Inner Berlin – A Documentary Series by Leyla Dirim
A Documentary Series by Leyla Dirim
Project Statement
Cities do not sleep – they think. Inner Berlin is an ongoing documentary series that makes those thoughts visible.
Filmed at street level in Berlin’s public spaces, each episode is a single, uninterrupted shot: static camera, ambient sound, no music. Over the individuals in the frame, text appears – imagined inner thoughts, written in multiple languages. Intimate and universal at once.
The series does not document events. It documents the space between them – the pause, the gaze, the moment before movement. What a person might be thinking while the city moves around them. What the city might be carrying without knowing it.
Inner Berlin sits at the intersection of street photography, documentary film, and urban literary observation. Each episode is self-contained. Together, they form a cumulative portrait – not of Berlin’s landmarks or history, but of its interior life.
The multilingual text reflects the reality of the city itself: a place where many languages coexist in public space, often without meeting.
Format: Single-shot | Fixed camera | Ambient sound | Multilingual text overlays | 20–60 seconds
Status: Ongoing, April 2026 –
Concept, camera, edit, text: Leyla Dirim
Leyla Dirim, April 2026 –
For inquiries contact leyla@leyladirim.com