Cowboys and Communists

Cowboys and Communists is the story of two clashing political systems, the reality of life behind the Berlin wall, the collapse and aftermath of Communism, the tragedy of Bush’s America and the difference between Sauerkraut and cheeseburgers. It explores themes of freedom, community and loss. But mostly it's about characters: The Cowboy is Wally Potts, an artist and chef from LA who escaped America to start something new. Now he owns one of the most successful restaurants in Berlin. He’s living out his American Dream in Germany. The Communist is Horst Woitalla, who worked as a journalist in former East Germany. The day the wall fell was the worst day of his life and you can’t help but feel for him – he lost everything he ever knew over night. The lives of these two men collide when Walter Potts opens a late night burlesque burger bar, ‘White Trash Fast Food’ in the bottom floor of an East Berlin apartment block where Horst Woitalla has lived since the Communist era. Horst is determined to take back some of his power and close down ‘White Trash Fast Food’. Wally meanwhile, vies to fight to protect his new-found freedom and avoid getting a “real job”. At first it seems like these two characters couldn't be more different but the film reveals many similarities. They are both working class people fighting for their place in a community and a sense of freedom in a system they have no control over.