German Series in the USA
“Sam — A Saxon” — From Cop to Convict

It took long enough, but now even Disney+ is investing in "Made in Germany" original productions – and is entering the scene with a hard-hitting story: "Sam - A Saxon" narrates the rise and fall of the first black police officer in East Germany. Samuel Njankouo Meffire becomes a media darling shortly after the reunification, serving as the face of an anti-racism campaign. However, four years later, he finds himself behind bars. An ambitious (anti-)hero story based on true events.

By Angela Zierow

What does home mean? Who is German? What does it actually mean to be "German"? "Sam - A Saxon," Disney+'s first German original production, asks uncomfortable questions about national sentiments. Across seven episodes, the series depicts the rise, fall, and rehabilitation of 52-year-old Samuel "Sam" Njankouo Meffire, portrayed convincingly by Malick Bauer ("Wir").

A life like an adventure novel

Meffire initially makes headlines in the early 1990s as the first black police officer in East Germany but later becomes involved in criminal activities. Therefore, Disney+'s debut is not only a long-overdue history lesson but also loaded with provocative themes: violence, racism, right-wing extremism, addiction, overestimation of oneself, and the desperate search for belonging. "A life like an adventure novel," wrote the Sächsische Zeitung about Samuel Njankouo Meffire. An understatement, as Meffire's fate easily provides material for two novels. In a highly condensed summary: Sam is born in 1970 in Zwenkau near Leipzig as the son of a Cameroonian and a German. His father dies on the day of his birth under mysterious circumstances. From then on, his mother has to raise him and his brother alone. She drinks, becomes violent, and Sam finds support only with his grandparents in Dresden. He navigates through life: sports school, apprenticeship as a mason, odd jobs, military service with the paramilitary units of the People's Police. Is he finding the community he hoped for, finally escaping perpetual outsider status? When the Berlin Wall falls in November 1989, his life doesn't get any easier. Subtle everyday racism in East Germany turns into brutal xenophobia across the entire nation. Neonazis rampage in Hoyerswerda, Mölln, Rostock, Solingen, and refugee accommodations burn nationwide. Sam wants to make a statement, joins the Saxon police force as a lateral entrant, completes training at the Criminal Investigation Department, and becomes the first black police officer in East Germany, gaining fame almost overnight. In 1992, his face adorned billboards nationwide with the slogan "A Saxon" in cool black and white. The award-winning anti-racism campaign turns the 20-year-old into a media darling. He tours talk shows, plays the role of the exemplary cop, but behind the scenes, things are falling apart. Meffire abruptly resigns from duty in 1994. However, his new security agency "Omega" fails. Getting involved with a local figure in the red-light district marks the beginning of his (temporary) downfall: the ex-cop descends into robbery and assault. His face now appears on wanted posters. Recognized by one of his victims, he flees to Zaire, today's Democratic Republic of the Congo. A life-threatening decision, but Meffire eventually surrenders to German authorities.

A German-German life

In 1996, the Dresden Regional Court sentences him to nine years and nine months in prison, of which he serves seven. Afterward, the former cop manages to turn his life around. Today, at 52, he lives in Bonn with his wife and two daughters, working with delinquent youth as a coach for crisis situations and a crime author. His autobiographical novel, "Ich, ein Sachse: Mein deutsch-deutsches Leben," co-authored by Lothar Kittstein, was released coinciding with the series launch by Ullstein Verlag.

In "Sam - A Saxon," creators Tyron Ricketts ("Bunte Hunde"), Jörg Winger ("Deutschland 83/86/89"), and Christoph "Chris" Silber ("Ich bin dann mal weg") present German-German history from a previously unique perspective. Ricketts, also a co-producer, composer, and supporting actor (Alex), wanted to give People of Color in Germany a voice. The Austrian-born Ricketts, who started his career as a rapper and VIVA moderator ("Word Cup"), considers the adaptation a passion project that required considerable effort, as he shared with Time Online. Distributors told him, "No one wants to see a black lead actor." Meffire has known Ricketts since 2001, describing him as an "ambivalent person."
This ambivalence is captured in "Sam - A Saxon." Not a pleasing multicultural fluff, the seven-part series focuses on German-German tornness and identity search. Ambitious but not always successful, according to critics in feuilleton and specialized press. While taz praised the cast, it found the series "rather conventionally executed," with the "mixture of political relevance and entertainment" not always successful. FAZ also acknowledged the series as "a impressively told piece of German history," but occasionally shook its head at some stereotypical depictions of events. TV Spielfilm expressed that the protagonist's development was "a bit crudely told." The Süddeutsche Zeitung even judged that Disney+ had "seriously overreached."

Maximal weird

Is "Sam - A Saxon" still worth watching? Definitely, not least because lead actor Malick Bauer impresses with an outstanding performance. The Bremen native, who studied at the University of Music and Theater in Leipzig, told MDR, "From my perspective as an actor, the series is a perfect story about our exclusion of Blackness in belonging to Germany. We always deny our colonial history in Germany." With the beginning of the "Black Lives Matter" movement in 2019, he noted a change, and "the racism debate was finally triggered." Bauer received support in preparing for the role from Samuel Meffire himself. The latter sometimes finds it challenging to fully grasp the film adaptation of his own past, admitting in an interview with BuzzFeed News: "It's maximal weird. Sometimes I think the Matrix has a glitch or something."

„Sam - Ein Sachse“ / „Sam - A Saxon“
7 episodes of approx. 55 minutes each
Germany 2023, Directed by: Soleen Yusef, Sarah Blaßkiewitz
Starring: Malick Bauer, Luise von Finckh, Svenja Bauer, Larissa Sirah Herden, Ivy Quainoo, Joy Denalane, Thorsten Merten, Martin Brambach, Paula Essam, Nymandi Adrian
FSK 12