A drama born from lockdown. Two sisters, separated since their mother's death, attempt to reunite as Berlin shuts down in spring 2020.
Shot without traditional financing and without pre-written dialogue, the ten-episode series was made inside the lockdown it depicts. The result is a story whose form mirrors its circumstance — close, unguarded, present.
Leonie, fourteen, has spent years in foster care. Lea, sixteen, lives with their father. The plan to find each other collides with the city closing around them. What follows unfolds like a slow shared inhale — the time before the world started again.
Winner — International Panorama Jury Award, Séries Mania 2022
"Written and filmed during lockdown, with space for improvisation to capture those moments when the health crisis upended private lives, Sunshine Eyes is grounded in reality yet never feels heavy. It shifts with ease between tenderness, loss, and hope. With fluid direction reminiscent of Gus Van Sant and performances of striking grace, the series delivers a message of love and hope with rare tenderness."
— Le Figaro
"A hypersensitive ensemble story, focused on the life paths of several families from Berlin, shaken by the first lockdown. Really shot during the first wave of Covid, partly improvised by non-professional actors and without funding, this series is a sincere, moving and beautiful mirror of our very first moments with the virus."
— Séries Mania
"Sunshine Eyes has a rawness and authentic voice that really sticks out in Germany."
— Gerhard Maier, Artistic Director, Seriencamp Festival
An exceptional project — standing apart from its twelve competition rivals despite having no broadcaster attached.
— Torsten Zarges, DWDL.de
Trailer
