Friedensschlag - Das Jahr der Entscheidung

"To fight for – The year of decision"

The film tells the story of five young men between the ages of sixteen and
twenty whose chief pleasures in life in clude stealing, smoking weed and
beating people up. They are a bunch of insecure drifters with a penchant
for violence. But these boys are also standing at a crossroads: they must
decide between the road to prison or another path that will help them
break out of their vicious circle.

Two men decide to help these boys find a
way of overcoming with their problems. Rupert Voss and Werner Makella
are the initiators of the Work and Box Company. These two men both went
through similar experiences when they were young. They provide the boys
with a positive father image as well as a figure of authority. The two mentors’
own perceptions of the male psyche are extremely important in order
to be able to help the lads break out of their old familiar patterns of behaviour
and find a new sense of self-confidence.

Duck and dive, block, attack.
Is it better to defend or to retreat? In the boxing ring, the lads are forced to
meet each other’s gaze with honesty and without pretence, and so boxing
becomes a way of bringing about the protagonists’ personal development.
Theirs is a path paved with joy and sadness, quiet resolution, despair and
hope, for the boys are engaged in a struggle against their own worst
enemy – themselves. But, unless they fall, they will not learn how to stand
on their own two feet again.

"To fight for – The year of decision" is an inspiring documentary about
one of the greatest challenges of our time, namely, how to turn violence
into creative energy.

Source: 60. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)