4 Blocks (TV series)
4 Blocks is a German drama series. It stars Kida Khodr Ramadan as Ali "Toni“ Hamady, the leader of a Lebanese crime family and drug cartel in Berlin-Neukölln. He is forced to postpone his plans to leave the business to live an ordinary life with his wife, played by Maryam Zaree, when his brother-in-law, played by Massiv, is arrested. He brings in Vince Kerner, played by Frederick Lau, a boyhood friend, to restore order in the family business, much to the dislike of Toni's brother Abbas, played by Veysel, who is eager to succeed him as the family leader.
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| Country of origin | Germany |
| Original language | German |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 19 (list of episodes) |
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| Running time | 51–59 Minutes |
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| Distributor | Turner Broadcasting System Europe |
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| Original network | TNT Series |
| Original release | May 8, 2017 – December 12, 2019 |
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The first season premiered on German pay television channel TNT Serie on May 8, 2017. A second season premiered on October 11, 2018 and a third in November 2019. Internationally, the series airs on Amazon Prime Video.
4 Blocks has received critical acclaim in Germany and has won multiple domestic awards, including the Grimme-Preis for Ramadan, Gelin, and director Marvin Kren, and six German Television Awards (Deutscher Fernsehpreis), including Best Drama Series, Best Actor for Ramadan, and Best Director for Kren.
Premise
The Lebanese Ali "Toni“ Hamady has lived in Germany with his family for 26 years. He is the boss of an organized crime family located in the Neukölln borough of Berlin. In order to protect his wife Kalila and daughter Serin he tries to become a legitimate businessman. After his brother-in-law Latif is arrested with nine kilograms of cocaine in the trunk of his car, Toni must do something. He does not want to let his unpredictable brother Abbas take his place as head of the Hamady Clan. Meanwhile, Toni runs into Vince, an old friend who he trusts. He takes Vince into confidence, not realizing that Vince is actually working with the police as an undercover agent.
Cast
- Kida Khodr Ramadan as Ali „Toni“ Hamady, the former leader of the Hamady crime family. After planning to leave in order to live an ordinary life with his wife, he is forced back into business in order to protect his family.
- Frederick Lau as Vince Kerner, a boyhood friend of Toni and former member of the „Southeast Warriors“, who returns to Berlin after many years to assist him in restoring order in the family business.
- Veysel Gelin as Abbas Hamady, Toni's younger brother and the designated new leader of his family's business.
- Almila Bagriacik as Amara Hamady, Latif's wife and the sister of Toni and Abbas.
- Maryam Zaree as Kalila Hamady, Toni's wife. She pushes Toni to leave the criminal activities of his family behind to start a legal life and obtain German citizenship.
- Karolina Lodyga as Ewa Niziol, Abbas's wife and the only non-Arab member of the Hamady family. She enjoys little respect within the family and pushes Abbas to strengthen his position against Toni.
- Massiv as Latif Hamady, Amara's husband. He and Abbas organize the family's drug business through his car repair shop.
- Sami Nasser as Kemal Hamady, a former member of the „Southeast Warriors“ and one of the closest confidants of Toni and Abbas. He is responsible for the smaller crime businesses of the family.
- Erkan Sulcani as Achmed „Kartoffel“ Hamady, part of the inner circle of the clan, who acts as one of the enforcers of the family.
- Rauand Taleb as Zeki, Issam's best friend and one of the Hamady family's drug runners. He dreams of working his way up in the family's business.
- Emilio Sakraya as Issam, Zeki's best friend and one of the Hamady family's drug runners. He is the more deliberate of the two, but Zeki often convinces him to actions which get him into trouble.
- Ronald Zehrfeld as Rainer „Ruffi“ Ruff, the president of the „Cthuhlu“, a rocker club funded by drug trafficking and prostitution. In the light of the Hamady family's supply difficulties, he tries to take over their territories in Berlin-Neukölln.
- Oliver Masucci as Hagen Kutscha, leader of the police's investigations of the Hamady family.
- Ludwig Trepte as Nico, the Cthuhlu's drug runner. He tries to lure dealers away from the Hamadys, which causes conflict between him and Zeki and Issam.
Production
The first episode of the series was shot in July 2016 in Berlin. Locations in the Neukölln and Kreuzberg boroughs were used including the Sonnenallee, the Kottbusser Tor subway station and Görlitzer Park. The budget for the first season was four million euros, including €250,000 they received from the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.[2]
Release
The first two episodes of the series were shown on 15 February 2017 at the Berlin International Film Festival.[3] The complete first season was broadcast weekly for six weeks from May to June 2017 on TNT Serie. It also aired on free-to-air channel ZDFneo in November 2018.[1]
Amazon secured international broadcasting rights in more than 150 countries, with the first season added on Amazon Prime on October 5, 2017 and season 2 on December 15, 2018.[4] In Summer 2018, it was released in 50 additional countries including Germany, France and Russia.[1]
Episodes
Season 1 (2017)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Original air date |
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| 1 | 1 | "Brothers" "Brüder" | Marvin Kren | May 8, 2017 |
| 2 | 2 | "False Nine" "Die falsche Neun" | Marvin Kren | May 15, 2017 |
| 3 | 3 | "Ibrahim" | Marvin Kren | May 22, 2017 |
| 4 | 4 | "Betrayal" "Verrat" | Marvin Kren | May 29, 2017 |
| 5 | 5 | "Powerless" "Machtlos" | Marvin Kren | June 5, 2017 |
| 6 | 6 | "Dead Man Walking" | Marvin Kren | June 12, 2017 |
Season 2 (2018)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Original air date |
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| 7 | 1 | "Fire" "Feuer" | Oliver Hirschbiegel | October 11, 2018 |
| 8 | 2 | "Sheep and Lions" "Schafe und Löwen" | Oliver Hirschbiegel | October 18, 2018 |
| 9 | 3 | "Blood" "Blut" | Oliver Hirschbiegel | October 25, 2018 |
| 10 | 4 | "Free" "Frei" | Özgür Yıldırım | November 1, 2018 |
| 11 | 5 | "Peace" "Frieden" | Özgür Yıldırım | November 8, 2018 |
| 12 | 6 | "Reparation" "Wiedergutmachung" | Özgür Yıldırım | November 15, 2018 |
| 13 | 7 | "Winning and losing" "Gewinnen und verlieren" | Özgür Yıldırım | November 22, 2018 |
Season 3 (2019)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Original air date |
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| 14 | 1 | "Ali" | Özgür Yıldırım | November 7, 2019 |
| 15 | 2 | "The Path of Money" "Der Weg des Geldes" | Özgür Yıldırım | November 14, 2019 |
| 16 | 3 | "Familiar enemy" "Vertrauter Feind" | Özgür Yıldırım | November 21, 2019 |
| 17 | 4 | "Diamonds" "Diamanten" | Özgür Yıldırım | November 28, 2019 |
| 18 | 5 | "Pact with the Devil" "Der Pakt mit dem Teufel" | Özgür Yıldırım | December 5, 2019 |
| 19 | 6 | "Brothers for Ever" "Brüder für immer" | Özgür Yıldırım | December 12, 2019 |
See also
References
- Keslassy, Elsa (2018-09-25). "Amazon Secures Global Rights to German Gangster Drama '4 Blocks'". Variety. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
- "Miniserie "4 Blocks" dreht mit echten Berliner Clan-Mitgliedern". rbb Fernsehen (in German). 2016-10-06. Archived from the original on 2017-09-02. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
- "Archiv | Jahresarchive | 2017 | Programm - 4 Blocks". Berlin International Film Festival (in German). Retrieved 2017-05-17.
- http://screencrush.com/whats-new-on-amazon-prime-december-2018/