WHY A MOVIE ABOUT SKINHEADS AND PUNKS?
There are not so many movies around which focus on young outcasts
and underdogs with the strong ambition to tell an authnetic and true
story about them. Most of the time we see a bunch of ultra-happy, mega-funny,
sexually super-active teens or the extreme opposite: The drug abusing,
violent and criminal "problemchild". We have been looking
for something different: Reality.
The skinhead-cult is pretty old (it started in 1969) and has a lot of
unwritten but nevertheless very strict rules and rituals. A precise
research within the scene was absolutely necessary for us.It helped
us revealing more than just cliches about these kids. But Oi!WARNING
is more than a propper explaination of the skincult.
We wanted to picture the search of a young man, Janosch (Sascha Backhaus),
for male identity. The skinhead's adorment of masculinity gives Janosch
the strenght to build up an own (and firm) identity. But The other young
characters in our movie bring other aspects and problems of growing-up
to the story: Blanca (Britta Dirks), the shorttime girlfriend of Janosch,
shows her deep desire to live a life of her own, liberated from the
workingclass-attitude of her parents. Or Sandra: She tries to keep her
female dignity alive in world where fighting, drinking and aggression
are common, Koma's world. During the film her character changes rapidly
from the shy but accepted "skingirl" to a selfconscious woman
and concerned mother, who even fights with Koma to protect her children
and herself.
And there is Zottel (Jens Veith), the "modern primitive".
He is someone society would label an outcast: A filthy, raw, earthy
"chaot". But Zottel is full of energy, creativity and love
as well. Even Janosch is fascinated by his positive energy (he meets
him at a party, where Zottel performes his fireeating-show) and falls
in love with him.
The world of the skinhead cult is one main aspect of Oi!WARNING but
not the only one.
WHY ARE SOME OF OUR ACTORS NONPROFESSIONALS?
The actors had to be absolutely authentic. One has to believe, that
Zottel really lives on the streets, that Koma is a true skinhead and
Janosch is the naive country-site lad. During the long casting process
for Oi!WARNING, we had to realize that it is more than difficult to
find a young professional actor, who is able to play a skinhead or punk
authentic.
Too often only clichés are copied. Images, the young actors have
already seen in other films or on television.
But some of the nonprofessionals have been among the casted actors,
who in reality lived a life which was close to the life of our characters
in the script.
After an intensive year of casting (we asked almost 300 people all over
Germany on concerts, at acting-schools, demonstrations, discos and also
on the street and invited at last 80 to a casting) we decided to take
three of the nonprofessionals for the Koma-, Janosch- and Zottel-character
and two young actresses for the Sandra- and Blanca-character who had
none or only a few film- and television experience.
All of them are absolutely authentic and believable in their roles and
outstanding in their performance.
For the audience Koma is no actor but a real skin, Zottel is a punk
and Sandra is a skingirl.
After some screenings of our film it happened that the audience was
rather shocked when they discovered that Mr. Simon Goerts (the nonprofessional,
who was playing Koma) is a very calm, friendly and peaceful person and
no skinhead at all.
