“Max & Joy – come closer”: moving premiere celebration for the music documentary

With around 200 invited guests, Joy Denalane (51) celebrated the premiere of her three -part ARD documentary “Max & Joy – Come closer” in the Astor Film Lounge in Berlin. The Max Herre (52), which was also titled, was also missing from the event. The music documentary, which can now be found in the media library, gives intimate insights into the life and work of one of the most influential pairs of musicians in Germany.

“It was exciting, surprising, touching, sometimes also delicate to look at his teenager in the eye and watch it while living and working,” Joy Denalane described her feelings during the development of the documentation. “Talks have arisen from this and wakes up together memories. All of this remains.”

The documentary series accompanies Joy Denalane and Max Herre, who have shaped the German music scene for over 25 years and have experienced as a few ups and downs. A special focus is on their common musical journey, their successes, but also private moments such as the birth of their children, their wedding, their temporary separation and find them again.

As director, her long-time friend Sékou Neblett (53), who was originally part of the band Freundeskreis (1996-2007) and later made a career as a screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. “We have been friends with Sékou Neblett for over 25 years,” said Max Herre. “We found Sékous’s view of his friends Max & Joy interesting and worth telling. And that is the documentary you can see with material from his pool and from joys and my pool.”

The documentary series also accompanies the musician couple at the creation of their first common duet album “Aller Liebe”, which was published in November 2024 and came directly to 5th place on the album charts.

At the premiere celebration on Wednesday evening in Berlin, companions, friends, family members and prominent guests received initial insights into the three-part documentary series. Among the guests included Jannik Schümann, Lamin Leroy Gibba, Anna Dushime, Hadnet Tesfai, Jenny Augusta, Marie Nasemann, Marwa Eldessouky and Frank Dellé.

“With ‘Max & Joy – come closer’ another chapter of German music history is told,” said Kristian Costa -Zahn, program manager ARD Kultur. “Joy Denalane and Max Herre have shaped the music landscape like hardly any other couple, their journey together reflects the development of hip-hop, soul and R&B in Germany.”

Following the premiere, Joy Denalane performed her songs “in the ghetto of Soweto (Auntie’s House)”, “whatever” and “a little more than friendship” and was visibly moved by the great interest in the documentary series. – And as a comment, the Berlin musicians had added a loving explanation why Max Herre was missing at the premiere: “Because my Maxi was sick, I took over his part,” wrote Joy Denalane.