Drinking Battle

Directed by Rolf S. Wolkenstein and Wolf Hogekamp

A vivid document of the hard-drinking West Berlin scene of the late eighties, and at the same time one of the last important events before the fall of the Wall. “On the afternoon of 25.06.89, my good friend Wolfgang came to me and told me about a tequila fight drink that Andi wanted to organize with friends in a tin store in Mittenwalderstraße in Kreuzberg. We grabbed the VHS camera and went along. 13 hard-drinking participants, including two New Zealanders, took part. The rules were simple: "One tequila every five minutes! If you don't drink, you're out!" Our plan: Wolfgang was to drink along first and then take over the camera later to film "insight", so to speak. I was supposed to film the beginning and then, as a non-alcoholic drinker, support him. After a short time, however, Wolfgang got so carried away that everything turned out quite differently...“