Cowboys & Communists

Centering on hip Berlin bar and burlesque joint White Trash Fast Food, this 64 minute documentary explores life in East Berlin after the wall — a place where libertines and die-hard communists co-exist, not always harmoniously. The cowboy of the title is Wally Potts, who escaped from Los Angeles and launched an Americana bar in Berlin. The Communist is Horst Woitalla, an ex-journalist who lives upstairs. Horst mourns the end of the old regime, and yearns for a decent sleep. Kiwi director Jess Feast did 18 months at White Trash as a waitress. The film won her an award at Germany's Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival.