BULKY TRASH + THE FREE ORCHESTRA

Helke Misselwitz BULKY TRASH / SPERRMüLL 1990, 72 min, 35mm-to-DCP. In German with English subtitles. Filmed in the early summer of 1989, this documentary portrays a band of four young musicians who call themselves “Sperrmüll” (“Bulky Trash”), thanks to their proclivity for producing music by drumming on other people’s discarded items. Misselwitz concentrates especially on Enrico, who decides to stay behind when his mother Erika marries in the West, and who insists on maintaining his cultural identity even after the fall of the Wall. The members of “Sperrmüll” wish to remain citizens of their own state, and their attitude towards the looming reunification is one of skepticism. Originally intended as a call for social change, Misselwitz’s film documents the events of the Wende from the perspective of young East Berliners.

Preceded by: Petra Tschörtner THE FREE ORCHESTRA / DAS FREIE ORCHESTER 1988, 17 min, 35mm-to-DCP. In German with English subtitles. “Day in, day out, Barbara sells screws at a store in the East Berlin Market Hall. She is frustrated about having to tell her customers most of the time: ‘Ham wa nich!’ (‘We don’t have that!’) In the evening, she is the loud and wild singer of the legendary East Berlin avantgarde and punk band Das Freie Orchester. Playing music with her friends helps her escape the monotony of her job, express her dissatisfaction with everyday life in East Germany in the 1980s, and dream of a different life.” –DEFA FILM LIBRARY

Total running time: ca. 95 min.

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