New David Bowie documentary will explore his Berlin years
The BBC has announced a new documentary, currently titled Bowie in Berlin, which will mark David Bowie‘s 50th anniversary of arrival in the German capital.
Bowie originally moved to Berlin in 1976 to escape several things, such as the exhausting demands of fame in Los Angeles, paranoid psychosis, and a debilitating cocaine addiction. He lived an anonymous life in West Berlin’s artistic and underground scenes.
Jonathan Rothery, Head of BBC Popular Music TV, has shed some light on the upcoming production, stating: “Through the voices of those who were closest to David Bowie during this transformative period of his life, and through the words of the man himself, Bowie in Berlin will shed new light on one of the most important artists in musical history.”
Beloved podcaster Louis Theroux will be an executive producer on the project via Mindhouse. Louis Theroux, Executive Producer for Mindhouse, says: “This is a dream project. Francis’s three previous Bowie films are the gold standard for Bowie film-making and indeed for docs about music in general. To have his artistry focused on the Berlin years – using the lens of the women in Bowie’s life – is a perfect match of director and material.”
He added, “There’s a wonderful unity of time and place to Bowie’s period in Berlin. He hit bottom, but he also found himself making some of his most personal music, then relaunched himself for the first time without a mask, as himself. So, Berlin is the crucible for his incredible regeneration and everything that came afterwards.”
The new documentary will hear from Bowie’s Berlin muses, Clare Shenstone, Romy Haag, Sarah-Rena Hine, and Sydne Rome. The BBC deems the topic of this exploration “one of the most important periods of his life – when he turned his back on fame and success and disappeared from sight into the streets of Cold War Berlin, from 1976-1978.”
The documentary currently has a project autumn 2026 release date.
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