The Social Pleasure Center

About the film

The Social Pleasure Center documents the DIY somatic casino space Fortuna and the Social Pleasure Center collective, while situating them within broader narratives of queer resilience amid the housing crisis and austerity politics.

Director's statement

I began filming The Social Pleasure Center out of a sense of necessity. The film shares its name with the collective that ran the space: a group of queer dancers and artists who created an alternative form of togetherness outside of Berlin's club culture. Centered on community togetherness and expression through often sober gatherings, the space offered a different model for queer community apart from nightlife.

The space quickly became a cornerstone of my community. At the same time, signs of its precariousness began to appear. It felt important to document it while it still existed.

After filming began, I received support from Fonds Darstellende Künste via Maria Scaroni, which allowed the project to grow. With that funding, I was able to collaborate with a larger team and record dozens of interviews with artists, organizers, and community members connected to the space.

Through this film, I want to document a moment in Berlin's queer cultural history: how people organized, cared for one another, and built spaces for connection in the 2020s. More broadly, I hope the film shows that creating community spaces and organizing collectively is worthwhile, even when those spaces are temporary.