This Ain't California

Skateboarding becomes a metaphor for freedom in this love letter to the subversive power of youth. In East Germany in the 1980s, for three teens -- Nico, Dirk, and Dennis -- life in the GDR was dominated by skateboarding. But in a nation where "the streets were not for playing around," skating was as much a revolutionary act of defiance as it was a spectacular sport. Using a clutch of priceless Super-8 films, animations, reenactments, and archival footage, all set against a delirious punk soundtrack, This Ain't California follows the three through adolescence and into adulthood on the eve of reunification. Through the lenses of the skater kids amongst the Stasi comes a rare, stylishly witty glimpse into East Berlin counterculture.