Like few other films, “Beat Street” contributed to the spread of hip-hop throughout divided Germany during the mid-1980s. Growing up together in the socially troubled South Bronx, four friends dream of giving their lives meaning and making it big with their art. Driven by their passion for hip hop, break dance and graffiti, the men try everything to prove their skills. Emphatic, realistic but always hopeful, “Beat Street” offers unique insights into the socio-economic reality of the New York neighbourhoods from which hip-hop emerged in the mid-1970s.