Exberliner issue 185, September 2019

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SKATING IN BERLIN “It was revealed, in the middle of the cinema release, that Panik was fictional... Some people felt like they’d been betrayed.” Schubert], who had a childhood of competition sports and rules but left it behind to become a skateboarder: I took his childhood and made it Panik’s. Then this rebel who gets all the girls, this is René Falk Thomasius. And the last chapter – this guy that used to be a punky skater and ends up being a soldier, this was Marco Sladek. So Panik is fictional, but every single thing that happened to him was an anecdote from an interview.” In fact, the stories that make up Panik’s life in the film are not just those of Thomasius, Schubert and Sladek. As Rothenhagen explains, “some of it happened to me, some to others – there are stories of around 15 people. The film crew would ask us to tell a true story from our lives but replace a name with the name of the character.” The script was already underway when Persiel met Marco Sladek, whose soldier career would provide the inspiration for Panik’s transformation and death in action. Sladek had almost completely cut himself off from his former scene. After the Wall came down, most of the East Berlin crew happily integrated with the Western world: as Rothenhagen puts it, “the 1990s were our high times – the crew split into different crews, new people joined, we joined others. It was the best time in skateboarding for my generation.” But Sladek went through a change that alienated him from his friends. “He had been a sort of role model to me, though I don’t like that term,” says Rothenhagen. “He was a brilliant skater, and he was the guy who introduced me to punk rock: I remember he played me “California Über Alles” by the Dead Kennedys. But he chose a different path.” Namely: a career in the military that would alienate his friends from him for 20 years. “Marco Sladek was an atypical case,” says Reinhardt. “Most skateboarders of this generation would probably classify themselves as leftist. In general, the Wende was easier on skateboarders than other East Germans – they already had a very Western lifestyle, so integrating was not a problem.” According to Persiel, Sladek’s enrolment in the Bundeswehr was actually preceded by years spent among far-right hooligans, which he now explains as “a combination of fear of the new, fear of the foreign” and a rebellious nature looking for “a shiny new way to piss people off.” Persiel also contends that Sladek confided to him a suicide attempt, which inspired Panik’s death in the film. Around his 40th birthday, Sladek was on the front in Afghanistan. “He told me he had decided he didn’t want to live anymore,” explains Persiel. “He was under fire, he was ordered to retreat. But instead he stood up straight and waited to be shot. The way it’s depicted in the film is exactly the way he described it to me apart from that he didn’t actually get shot – they shot at him, but kept missing. That’s the only moment of fiction in the film – that he didn’t get shot.” The story of a friendship Sladek’s role in the film allowed him to reunite with his former community, healing some of the friendships that had been destroyed, even forming new relationships. He took up skating again, after a 20-year respite, and even managed to recreate his famous one-handed handstand flip. “He had a couple of years in the limelight after the film came out – a lot of interviews, was on TV,” says Persiel. “Then he killed himself.” Critically praised and receiving a string of awards, as well as a Goethe-Institutfunded world tour for its creators, This Ain’t California was a success. But its blend of fact and fiction was controversial. “It was revealed, in the middle of the cinema release, that Panik was fictional,” recalls Persiel. “And then in every Q&A, that’s all we’d talk about. Some people felt like they’d been betrayed.” Overall, though, he’s pleased with the film response; most importantly the response from the skateboarding community that contributed their stories.“For me, a good way to look at it is truth versus truthfulness. I don’t think you can make truth on the screen, so you’re left with truthfulness, and that’s what you have to go for. The reaction from the skaters was that it was truthful,” says an unrepentant Persiel. Christian Rothenhagen agrees. “The name of the character doesn’t really matter – it’s more about conveying the whole thing. It’s the story of a friendship.” T “I don’t think you can make truth on the screen, so you’re left with truthfulness, and that’s what you have to go for.” Catch This Ain’t California and meet Marten Persiel at Lichtblick Kino on Sep 23, as part of our EXBlicks monthly series. Strausberger Platz, as shown in This Ain’t California. Conrad Bauer 18 EXBERLINER 185
INTERNATIONAL LITERATURE FESTIVAL preview Minority report International Literature Festival Berlin Sep 11-21 For its 19th edition, ILB goes full-on diversity and inclusivity, playing host to a record 220 guests from 59 countries. Daunted by the chorus of voices clamouring for attention at this year’s festival? We help you navigate this year’s labyrinth of literary trends. By Eve Lucas Hartwig Klappert Exploring displacement Cultural displacement is a well-stocked festival cupboard and post-colonial reckonings are plentiful this year. Among those that caught our eye is Canadian Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black, which narrates a tale of slavery with counter-intuitive swashbuckling verve. Opening speaker Petina Gappah from Zimbabwe, a litfest usual suspect, also presents two of her works, of which the most recent, Out of darkness, shining light, will be published to coincide with the festival. Following the life of the 18th-century explorer David Livingstone, the twist is that his story is presented from the point of view of two members of his former staff, his cook and a former slave. Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the fest’s biggest Englishlanguage attraction (see next page) and brings her novel Americanah to the Art of Writing section. Syrian Mustafa Khalifa is another of our authorial highlights with his literal vision of estrangement induced by imprisonment in The Shell, but we’d also recommend two further variants on forms of SEPTEMBER 2019 inner displacement: Tash Aw’s We, The Survivors, which focuses on social prejudice as an exclusion mechanism in Malaysia; and Indian bestseller Benyamin’s Goat Days, a tale of a migrant worker in Saudi Arabia. Tommy Orange’s There There gives a Native-American voice to the contradictions inherent in indigenous lives, while for a different take on the unwelcome nature of ‘home’, Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous presents smalltown American life as so hostile to his own gay, Vietnamese-American identity that only Vuong’s intensely personal and poetic tale can do it justice. Meanwhile, for a final but essential sidestep, check out Robert Macfarlane’s Underland, an exploration of environmental displacement amid vanishing climate-affected landscapes (see next page). Identity and gender This year’s inclusivity flagship, the About: Sex section is programmed to spread the love, but beware – although events may reference the work ILB 2019 Moving away from its traditional home at Haus der Berliner Festspiele (while it’s being renovated), this year’s ILB kicks off at Hebbel am Ufer (HAU1) on Sep 11, with its ensuing programme unfolding at 25 venues across the city, including the auditorium of the newly opened James Simon Gallery, aka David Chipperfield’s “most expensive cloakroom in the world’”, on Museum Island. Other new locations include Wedding’s Silent Green and the excellent Collegium Hungaricum. Fancy checking out some of the 250 events on offer? A full-festival pass will set you back €50-60, a single ticket €8-€12. Anna Karenina oder Arme Leute NACH LEW TOLSTOI UND FJODOR DOSTOJEWSKI REGIE OLIVER FRLJIĆ 15/SEPTEMBER ADDITIONAL SHOWS 20/27/29/SEPTEMBER ALL PLAYS WITH ENGLISH SURTITLES MAXIM GORKI THEATER Am Festungsgraben 2, 10117 Berlin Box Office: 0049 30/ 20 221 115 19 Tickets online: www.gorki.de
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Page 5 and 6: Love ‘em or hate ‘em, these whe
Page 7 and 8: BEST OF BERLIN Stress relief BEST H
Page 9 and 10: E-MOBILITY Berliner Festspiele “W
Page 11 and 12: E-MOBILITY TIER The local ‘animal
Page 13 and 14: E-MOBILITY Berliner Festspiele #imm
Page 15 and 16: SKATING IN BERLIN reportage From Ca
Page 17 and 18: You moved from the Bremen skateboar
Page 19: SKATING IN BERLIN fun-oriented spor
Page 23 and 24: INTERNATIONAL LITERATURE FESTIVAL B
Page 25 and 26: WHAT’S ON — Interview For a whi
Page 27 and 28: WHAT’S ON — Film Previews Downb
Page 29 and 30: WHAT’S ON — Film Csaba Aknay Co
Page 31 and 32: WHAT’S ON — Music Verbatim Tips
Page 33 and 34: WHAT’S ON — Music Courtesy of T
Page 35 and 36: WHAT’S ON — Stage Nanova Photog
Page 37 and 38: GIG LISTINGS Your guide to concerts
Page 39 and 40: WHAT’S ON — Art Pipilotti Rist
Page 41 and 42: Preview BERLIN ART WEEK WHAT’S ON
Page 43 and 44: 18 WED Human Rights Film Festival B
Page 45 and 46: ADVERTORIAL — The Berlin Guide Be
Page 47 and 48: ADVERTORIAL — The Berlin Guide MO
Page 49 and 50: COLUMN— Astrology planets The Ber
Page 51 and 52: Funded by centenary exhibition 6 se

Exberliner issue 185, September 2019

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