YNWA-Blog #1

Shooting preparations in Dortmund

If you want to trace the life of the song "You’ll never walk alone," Dortmund is the place to be: In preparation for shooting, and for the first test shots, of the planned documentary film “You’ll never walk alone” the film team and Joachim Król are heading for the Yellow Wall, for the last Bundesliga match against FC Cologne.

In the morning director André Schäfer picks up Joachim Król at Dortmund’s main railway station for a short stroll through the city before the game and to soak up the unique atmosphere on a BVB home-match day—when half of Dortmund is submerged in black and yellow. Even if, on the last match day, there’s really nothing more at stake: Bayern has been assured of the championship since the previous match, while BVB ends the season as the best runner-up of all time.

By noon fans are gathering at the Kumpel Erich pub in the Kreuzviertel and the first Pils is already flowing from the tap. In defiance of the weather forecast, the sun peeps out occasionally: The football god appears well disposed toward the team. With its lace curtains, dark wood furnishings, and waiters in miner’s shirts, the interior of the pub is a throwback to the 1950s. Król immediately starts chatting, exchanging views with the fans. People greet each other.

From the Kreuzviertel the team makes a beeline for the stadium. The cameraman and sound technician haul their equipment over the B1 bridge to the press entrance of the stadium and on to the platform of stadium announcer Nobby Dickel, from where we have an impressive view of the Yellow Wall. The tiers of the South Bank are already filling up long before the start of the game. A few minutes before kick-off the well-known football anthem booms out of the stadium speakers. Scarves are thrown skyward as the fans give a lusty rendition of “You’ll never walk alone”, easily drowning out the band.

In Block 26 today stands Joachim Król, delighted to part of the Yellow Wall again for the first time in many years. He’s now usually on the West Bank, “because you have a better view of the South from there.” For the cameraman things are getting tough: It’s by no means easy to zero in on Joachim Król’s position in this sea of black and yellow. But that’s what test shots are for, after all—and in the autumn we’ll be back to the South Bank. In the last match, however, BVB got no further than a draw against Cologne. After this initiation in Dortmund the film team will go on a long trip at the beginning of June. Filming for the production starts officially in Budapest on June 1.