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Your new movie Michael:
A Murderabilia Memoriam - in a few words, what is it about?
It
is the portrait of a collector in his own words.
What
drew you to the film's subject matter in the first place, and how did you
find Michael? I
think the idea about this movie came up in 2020 directly after I finished
the work on Mondo Siam. Since I started making movies I had a project at
any given time in a different state of production but that time I had
nothing, so I made a list of possible projects I was interested in. One of
them was to make a documentary about the legal status of owning human
remains, especially human skulls. Probably because of the experiences of
working with Marian Dora on Das Verlangen der Maria D. and later on my
short film Ossarium which both focus on owning people by owning their
remains. And then everything went on rather quickly.
I
met Michael at a convention a couple years ago and we have had a sporadic
contact since then. So I asked him what he would think about the idea of
making a movie about him and his collection. The rest is history.
To put the last question somewhat onto its
head, what was your first impression of Michael after you found out about
his hobby? Since
my early childhood I have a liking for weird and bizarre things so I had
no reservations towards him or his hobby. Maybe I was a little jealous
about all the great stuff he got with him at the convention. Another very subjective question, what did it
feel like to stand in Michael's "museum" of murder memorabilia?
And some of your personal favourites among his exhibits? Due
to some pieces of his collection you could think that the place may have a
threatening aura, but I felt nothing like that. Though I felt that
something was going on there. But generally I felt very welcome at his
museum. Personally
I am most impressed by his collection of skulls. The idea of owning a
person by owning his or her remains just won't let me go.
What
can you tell us about your overall directorial approach to your subject
matter at hand?
Most
of the time my movies don't have much dialogue or monologues at all. The
idea is to show and not to tell. During the silent era directors tried to
tell their stories using as few title cards in between shots and scenes as
possible, and somehow I try to achieve the same. Film is a visual and a
surreal medium and this is how I try to use it.
This
movie was something else though. A collection like Michael's
could surely speak for itself but it couldn't explain Michaels motivation,
reasoning and world view. Leaving this out the movie would have been
incomplete to me. And since the movie was intended as a portrait I thought
the right way to make the movie was to let him explain himself. I tried not
to intervene too much or force anything. I wanted him in his own words, and
wherever that would lead to.
What can you tell us about your collaboration with Michael on the
movie? He
was easy and fun to work with. We share the same childlike curiosity
towards things most people don't know or don't want to know about. I had a
good time with him at his place. The questions I would ask were
preassigned by me but I did not show them to him up front, but there were
many questions that came up on the spot during the interview.
Do talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set
atmosphere? A
couple of months before the actual shoot he invited me to his museum to
stay for a weekend. He showed me everything and I did some test footage.
The actual movie was basically shot in a day and some additional hours. A
friend of his named Tony, with whom he had organized two exhibitions before,
was also there and assisted during the shoot. This was the only crew. The
day was tiring but also successful in the end. The $64-question of course, when and where
will Michael: A
Murderabilia Memoriam be released? The
US DVD was released a week ago on the 09/15/2021 and can be purchased from
https://putridproductions.bigcartel.com/products Anything you
can tell us about audience and critical reception of Michael:
A Murderabilia Memoriam yet? So
far I haven't heard too many critical voices. This will probably change
when the first copies arrive at their new owners.
Any
future projects you'd like to share?
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I
am still working on Warum läuft Herr W. Amok? But I made rapid progress
in the editing and it won't take too much time anymore. It will probably
have feature film length in the end. It is a semi-documentary about the
actor Jörg Wischnauski [Jörg
Wischnauski interview - click here] and his movie appearances over the years
containing many clips from my movies and movies by other filmmakers. A
second much smaller project I have already shot is a short documentary
about a Thai widow mourning her dead husband. The last project is called
Es geschah in Deutschland. I started the pre-production some time ago but
couldn't progress as I wanted yet, but I hope that I can start shooting
in October. It will be a feature length narrative feature starring Jörg
Wischnauski (Pesthauch der Menschlichkeit).
Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else?
https://linktr.ee/renewiesner
Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
You
can buy my movies from Putrid Productions/Vile Video Productions in the
US. There is also a German DVD of Mondo Siam
which can be purchased
directly via me.
Thanks
for the interview!
Thank
you very much to you, Mike! And a special shout-out to the few collaborators that
have supported my work for a long time by now. You know
who you are!
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