{"id":185800,"date":"2025-02-11T19:50:20","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T19:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ucm.one\/ascend-2024-by-martina-schone-radunski-and-lana-cooper-darling-berlin\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:34:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:34:20","slug":"ascend","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ucm.one\/en\/ascend\/","title":{"rendered":"ASCEND by Martina Sch\u00f6ne-Radunski and Lana Cooper | Darling Berlin"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ascend<\/h1>\n

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Konnie, a musician well-respected in the far-right scene, loses her standing when she incorporates feminist and queer themes into her music. To redeem herself, she enlists the help of Rudi, an outsider punk who wants to attack a Nazi bar. But in the end, both are fighting a battle for belonging\u2014who will come out on top?<\/p>\n

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[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”4\/5″][vc_message css=”.vc_custom_1785248070991{padding-bottom: 17px !important;}”]Theatrical Release<\/strong>: In theaters in Germany starting August 6, 2026.[\/vc_message][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/5″ css=”.vc_custom_1770213337653{padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_btn title=”Showtimes” color=”juicy-pink” size=”lg” align=”center” css=”” button_block=”true” link=”url:%23showtimes”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1561290391124{border-right-width: -15px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”185767″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_image” css=””][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”185761″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_image” css=””][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text css=””]
\nHier ist die US-englische Fassung:<\/p>\n

Synopsis<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Konnie (28), a respected figure in Berlin\u2019s neo-Nazi scene, is steadily losing her standing among her comrades. Ever since she began incorporating her ultra-feminist, sex-positive, body-positive, and queer views into her music\u2014and defending them vehemently\u2014the far-right scene no longer knows what to make of her. Andi in particular, the outspoken bar owner and leader of the Friedrichshain Stahlkappen Division, has it in for her. When Konnie meets Rudi, a punk who is planning a fatalistic, one-man attack to blow up her Nazi bar, she sees him as the perfect pawn in her attempt to win back the approval of her far-right comrades. Rudi (38), whose unpredictable and aggressive behavior has driven away all his friends and turned him into an outsider within his own punk circle, is also looking for a way to reconnect with his buddies. Which of the two will be left standing in the end?<\/p>\n

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Director\u2019s Note by Martina Sch\u00f6ne-Radunski<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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ASCEND tells the story of two outsiders who cannot find their place in the world. Rudi wants to achieve immortality within the punk scene by destroying a neo-Nazi bar in Berlin, but in the process he defiantly sabotages his last remaining friendship\u2014with Cervezito\u2014and refuses to acknowledge his son August, whom he had with Sandra, the great love of his life. Konnie, meanwhile, tries to revolutionize her macho neo-Nazi bar through feminism, body positivity, and LGBTQIA* values\u2014a \u201cbug in the system\u201d that exposes the contradictions of the far right.<\/em><\/p>\n

Her declaration, \u201cThe future of National Socialism is female,\u201d is deliberately provocative: Is male hierarchy biologically determined? Would a National Socialist matriarchy not be more logical? Yet Rudi and Konnie both retreat into transgressive behavior, driven by the fear of becoming insignificant.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trapped between self-loathing and delusions of grandeur, they behave like isolated monads, incapable of truly recognizing the other. The narrative space is shaped less by causality than by symbolic repetition.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Konnie and Rudi succumb to a form of solipsism in which only their own experience is perceived as real. The outside world appears unreal\u2014a mindset that ultimately leads to vigilante justice, similar to the ideology of Germany\u2019s Reichsb\u00fcrger movement.<\/em><\/p>\n

Konnie\u2019s storyline is based on observations from Christopher Street Day events in Leipzig on August 17, 2024, and in Bautzen, where neo-Nazis threatened the parades. Particularly striking was the active participation of young far-right women who deliberately positioned themselves against gender diversity and LGBTQIA* rights.<\/em><\/p>\n

According to the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, women\u2019s involvement in right-wing extremism is increasing. By integrating women more actively, these movements modernize their image and broaden their base. Young women are portrayed as \u201cdefenders\u201d of traditional values, thereby gaining influence.<\/em><\/p>\n

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It is also evident that far-right groups in Germany are increasingly planning and carrying out targeted actions against the LGBTQIA* community.<\/em><\/p>\n

I was interested in the following question: What if a young far-right woman were to use feminism and LGBTQIA* issues to preserve National Socialism? How might these concepts be defined through a fascistic lens?<\/em><\/p>\n

Just as left-wing supporters of arms deliveries are portrayed as warmongers while the right presents itself as a force for peace, queer identity politics could likewise be reinterpreted in the future through a diametrically opposed populist narrative.<\/em><\/p>\n

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