Der Zauberer von Öz - Eine Fußballtragödie

In the organizer's words:

SCHAUSPIEL

Small house

World premiere
by Akın Emanuel Şipal
Directed by Aram Tafreshian

Mesut Özil is many things at the same time: ball artist, world champion, identification figure, poster boy for integration, scapegoat, scandal figure. His story reflects the tensions of a country that is struggling with its idea of belonging. While Özil revealed little about his life, the public judged him all the more loudly - about his body language, his skill on the ball, his political and religious views, his loyalty. Born in Gelsenkirchen, he turned professional at Schalke at the age of 17. Dissatisfied, he moved to Werder Bremen, where he scored his first Bundesliga goal. He swaps his Turkish passport for a German one and is celebrated and booed at the same time. In 2010, he receives the Bambi for integration, four years later he becomes world champion. 2018 changes everything: the photo with Erdoğan triggers a wave of outrage, Özil remains silent. Özil retires from the national team after nine years: 92 games, 23 goals, 40 assists, one World Cup title - and a lot of hatred. He settles accounts with the DFB, the media and sponsors, accusing them of double standards and racism. He now lives in Istanbul and his political positions are considered controversial. Özil's story oscillates between victim and perpetrator, role model and provocateur. The case tells of Germany and its cracks, of projections and the pressure to perform. In "The Wizard of Öz", Akın Emanuel Şipal transforms this biography into a fairytale-like multi-perspective journey in which magical powers meet pop culture, sport and politics. Özil embarks on a (nightmarish) retrospective of his career - haunted by the ghosts of the past. Directed by Aram Tafreshian, power relations, integration discourses and the centrifugal forces of our society are brought to the stage in all their absurdity, where they are debated in subtle interstices. The evening switches quickly and fragmentarily between genres and perspectives, telling more about the observers than the observed.

Presented by Bremen Zwei.