Urban Guerillas
Screening on Film
With Idil Üner, Felix Kasper Kalypso, Ilke Üner.
Germany, 2004, 35mm, color, 81 min.
German with English subtitles.
One of the rising stars of the New Turkish-German Cinema, Neco Celik follows in the footsteps of contemporary masters such as Fatih Akin (Head-On), producing provocative work which reflects on the lives of Turkish immigrants living in Germany. Celik's work is distinguished in its focus on youth culture, giving voice to figures not typically seen in contemporary European cinema.
Danger and Kaspar are graffiti artists who have each been ejected from their respective crews. They decide to work on a project in honor of one of their deceased brethren. One problem: Kaspar thinks that Danger is a man, and she has made no effort to enlighten him. Meanwhile, B-Boy would rather spend his days breakdancing instead of planning for his upcoming wedding to Pepsi, leading his fiancée to impose an ultimatum: he either needs to make a commitment to her or to his dancing, but not both. Celik paints a warm and lively portrait of street culture in Germany in which graffiti art, breakdancing and rap music provide outlets for exuberant youthful expression.