A Berlin DJ Is Desperate for an Illegal Organ Transplant in ‘The Liver’ (Exclusive)

The American-Israeli director Niv Kleiner (Central Valley) will write and direct the Berlin-set The Liver, a black comedy about a down-on-his-luck DJ trying to secure an organ transplant.

German-Swiss actor Raphaël Tschudi (Anuk III) will play Henri, a former DJ who landed in the German capital many years ago and still barely speaks German, who desperately needs a new liver. When he fails to find a donor among his old Berlin Club buddies, he turns to the black market to find a fitting organ. But the past he’s been running away from will soon catch up with him and he’ll need to make peace with his worst enemies to save his own life.

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Emilia Schüle, star of the Canal+ series Marie Antoinette, co-stars, alongside Fauda actress Laetitia Eido, and German actors Winfried Hochholdinger (Babylon Berlin) and Jan Josef Liefers (Tatort, The Tower).

“The Liver is a small, fine film that will touch your heart despite its bitter humor,” says Alexander van Dülmen, who is producing the feature through his Berlin shingle Film&Mischwaren. “The more desperate Henri, who urgently needs a liver to continue living and the more his efforts fail, the more tragic and ultimately more serious the story becomes [but] the end of the story is a surprising, forgiving and a happy one.”

The Liver is set to go into production at the end of 2024.

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