HD - 2012 - Germany - 90 min - Color / Black & White
This Ain’t California
This Ain't California (original title)
A film by Marten Persiel
A hymn to the subversive power of vitality, this fast-paced documentary takes us on a trip through the strange unknown world of the ‘Rollbrettfahrer’ as skateboarders were known in the GDR, a country where besides those loyal to the regime, there was also an avowed political resistance. Apart from this, there was also a movement of young rebels whose only raison d’être was the illusion of staying young, immortal and non-committal. In THIS AIN’T CALIFORNIA three kids discover their love of skateboarding on the cracked asphalt of the GDR – a madcap, even unacceptable sport that was perhaps so incredibly exciting because of its nuttiness. This punk fairytale created by a bunch of kids who luckily possessed sufficiently manic levels of energy to record their lives on Super-8mm film, shows us life in the GDR life as it has never been seen before.
Marten Persiel
Biography:
Born in 1974 in Berlin, Germany, Marten Persiel entered the film industry working as an assistant editor for the film production companyHKF in Hamburg. From 1997-98 he studied mixed media art at Portsmouth University and from 1998-01 directing at Westminster Uni ver sity in London. A director and writer, he has made commercials, music videos and documentaries. THIS AIN’T CALIFORNIA is his first feature-length documentary.
Filmography:
“…a vivid immersion in the hidden skateboarding culture of the former East Germany.”
New York Times
“…remarkable piece of cinema…”
Huffington Post
“..the film is a powerful consideration of loss and the struggle to make sense of competing truths about someone you thought you knew.“
The Village Voice
“The sheer impish joy of young male daredevils packs more of a punch in this setting than its traditional American trappings.”
New York Post
“...This Ain’t California bursts with a rebellious energy all its own.“
The Hollywood Reporter
“…an exceptional hybrid film.“
Documentary Channel
“And the story Persiel tells is a good one — of unbridled, rebellious youths shredding and carving their way through the “gigantic concrete desert” of the East, led by a brilliant, earless rebel who’s like a cross between Holden Caulfield and “Dogtown” enfant terrible Jay Adams.”
Variety
Original language: German
Produced by: Wildfremd Production GmbH
With the support of: Arte and Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR)
Broadcaster(s):
Soon in Brazil!
Distributor(s):
Release in Germany, Austria and Switzerland : 16th of August
Out in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Australia & New Zealand
Soon out in the UK!
Award(s):
Berlinale Interntational Film Festival 2012– DIALOGUE EN PERSPECTIVE AWARD
Filmkunstfest Schwerin 2012 – AWARD FOR PROMISING YOUNG TALENTS
Sydney Cockatoo Island Film Festival 2012 - BEST DOCUMENTARY PRIZE
International Skateboard Film Festival, L.A, 2012 – Best Director
International Skateboard Film Festival, L.A, 2012 – Best Original Screenplay
Portland Intl Film Festival – New German Cinema Program –
Tempo Documentary Film Festival – Stefan Jarl Intl Doc Award Section
Glasgow Music & Film Festival 2013
Festival(s):
Karlovy Vary Film Festival – Documentary Competition
CPH: DOX 2012 – Hits Section (Nov)
Helsinki International Film Festival "Love & Anarchy" – Tune It Up section
2MORROW FILM FESTIVAL (Russia) - Doc Section
Seville European Film Festival – Competitive section “EURODOC” (Nov)
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