How did you react when you won your award at the Festival de Cannes?
I met with my crew just before the award ceremony and told them: “Look, we have already won because we are here.” I kept on repeating this mantra that we had already won, and when we actually did win an award, I was absolutely unprepared, I was preparing myself for something else. I was shocked, I was horrified, I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. I didn’t know what to say and I had to give a performance. Yes, it turned out I prepared everyone except myself.
What has your award brought you? / What did it change for you?
The award made me understand that this is not the final step, this is just a step to the next step and to the next step and apparently to the many other steps. It’s a great form of support for me on the way to further development.
What are your best memories of Cannes?
I don’t know if it’s the best memory, but it’s definitely the most memorable one. When I found out that the film was selected, my father came to me and said that he had a job there restoring garden furniture for one of his clients. I thought “well, amazing, Papa will come, that will be a great support for me, and also the apartment is not far from the Palais des Festivals, just a street away from the Croisette”. I thought “okay, I can change there, this is nice, all amazing”.
You know, I will never forget that morning. I was walking back from the screening, all dressed up in this black suit, I was approaching this apartment and heard the sound of some machine. I thought “I have to tell my father he has to be a little bit quieter otherwise the neighbours will complain”. And then I pressed the intercom waiting for his response, of course he didn’t respond because it was too loud. Suddenly I looked closer at this intercom, I saw it was covered with redwood dust from the sanding machine! I looked around and the whole area was covered with red dust.
I remember panicking that the police would come. Okay: what to do? I thought about dressing my father as a French worker and giving him a leaf-blowing machine to blow off all this dust. And then I thought: Saharan dust. We already had that once in Munich, a meteorological phenomenon. We could say it’s Saharan dust, and if they ask us why only in this particular area, we could say it’s a meteorological phenomenon, what can I do? You never know when it hits you. But it all ended up fine. My father relaxed, had a great holiday and earned some money.
Do you have new projects?
I’m working on a very personal project which is called Parodies, not paradise – Parodies. It’s a romantic comedy. The theme of the film is how our desires distort our perception of reality, leaving us feeling betrayed. And it will have a bit of drama, comedy, romance, a bit of this and that. It will be told in an ironic and absurd manner, with a love story at its heart. So, wait and see.
The video interview:
