Pets & Berlin
Pets & Berlin (2018) portrays Peeter Pask, a punk rock star from Estonia. He has been living in the streets of Berlin for 13 years.
Peeter and Berlin are partners who support each other. Peeter says that there are lots of people in Berlin who are like him. This place simply attracts people like that, because there it is possible to be who you are. Berlin doesn’t make any complaints about who you are. Berlin accepts you as who you are. This is something you don’t see in other cities. This is a story about one man’s survival in a big city. And the city offers him motherly care. This is a story about loneliness, struggle and freedom.
The film’s part of the short documentary series Estonian Stories organised by the Estonian Public Broadcasting.
Pets & Berlin captures two opposing sides of Berlin. Through an old punk, the film captures the freedom and anonymity, as well as the harshness and indifference, of street life. How did you meet Pets and how was the idea for the film born?
The idea came from Indrek Spungin (co-author) who introduced me to Peeter during a trip to Berlin, once upon a time. Stories about Peeter’s punk times back in Estonia are legendary and I was aware of a little about his history before, but the character I met was way more fascinating from our first meeting, and the decision to make a film was fast. And the most important thing about this film, Peeter and I became friends!
Right now, director Taavi Arus is working on two music films. The Tour – a story about an Estonian bluegrass band and their American dream. The other one Lil Estonia tries to find out the reasons for the new wave rap (SoundCloud rap) explosion in Estonia over the past few years.
Keep an eye on Taavi’s work
Contact
zbanski@gmail.com
