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  • Goodbye Berlin: Four questions for… Sam Handley

Film

Goodbye Berlin: Four questions for… Sam Handley

Berliner-of-nearly-a-decade Sam Handley is saying goodbye to Berlin with his wonderful video "the Phantasy Magier". We present you with both his video and a final "parting" interview.

A Berliner for almost 10 years, New Zealander Sam Handley has called it a day in the Haupstadt and is going back Down Under. As his parting gift and thank you to Berlin, he wrote and directed his own unique, moving monochrome video postcard: “The Phantasy Magier”. In a typical Berlin twist of circumstances, Handley met the lead man for his video, Peter Krehl, in a supermarket. We’re proud to present Handley’s wonderful video here and wish him well in the future. Short and sweet at under two minutes, Handley beautifully captures an uplifting and magical feeling in the Berlin streets.

Why did you originally come here?

About 11 years ago I was in a band and one night I had a dream that we moved to Berlin. So the next day when we met for a session I told everyone about the dream and we decided to just do it! And so about one year later we had saved up some money and boarded a plane, six band members, three partners and two kids.

Why are you leaving now?

I just felt in my heart and soul that it was time to return to nature… I was brought up on a farm under a mountain range in a remote area of New Zealand where I used to ride a horse and explore the native forests. So I am just going with my instinct. I feel so grateful to have lived in Berlin and am inspired and excited to take a little bit with me into the next chapter.

Any stand-out memories of Berlin?

Just after our band arrived we bought a former police van with tinted bulletproof windows and we used it to start a moving company. We called it Men with a Ven. One of the first jobs we ever had was to pick up a coffin and take it to a gallery. We then found out that an artist dressed up as his own mother was going to lay in the coffin with the casket open pretending to be dead.

What will you miss the most?

I will miss living in a city with a real spirit, weird and wonderful characters, kind people, open minds, special moments, the autumn colours and light, the friends I have made along the way, Pfaueninsel, the little world of Rixdorf where I lived and a true sense of being free.