The first film you saw in the cinema?
“Ben Hur” by William Wyler or “The Ten Commandments” by Cecile B. DeMille. I was six or seven and these films were monumental in every sense. The stories, the images, the location, the cinema. I grew up in a small village. Oldenburg was the nearest big city. The Wall cinema there was huge for me as a child: red velvet seats, ice cream sellers, an atmosphere of celebration. The adventures on the screen unfolded something monstrous; as a child you almost took this story at face value. The cinema was a cabinet of wonders in which children learn to be amazed. You drove home with your mouth open and fell asleep on the way back in the VW Beetle and dreamed of seas opening up like all the roads into the world.
Which movie do you watch over and over again?
“It’s a Wonderful Life” – everything about this film is wonderful. Its deep human pathos, its tear-jerking at a high level, the charisma of the main actors, a religiosity that is also acceptable to atheists or agnostics. I like to be sentimental with this film, cry and cry and try to become a better person and stand up to the black souls.
Which series are you currently following?
“Three Ladies from the Grill”. Three confident women at the grill, grandmother, mother, granddaughter – what more could you want? Plus wonderful observations of everyday life, sometimes an almost documentary study of Berlin. And then that rascal Günter Pfitzmann in the first few seasons; I like this petty bourgeois-proletarian muddling through life that is shown here.
What film impressed you most recently?
“The Holdovers” by Alexander Payne, “Tomorrow is Another Day” by Paola Cortellesi.
A film you are looking forward to?
“Petra Kelly – Act Now!” by Doris Metz. For my documentary film “The Unyielding” I discovered Petra Kelly through the archive footage as a charismatic, far-thinking woman. I would have loved to make a film about her myself and now I’m curious to see how Doris Metz did it.
Your favorite actor/actress?
Jördis Triebel, Senta Berger, Matthias Brandt, Paul Giamatti.
Who or what is underestimated?
Earthworms, mushrooms, bus stops.
A favorite movie that’s a little embarrassing?
There isn’t one. Those who love know no shame.
What do you collect?
Quiet moments.
Your life motto? Or favorite quote?
»There is a light that never goes out« (The Smiths)
The best seat in the cinema?
Outside, in the aisle, third to last row.
