Interview

INTERVIEW: ANDREAS DRESEN, ALEKSANDAR LIFKA AWARD LAUREATE

Love for the characters is a prerequisite for a good film I was at Palić in 2011 and it was wonderful and fun: great meetings with the audience and other filmmakers, wonderful parties, good food and the most wonderful hospitality in a beautiful place.

Andreas Dresen started his artistic journey as a sound engineer in the theater. He made his debut film SILENT COUNTRY in 1992 – this tragicomedy about the events in East Germany, at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, won the Hessen Film Award. This is followed by a series of successful films, among them CLOUD NINE, which brought him Palić Tower for Best Director at Palić European Film Festival in 2008, and STOPPED ON TRACK, a story about death that celebrates life, which brought him Golden Tower at Palić in 2011 for Best Film. Last year, at the opening of the EFF, we saw his latest production RABIYE KURNAZ VS. GEORGE W. BUSH, about the fight of a mother against the system and bureaucracy, ready to cross her path with the American president for her son. Director Andreas Dresen is this year’s Aleksandar Lifka Award laureate for his contribution to European cinema.

What is your attitude towards lifetime achievement awards, one of which you will receive at our European Film Festival in Palić?

Oh, with rewards like that, the industry is subtly telling you enough is enough. I may be old, but I’m not too old, so I just take that as an incentive and hope to continue making films for a while.

What kind of memories are resurfacing upon your return to Palić?

I was at Palić in 2011 and it was wonderful and fun: great meetings with the audience and other filmmakers, wonderful parties, good food and the most beautiful hospitality in a beautiful place. And the outdoor cinema is fantastic! I really, really liked the atmosphere of the festival.

You come from a theatrical family. What inspired you to get into film?

As a child, I spent a lot of time in the theater and watched the actors at work. I grew up with a lot of impressions about art. Then my father gave me a “super 8” camera and I started making videos with my friends. It was so much fun that I wanted to make it my profession. Your films, some of which we saw at our Festival, are about ordinary people in various circumstances.

How do you choose a story from which to make a film and what is the most exciting thing about the creative process?

Stories come to me in different ways. Sometimes they are suggestions made by screenwriters, sometimes I am inspired by everyday experience, it depends. For me, the people are always the most important part of the story. With all their contradictions and conflicts, in which you can find yourself. For me, love for the characters is one of the most important prerequisites for creating a good film. The most exciting part is definitely the shooting itself, because so many, many unforeseen things come together, there are so many surprises. Positive and sometimes, unfortunately, negative. And with every passing day the film becomes different.

We are curious to find out something about your new movie. My new film FROM HILDE WITH LOVE is not out yet. It is the story of a very simple and wonderful woman who fought against Nazism and was executed for that. The film tells a beautiful and tragic love story, but also a story of quiet heroism.

Jelena Knežević