make sure the show looked as good as we could make it. Almost cinema-ready. Everyone went above and beyond.
DEADLINE: Talk me through your release because it was quite unique and garnered a lot of buzz across Germany and Europe.
Gibba: The release was great because we did a bunch of collaborations with organizations all over Germany. We went to Cologne and worked with the Africa Film Fest there. We went to Munich. We were in Hamburg. We did a whole 12-hour festival where we watched the entire show in a big auditorium, after which we did a big Q&A with 20 people from the crew and then had a big party. It was a very cool rollout. We were able to find the audience and have direct responses from them, which was beautiful.
DEADLINE: Beyond your scripts being great, why do you think the studio gave you such autonomy?
Gibba: I don’t fully know why. I asked the network the same question a few weeks ago. But it’s important to note that I had to go above and beyond, making a case for the show. I had to be very clear about everything. But there was an openness to listen. And to have the production companies like Jünglinge, which are political in their ideas about filmmaking, was great. It was just the right collaborators. The specific people at the network were Carolin Haasis and Christoph Pellander, who led the network, and they were both very much thinking about encouraging different perspectives.
DEADLINE: So much has changed politically in Germany and around the world since 2021. Do you think a show like Black Fruit would be possible now?
Gibba: I do think politically, we were at a different time. It was after 2020, and there was a different kind of awareness. There was a moment, and I would really call it, unfortunately, only a moment of understanding about the power and violence of discrimination and racism. I do think we are past that moment now. I hope institutions try to continue the progress we made. It takes real courage and leadership, and clarity for people to make those calls. I think they can. I’m always optimistic. But I do think politically, it’s very hard. In Germany, the film funding is very much connected to the government, which is a problem with the current shifts. We have to look at how everything develops, and we have to be loud and speak for ourselves and those who don’t have a platform.
DEADLINE: What do you want to do next? Will you continue to work in Germany?
Gibba: I definitely want to continue making projects in Germany but I’m also interested in writing and acting in English. I want to continue to travel with my work. I’m open to everything.
