For almost 20 years now, the “Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival” has presented different genres of films. Sometimes serious, sometimes fun, often fantastic. With “Ach du Scheisse! », the improbability is part of it and its director explained to us how it all started.
In a few words, what is the story of your achievement? « Oh shit! takes place only in “ToiToi” portable toilets. Frank wakes up stuck in this really filthy place. Worse, a metal rod goes through his arm. He is in terrible pain and he knows that he is slowly bleeding out… Moreover, Frank realizes that he must get out of this basin to avoid the probable explosion which must take place where he is stuck. He saw explosives around him.
How did this project start? Above all, I wanted to make a feature film. One of my desires was to make it exciting, original and with a very low budget. I wanted to shock by adding a poor guy in a toilet, that he was badly injured and that he had explosives towards him. Once my concept was ready, I proposed it to my producer Tonio Kellner who let me write the script. In the end, I was lucky enough to receive financial aid from “HessenFilm” for my first feature film.
How did the shooting go and where did you shoot with the toilet cubicle? We shot for 23 days inside an abandoned area and had at our disposal three “ToiToi” cabinets which were cut into different parts and made ugly. With this modular side, we put cameras in all the corners of our sets. The actors were just brilliant. Each of them delivered an amazing performance and made filmmaking super easy and fun. Every day, there were highlights to watch with pleasure such as waterfalls, pyrotechnic effects, animals, or blood splatters.
What was the easiest to shoot? As soon as lead actor Thomas Niehaus got involved, everything was easy. The guy is a force of nature. He gave the character such depth and came up with things that I couldn’t imagine. I didn’t know how to direct seasoned actors, but we talked about it and I figured out how to do it better.
You make several references to cult films and series. Why did you choose them? I love movies from the 80s and 90s, these were the best. And since I didn’t know if I would have the right to shoot a film again, I stuffed “Ach du Scheisse! with everything I love. And both consciously and unconsciously, the things that I like to see have added up.
What material was used to fill the cabin toilet bowl? It was a mixture of 50% grain and 50% sawdust that we cooked with water and acrylic paint. It had no smell and we almost wanted to eat it. It was really great (laugh).
“Ach du Scheisse!” has several musical genres, including that of the 80s. Why did you choose it and what does it represent for you? I don’t like a lot of musical genres, but I love synthesized tracks. And since I love 80s movies, it was a perfect mix. For our main theme, we didn’t really have any other choice than “Muenchener Freiheit”. And since this song catches on quickly, it was perfectly suited. I hope that the public who will discover it will appreciate it and for others, will bring back good memories.
Finally, if you were in the place of “Frank”, the hero of your film, what would you do? Oh ! In a way, what “Frank” does to get out of “ToiToi” are ideas that I came up with during the writing process and I wanted it to fail a few times before it came out. He also had to do stupid, but funny things. So I hope I can free myself a little faster and be a little less dirty than him (laugh).
