How big is the (financial) pressure for a film to be a success? Especially when you get various grants for it?
I always put the greatest pressure on myself. That’s not an empty phrase, I just want to make the best possible film every time. At first I don’t think about what the bare numbers say or at which festivals the film will later be screened, because I see the danger that I’ll somehow bend over backwards. I simply believe that a story that is told with a lot of emotion and honesty ultimately touches a lot of people and then gets it into the cinemas through the famous word of mouth. Financially, in Europe, thank goodness, film is seen as art or as a cultural asset. That takes some of the commercial pressure off and we can just make good films. After all, a film doesn’t always have to work perfectly at the box office to be a success.
What do you think makes a really good film?
I like films – not only as a director, but also as a cinema viewer – that when I watch them give me the feeling that these are not actors, but real people who are really experiencing what they are experiencing. In my own films, too, I aim for everything to be as authentic as possible. I expect this from myself and from my actors. Of course, the screenplay is also important for a good film. The story should never be boring and above all it has to be self-contained. It was really difficult with the “Fuchs” because there was so much more that could have been said. But historical films in particular often want too much and at some point the viewer is overwhelmed. Then the film might be factually interesting, but no longer emotionally.
How do you choose the themes for your films?
I can’t say that in general, every project, every fabric is different. As a child, I researched “The Best of All Worlds” without knowing it. “Märzengrund” was offered to me, so it was my first commissioned work. And “The Fox” was the first film idea I ever had – when I was fourteen. With “Rickerl” I first became aware of the music of Voodoo Jürgens – I was a big Austropop fan since I was a child with Ambros, Ludwig Hirsch, STS, Danzer etc. When I heard Voodoo’s first album, I think , that was in 2017, I immediately thought, these lyrics are so vivid that the songs almost read like a script scene. So I just asked him if he was interested in acting and he said yes.
“Rickerl” is your next film project and it’s already finished. For the first time you devote yourself to a purely fictional story. Can you tell us a little bit about it?
Yes, the story is clearly fictional. It is also inspired by the stories and life of Voodoo Jürgens, without being his own story. In any case, “Rickerl” is by far my funniest film, although I noticed that the story touches people. So now I’m talking about a tragicomedy. I also needed something lighter – without being superficial – after the last three very tough films, which were emotionally very stirring for me. “Rickerl” is not about life and death, but about a forty-year-old musician who has been trying to record his first album for years – and fails because of himself.
When will “Rickerl” be in cinemas?
That should be in the spring of 2024.
“Märzengrund” (2022), “The Fox” (2022/23), “Rickerl” (2023/24). In addition, two small children aged three and five years. How do you reconcile everything?
I now have a system that works well. I manage my time very well, plan how much time I devote to which project and always set myself relatively strict deadlines. I’m also very good at delegating, and I have to say that I have really great partners and colleagues in the production companies, who take a lot off my shoulders.
From writing the script to the finished film – what is your favorite step in the production process?
The preparation with the actors, because that’s when the story really starts to emerge. I always take a lot of input from the actors and change the script accordingly. I’m already very precise with the casting, I think long and hard about who will play the main role and the other major roles. This is usually a year-long process. But working with the actors is really a lot of fun because it’s always give and take. This feels the least like work (laughs).
Now a little more privately: As mentioned, you have two children and have devoted two films to your family history – what does family mean to you?
Family is definitely the union of the most important people you have in the world. This community is surrounded by a very tight bond, it’s about sticking together, but also about being extremely altruistic or selfless – as long as you can manage it. You learn that with children. Having a family is wonderful and exhausting at the same time. You have to take the time to do this and remind yourself every day how important family is, because it is by no means a sure-fire success. But a motivator for everything else.
You yourself grew up without a father for the first few years of your life. To what extent did your childhood shape how you interpret your own role as a father today?
I think every person is shaped very strongly by how they grow up as a child. The only question is what effect this embossing has. For me, the effect was such that I wanted to give my two children what I didn’t have myself, namely a present, active father who does a lot with them, especially when it comes to sports. My stepfather later became a great, loving father, but for the first eight years of my life he was trapped by his drug addiction. Otherwise, I just try to do a lot of the positive things that my mother did: give lots of love and attention, take the children seriously and don’t blaze a trail for them.
How and where do you recharge your batteries?
Sport is definitely one thing, it’s very important to me. I used to do a lot of sport, which is no longer possible due to family commitments. But I try to combine sport and family as often as possible, for example with skiing. Whenever I can, I go up the mountain, play tennis or soccer, or run.
The other is reading a lot and watching films. In doing so, I get emotional input again, and every film or good book is also an experience for me. But the most important thing is definitely my Christian faith. Going to church, reading the Bible, these are very important sources of strength, but they always bring me down to earth and make me humble.
You are from Salzburg, live and work in Salzburg. Have you never been drawn into the big wide world?
No, I never wanted to leave, I will definitely live in Salzburg for the rest of my life. Of course, if I’m in America for half a year for a big project, then that’s the way it is. But I will always have my home or retreat in Salzburg. That’s just really important for me – I’m not a big city person, it’s too loud for me there, too dirty. Also, as I said, I like going up the mountain.
What does the future hold? Do you have concrete plans or heart projects?
So of course the Voodoo Jürgens film, which is almost finished, is very concrete. The next thing I’m working on right now is a film adaptation of the novel Four Minus Three. This is the true story of Barbara Pachl-Eberhart, who lost her husband and two children in a car accident. It’s also the first project where I’m not writing the script myself. I had actually already canceled the project when it was offered to me because I didn’t want to deal with this terrible story. I didn’t even want to read the book, after all I have two small children of my own that age. But now the screenplay has its own author, and I read that anyway. In doing so, I realized that the story is of course very tragic, but rather deals with the hope that this mother and widow finally finds again. So it’s actually a totally life-affirming film.
And if we talk about big dreams – of course I have a lot of them. For example, I would really like to do a medieval or antique epic. There are also many other topics that I find very exciting. For example the persecution of Christians. There hasn’t been a single film about it – at least I don’t think so. But these are all such huge projects, in order to finance them, I probably have to make other contacts first (laughs again).
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