In his directorial debut, Berlin and Mexico City-based cinematographer Phillip Kaminiak embarks on a personal project where he attempts to deal with his previous relationships by training a lens on real-life couple Cassandre Clerk and Johannes Lex.

“There is a phenomenon in my life which means I struggle with love, open relationships and not being able to stay with only one person,” says the director who shot the film on Berlin’s U-Bahn, pedestrian subways and around Friedrichshain’s concrete-lined boulevards. “Documenting the couple became an intimate and cathartic experience for me.”

Inspired by a scene from Polish filmmaker Andrzej Żuławski’s 1981 film Possession, Kaminiak’s project blends psychological horror, documentary, dance (choreographed by Kianí del Valle) and original score (composed by Margate-based musician RAVEN) to chart a couple’s intense new relationship. As well as featuring some delightfully gratuitous kissing and apocalyptic fighting, Cass & Lex also looks at the struggle to establish emotional bonds in cities that are designed to distract.

“I was wondering if today's relationships are any different from mine in the past,” says the director who also works on evocative music videos and commercials. “The anonymity of big cities, dating apps, open relationships…. I had to learn everything the painful way but it now seems so normal for people today.”