Punk Im Alter – Die Kassierer

Bochum, Germany, summer 1982. Olaf Ballnus, having just failed his A-levels, teams up with his friend Wolfgang Wendland to open the Baluba cinema. They mostly screen silent films and Turkish movies – and after three months they’re broke. Ballnus goes on to become a photographer. And Wendland becomes Wölfi, singer for a punk band called Die Kassierer.

Now, thirty-five years later, Ballnus has made his first documentary: “Punk im Alter: Die Kassierer” (Punk in Old Age: Die Kassierer). In the film, Ballnus traces the journey of Die Kassierer – fronted by his old childhood friend Wölfi – from the social margins of Germany’s Ruhr area to the absolute heart of German commercial entertainment television, including a streaking incident on late-night TV show “Circus HalliGalli”. On stage – and now on camera, too – nothing is sacred to Die Kassierer. And Wendland remains front and centre.