In 1992, my family emigrated from Kazakhstan to Germany. Like many so-called “late repatriates” (Spätaussiedler), we had to start from scratch, but we were full of hope and believed that life in the West would be fairer. Eventually, word spread that you could make good money by selling used German cars in the former Eastern Bloc. Especially in Russia, where people were obsessed with Mercedes, BMWs, and Opels. It became the “business” of the common man and a chance to get back on your feet quickly.

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But the early euphoria didn’t last. In the turmoil of the 1990s, unemployment, inflation, and crime exploded across the post-socialist East. I still remember a young man who lived in our tiny housing complex with his family. He drove a white Mercedes 190 to Russia and never returned. He was ambushed and murdered near the Polish-Russian border.

With Risen from Ruins, I look at the deeper consequences of what followed the collapse of the Easter Bloc when West German investors bought up East German industries and dismantled them for profit. In Russia, where impoverished civil servants, ex-KGB operatives, and Western businessmen looted public assets in a team effort. The result was a mafia-style oligarchy that now dominates Russian politics and wages a brutal and unjustified war against Ukraine.

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But amid these sweeping geopolitical shifts, my film focuses on the everyday people trying to survive the chaos. Risen from Ruins tells the story of two friends from the former Eastern Bloc who struggle to find their place in a new system. They enter the tempting used-car trade, only to discover too late that the rules of the game are set by others. The film reflects a time that left deep scars - wounds that have since reopened in disturbing ways.

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Today, I look at East Germany and see that it has become fertile ground for the far-right extremist AfD party - a party spreading across the entire country. I see my own community, Russian-Germans, supporting this party and falling for Russian propaganda. It’s painful to witness. But I want to explore the roots of this broken trust. What happens to people when they’re told, over and over again: “You don’t matter”? I believe the truth lies buried in the 1990s - a decade of hope, and a decade of squandered opportunities.

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This film is not an excuse, nor a nostalgic look back. It is my attempt to tell what happens when people are crushed, when their homeland is dismantled, when they are promised inclusion and then are abandoned. Risen from Ruins asks: What remains of democracy’s promise when it never truly reached everyone?