Dragan Wende West Berlin

Two important prizes for a film by Lena Müller and Dragan von Petrovic, co-directed and filmed by Vuk Maksimovic, whose uncle is the protagonist of a film that the team itself – on the site of the film – calls tragicomical. A quote from the synopsis: … the young cameraman Vuk from Belgrade embarks on the trail of his eccentric uncle Dragan Wende who, 30 years earlier, became the street king of West-Berlin’s 1970s hedonistic disco scene. Earning easy money in Berlin’s most famous nightclubs, work and play went hand in hand… 20 years later, Vuk’s uncle is an aged alcoholic who lives off social welfare and memories of his youth…

The film has other charismatic characters, is playful and entertaining, with “absurd and sit-comic situations”.

The film was appreciated on two occasions during the last few days. It got the prestigious Max Ophüls Prize and it received first prize for best documentary at the Trieste Film Festival. The motivation from the German prize looks like this:

“Ein Stück irrwitzige Weltgeschichte, erzählt aus der Küche eines abgehalfterten Bordell-Türstehers. Ein Stück berührende Familiengeschichte, erzählt in der historischen Dimension des kalten Krieges. Ein Stück derbe Männergeschichte, erzählt mit Pfiff und Ironie dank sicherer Montage – halbseiden, blockfrei und humorvoll. Das hat die Jury begeistert und darum vergibt sie den Dokumentarfilmpreis Max Ophüls an den Film„Dragan Wende – West Berlin“.”

OBS. The producer Lena Müller has made an excellent website for the film that goes far beyond normal mainstrem promotion, check it and watch trailer and teaser and listen to the soundtrack.

88 mins., 2012, Serbia/Germany

http://www.von-muller-film.com/home.html

http://www.triestefilmfestival.it/en/comunicati/si-chiude-la-24a-edizione-i-vincitori/