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Prinz in Hölleland

Prince in Hell
Retrospective 2026
Source: Michael Stock, © Salzgeber
Jockel and Stefan are a gay couple living in a trailer in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district. Jockel engages in anonymous sex on the side, which does not make Stefan happy, even less so since Jockel has also started shooting up heroin. Worried about his lover, Stefan tries to break his addiction, but Jockel isn’t having it. To rustle up the money for his dealer, he starts an intense relationship with their neighbour in the trailer park, Micha.
​Prince in Hell tells the story of this fatal gay triangle against the backdrop of the drug and squatter scene around the notorious metro station at Kottbusser Tor. Shot on location on vacant lots and places like the now-legendary bar Café Anal, the film also documents the free-ranging habits and lifestyle of the queer off-the-grid milieu. It is a graphic and sometimes extreme portrayal of its denizens – leathermen and anarchists, punks and trannies – as well as the threat they face from right-wing skinheads. The title is an homage to a puppet show by a local jester, but the film breaks with the plot of a prince who loves a miller’s son and this debut film by Michael Stock, just 25 when he made it, does not have a fairy-tale ending.
by Michael Stock (Director, Screenplay), Stefan Laarmann (Screenplay), Wolfram Haack (Screenplay)
with Wolfram Haack, Stefan Laarmann, Michael Stock, Andreas Stadler, Nils-Leevke Schmidt, Simone Spengler, Harry Baer, Andreja Schneider Germany 1993 German 96' Colour Rating R 16

With

  • Wolfram Haack
  • Stefan Laarmann
  • Michael Stock
  • Andreas Stadler
  • Nils-Leevke Schmidt
  • Simone Spengler
  • Harry Baer
  • Andreja Schneider

Crew

Director Michael Stock
Screenplay Michael Stock, Stefan Laarmann, Wolfram Haack
Cinematography Lorenz Haarmann
Editing Uwe Lauterkorn
Music Tom Stern, Alexander Hacke, Chrislo Haas
Sound Design Margarethe Heitmüller
Costumes Agnes Müller
Make-Up Volker Paracivini

Additional information

DCP: Salzgeber & Co Medien, Berlin

Photos