A short review of first- and second-year German instructional material in the U.S. shows that, by design, cultural competence is either frequently conveyed in isolation from other language skills, or culture topics are approached merely in a utilitarian way to test comprehension or practice grammar. The contribution at hand presents a multi-modal, documentary-based lesson design on gentrification in Berlin. Students are encouraged to creatively employ their language skills to asses, interpret, and respond to information conveyed in the documentary film and develop intercultural empathy for a contemporary social justice issue in Germany.