The exiled Yugoslavian Dragan Wende has not set foot in East Berlin for the past 20 years. If only Gorbachev had not destroyed the wonderful balance of the world, especially Dragan Wende’s world, with the fall of the Wall! Once the King of the Berlin underworld and the shady nightclub district along Ku’damm, the legendary Rolf Eden’s right hand man (though Eden hardly remembers his best man) and – his pockets full of Western money – the dream of the ladies of East Berlin, he now leads a rather humble existence. True to style at Adenauerplatz and in brothel-red plush, still working as a “street manager” (bouncer) for various nightclubs, but actually rather lonely and on welfare. And as if that wasn’t enough, along comes his filmmaker nephew Vuk to explore the myth of his uncle from the West, followed by father Mile, a first generation guest worker, proud builder of West Berlin and also a great friend of the Wall...
This “Balkan tragicomedy” is a loving portrait full of black humour of a breed of men who will not be branded as losers by some accidental historic turn – even in the face of all evidence. There’s glamour in the smallest shack, and they have found their home in a community of bizarre survival artists, between Balkan songs and Kebab stands. Vuk was also accepted in the end – as a “street manager”, of course. West Berlin is saved for now.
– Grit Lemke