A film that stands as a declaration of love to blockbuster cinema, to Hollywood – and at the same time a crazy story about the chaos of East Berlin following the fall of the Wall and a friendship between a group of young people who are absolutely obsessed with the craft behind the spectacle. In the 1990s, five boys from East Berlin discover a passion for American action movies. They begin filming their own seven-part short-film action series, AMERICAN SHOWDOWN – shooting “guerrilla-style” without permits.

Years later, now adults, they reunite to revive their dream. They shoot the eighth instalment of the action series just as they did back then: on a shoestring budget and with plenty of passion. However, their ambitions and expectations have grown, and the filmmaking process puts their friendship to the ultimate test. But don’t worry: plans for a ninth episode are already in progress!

André Jagusch, born in Berlin in 1978, made his first forays into film between 1987 and 1994 with flipbook series and stop-motion films shot on Super 8. These earned him a place at festivals like “Jugend und Video”, “Werkstatt für Junge Filmer”, “Up and Coming” and Filmfest Weiterstadt. Since 2003, he has been working as a freelance director, cinematographer and editor. He is a co-founder of the film production company Nine O’Clock Pictures, which, in addition to cinema ads and promotional films, has produced the long-term project AMERICAN SHOWDOWN 8 – A TRUE STORY.

Filmography (selection): 1994 LOWLANDER, 1997 AMERICAN SHOWDOWN 1–5, 1999 AMERICAN SHOWDOWN 6, 2001 AMERICAN SHOWDOWN 7 (all short films), 2013 STURM DES WISSENS (tv series, 5 episodes), 2026 AMERICAN SHOWDOWN 8 – A TRUE STORY