alaska.de (1999/2000) - Filmanfang

The video shows the first five minutes of the film.

Film synopsis: When 16-year-old Sabine can no longer get along with her mother′s boyfriend, she is sent to live with her father in an East Berlin suburb. Feeling completely isolated and alone, she finally befriends Eddie, a boy of her own age, and his best friend Micha. Micha, who is two years older, is unemployed and in trouble with the police.

A party at his house turns into a nightmare when he, Eddie and their friend Stefan get into a vicious fight with another boy. Eddie stabs the boy to death. Sabine finds the bleeding corpse and sees Micha running away with a knife in his hands. The boys are terrified at what they′ve done and threaten Sabine to keep silent. When Micha decides to take matters into his own hands, things only get worse...

"alaska.de" isn′t an ordinary crime story depicting the brutality of suburban youth. It is an acute portrayal of German kids struggling with contemporary urban life. The idea for the film was born when the director met with members of two gangs while producing a music video about violence in German schools. All the young actors in the film are amateurs. The director and the 13 participating kids met over several weekends and an intensive week-long training session to prepare for the film. During the improvisation exercises of these workshops, the film′s narrative was honed to correspond with the real-life experiences of the kids.

Source: German films Service & Marketing GmbH