Cowboys: East Germany, Rebels of the Vogtland

Atmospheric, observational and ethnographic, the story is told as much in images as in the skillful intertwining of varied interviews. Characters who have made a living under both that of Communism and now Capitalism reveal, in a visually rich film, why "the cowboy thing" is so symbolic for people of the former East.

These people have adopted and adapted the lifestyle of the American Western Cowboy. Developing behind The Wall, cowboy represents ideas of freedom and individualism. Emerging from the shadows of Communism in 1989, the cowboy takes on a new identifying role allowing this subculture to hold on to important values – or the "good things" – under Communism, and deal with some of the perceived ills of Capitalism. Re-imagining the ideal cowboy of the West, identity is reinterpreted to hold onto many of the good things from Communism – like helping one's neighbor, the simple pleasures of a non-materialist country life, such as family values, attachment to the land, and to animals.

Barbershop-Puro Handsome

Student Taxonomy

Soccer Goals

Artists in Pinhole

Cowboys East Germany

Archies