Among 16 films in the documentary
selection, there is also the unique This
Ain’t California by the German filmmaker Marten Persiel, a punk story
taking the audience into the world of skateboarding in the context of social
and political changes in East Germany’s (German Democratic Republic) last
decade.
In 90 minutes we will see East Germany in
an entirely new way; through a generation and subculture which will show that
life on the other side of the Wall was not always grey and obscured by Trabant
exhaust gases.
“The German Democratic Republic was not
supposed to be like that – streets were not for playing.” This statement is
heard at one point in the film, while we are watching 1980s skateboarders
hurrying across Alexanderplatz: hot pants, sex and music right next to official
state parades. The story is authentic, all the way to production teams
including real skateboarders from East and West Germany. The film merges past
and present in order to show that skateboarders’ lives (shaped by the
repressive regime) had their own strength.
This
Ain’t California has an entertaining but powerful
soundtrack, unlimited just like the vitality of the protagonists. Still, the
film is not at all entertaining. It is a metaphor beginning in the GDR, but not
ending with the fall of the Berlin Wall. The film avoids classic clichés that
often appear in western views.
This
Ain’t California has won the Dialogue en
Perspective award at this year’s International Film Festival in Berlin.