Small-Town Punks

by Lars Jessen

It’s the summer of 1984 in the Baltic coastal village of Schmalenstedt. Seven teen-year-old Malte Ahrens has just ‘discovered’ punk, which has just arrived in Schmalenstedt. One day, Malte and his friends are invited to a party. The question arises of how to get a girl and the quartet hit upon an idea that gets them all going: “let’s become musicians and form a band!” At the same time, Roddy meets Maria, and is utterly smitten. The band’s rehearsals prove to be a lot more difficult than they envisaged; worse still, their first gig is a complete disaster. More - over, when Roddy’s mates trash everything in sight at Maria’s party, Maria refuses to have anything more to do with Roddy. The band’s disintegration is inevitable, and Roddy senses that the four friends are drifting apart. It’s not until he meets a neighbour’s son, Schwaster, that Roddy finds his own definition of punk and with it, a bit of freedom.