David Bowie’s Berlin Era to Be Spotlighted in Upcoming Film

The BBC has announced a new David Bowie documentary currently in production, tentatively titled Bowie in Berlin. The film will delve into one of the most creatively fertile periods of the artist’s life—his late 1970s relocation to the German capital. It was there that Bowie shed the excess of his Los Angeles years and redefined his sound, producing some of his most adventurous work to date.

During this transformative era, Bowie recorded what would later be dubbed the Berlin Trilogy—Low, “Heroes”, and Lodger. In addition to his own music, he also collaborated closely with Iggy Pop, co-writing and producing the albums The Idiot and Lust for Life, which remain touchstones of post-punk innovation.

Familiar Faces Behind the Camera

The documentary will be directed by Francis Whately, whose previous Bowie projects—Finding Fame, Five Years, and The Last Five Years—are widely regarded as definitive works on the late icon. Executive production comes from none other than Louis Theroux, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of the production company Mindhouse, who called the project a “dream” to be part of.

“Francis’s three previous Bowie films are the gold standard for Bowie filmmaking and indeed for docs about music in general,” Theroux said in a press statement. “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. There’s a wonderful unity of time and place to Bowie’s period in Berlin.”

Set to air in autumn 2026, the film will blend archival material with fresh perspectives from those who were there, offering a personal and previously unseen side to Bowie’s Berlin years.

Four Women, One City, Untold Stories

What sets Bowie in Berlin apart from previous documentaries is its unique narrative approach. Alongside Bowie’s own words, the story will be told through the voices of four women who shared his life during this pivotal time: Clare Shenstone, Romy Haag, Sarah-Rena Hine, and Sydne Rome.

According to the BBC’s press release, these women “shared this life during this time” and bring “unique insight into the singer’s life, art and character,” providing what it describes as a “secret history” of Bowie’s Berlin chapter. Their testimonies promise to shed light on not just the music but also the man behind it, revealing how Berlin shaped both Bowie’s artistry and personal transformation.