In the decade before the Iron Curtain fell, walled-in Berlin became the creative melting pot for sub- and pop-culture which attracted musicians and artists from West Germany and all over the world. Anything seemed possible at this special historical moment before the Fall of the Wall. Experimenting and living for the moment was more important than long-term success. In a fast paced collage of mostly unreleased film and TV footage,
B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West Berlin 1979 – 1989 reports from this frenzied but creative decade that started with punk and ended with the Love Parade.
In the midst of all this was British musician, label owner and military fetishist Mark Reeder from Manchester. His fascination for electronic music (Tangerine Dream) brought him to Berlin at the end of the 70s, where he crossed paths with musicians like Nick Cave, Gudrun Gut of
Malaria!, techno DJ WestBam and Blixa Bargeld of
Einstürzende Neubauten, who all make appearances in the film. We also catch glimpses of Tilda Swinton, Keith Haring, New Order, David Hasselhoff and Christiane Felscherinow, who inspired the book and film
Christiane F: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo.
Apparently – and luckily! – everything Mark Reeder experienced was filmed, and so Reeder became the host and presenter of this journey back into dilapidated West Berlin at the end of the Cold War.
B-Movie is not so much a documentary as a fan’s enthusiastic account and declaration of love to a city and a special moment in time supported by a wide variety of visual and sound material, which the directorial team of Jörg A. Hoppe, Klaus Maeck and Heiko Lange have made into a compelling new whole. A highly subjective but at the same time ambitious mapping exercise rich in rarely seen material.
“
B-Movie is a hell of a funfair ride for all those who lived somewhere else during this decade or hadn’t even been born, along with for those who were there and can rediscover familiar haunts on screen.” (Zitty, Berlin)
Germany 2015, documentary, colour & b/w, 96 mins. German and English with English subtitles.
Directed and produced by: Jörg A. Hoppe, Klaus Maeck & Heiko Lange.
Featuring Mark Reeder, Gudrun Gut, WestBam, Blixa Bargeld, Nick Cave, Joy, Division, Zazie de Paris, Nena, Die Toten Hosen, Der „wahre“ Heino, Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Ärzte, Malaria!, Ideal.
With music by WestBam, Joy Division, Sex Pistols, Ideal, Die Ärzte, Die Toten Hosen, Einstürzende Neubauten, Nena, Malaria!, Der Wahre Heino, Notorische Reflexe, Die Tödliche Doris, Anne Clark and Mark Reeder’s own bands Shark Vegas and Die Unbekannten.
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