Toby Ashraf – MRQE

In Their Room (V)

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The latest episode continues to voyeuristically document what goes on in the minds and bedrooms of urban gays. In Berlin, Mathews lingers on the tension and circular nature between intimacy and loneliness by documenting a handful of Berliners -some single, some coupled, some hooking up- over the course of one day.

Berlin Drifters

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Kôichi is a Japanese man living alone in Berlin. He has no job and hardly any friends. One night Kôichi meets Ryota at a bar which is also a sex club. Ryota came to Berlin to visit a German guy whom he had “met” on a dating app. His high hopes for romance (and marriage?) were quickly crushed since the German was only interested in sex, not even letting Ryota stay for the night. That is why Ryota ended up spending the night in the dark room of the sex club. Kôichi for some reason lets Ryota stay at his apartment. They have sex. Ryota goes out almost everyday to get laid by various local men and comes home to Kôichi’s. Increasingly caught up with a strange feeling that is akin to but not quite frustration or curiosity (needless to say, it is not even close to love), Kôichi gradually gives himself up to sex with Ryota.

Der lange Sommer der Theorie

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

“What is to be done?” three women with artistic and creative professions in temporary living conditions are wondering. They are sharing a flat in an old building close to Berlin Central Station. The area is one of the city’s last remaining gaps between buildings. They decide to end their flat share as soon as the first trenches will be dug. With mixed feelings they are heading towards the time when their spontaneous life comes to an end, which means they have to make one or more (life) decisions eventually. The current flat is a symbol for their own life scripts so far: unformed and all bets are off but it already starts to be uncomfortable. They spend the remaining days in their flat with friends, celebrations, discussions and the strong feeling for the dawning of a new era.

Looking for Simon

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Simon, a young German doctor who lives and works in Marseille, goes missing. His appartment is empty. His mother Valérie is desperate. She doesn’t understand the reason of his disappearance. Therefore she asks Jens, Simon’s former boyfriend, to come to Marseille and help her find him.