Starts July 2
German underground cult director Henna Peschel (Die Glücklichen, Punk im Dschungel) successfully underlined his new film Madboy with a soundtrack featuring Tocotronic, Frank Spilker, St. Thomas and R.J. Schlagseite.
The film can be seen as an homage to Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg’s working class area in the process of being modernised to attract a different clientele. Ambitious and eager punk musician Schäffke (Hektor Kirschtal) leaves his father’s farm to follow the road to stardom as leader of his band Madboy. Instead, he runs out of money and gets stuck in Wilhelmsburg.
His old friend Jakobus (Jakobus Siebels) lives in the harbour area, painting little watercolours that no one wants to buy. Reluctantly he offers him a place to sleep but the two have to share the space with Nina (Nina Schwabe). The beautiful, young student pays Jakobus some rent and is glad to stay in a cheap place. It is not only a cheap but also a rough neighbourhood. Shady characters roam the streets; Schäffke gets his nose broken; explosive devices are fabricated in back rooms and Mafia family feuds are a daily nuisance to cope with. Despite their hardships, the three young people try to enjoy themselves and make the most of it. Sensible Nina lands with buying the lunch.
Henna Peschel’s Madboy is an unconventional and low-budget regional film about the other side of Hamburg (not the tourist version). It is funny and will be entertaining for a youthful, mainly Hanseatic audience. It was also shown at the Hamburg Film Festival 2008.