Lowest of the Low (film, in development)
Günter Wallraff has dedicated his life to uncovering social ills and has repeatedly slipped into different roles over the years. In 1983, Wallraff takes on the role of his life, that of the Turkish labourer Ali. As Ali, Wallraff infiltrates the most diverse areas of German society, working at McDonald's, on various building sites and as a temporary labourer at Thyssen. In the process, he repeatedly experiences exploitation, marginalisation, disregard and hatred. Despite all the seriousness, Wallraff as Ali also repeatedly finds himself in absurd situations, be it in his attempts to be baptised in the Catholic Church or as a "terminally ill" man who wants to plan his own funeral and is exploited even in the face of death.
Wallraff puts his health at risk for his investigative drive during the hard work in the steelworks and the boundaries between his own self and Ali become so blurred over time that his wife leaves him and even his own mother does not recognise him. Wallraff finds an accomplice in his Turkish colleague Osman, who supports him in his investigative work, and Wallraff also falls in love with a new woman as Ali, which quickly becomes a dilemma. When the boss of the temporary labour company forces him to choose five Turks to carry out a life-threatening assignment at a defective nuclear power plant, Wallraff reaches his moral limits. He prepares one of the biggest deceptive manoeuvres of his 20-year career, which will be the end of his journey as Ali.
Based on the book by Günter Wallraff
Writer & director: Hüseyin Tabak