Your new movie Snowflake
- in a few words, what is it about?
Snowflake
is a genre mix (dark comedy, crime, action, drama, fantasy) about revenge
in a near future collapsed Berlin and everything gets interesting the
moment 2 characters of the film find the script for the film they are in.
How did the project fall together in the first place, and what
were your thoughts when you first read the script, actually?
Well, I was involved on the project from the beginning, the writer
Arend Remmers is one of my best friends. Snowflake
was born out of
frustration because of failed past projects that never got done because
of financing and producers trying to make our stories more conventional.
So Arend and I decided to do a bonkers film and break the rules, but only
under one condition: we have to do it ourselves together with our friends,
so we don't have to compromise, that means no fancy production companies or
any budget.
My thoughts when I read the script the first time were “I don't know
how we will do this, but we have to.”
What
can you tell us about Snowflake's
screenwriter Arend Remmers, and what was your collaboration with him like? Arend
is one of the most brilliant writers in Germany right now, he is not
afraid of breaking rules and changing the form, which I love. I am like
that too, so we work together very well. We are like brothers, we respect
each other’s opinions and share the same film DNA.
Snowflake
is a pretty wild genre mix with many a "what the fuck?" moment -
so how hard was it to not lose the plot (literally) amidst all of this,
and was there ever a red line you refused to cross? The
process was very difficult for me because we shot the film over 2 years
on the weekends, so I always had to keep the basic key elements in check.
Luckily we believed in the plot and somehow we knew that it would work, we
constantly tweaked here and there, especially in the editing but it was
never a big problem for us. What
can you tell us about your directorial approach to your story at hand? And
also talk about your guest director William James!
I think the biggest rule for me (and on set) was to treat the story
seriously, to respect it and not be cynical about it. It is a shame how
many great genre films with intriguing premises don’t take themselves
seriously, I have learned from them.
William James is not only the guest director, he is one of the editors
and the creator of Hyper Electro Man. William is one of my closest friends
and collaborators, we have been working together for a long time, he
wanted to do Hyper Electro Man as a short film and direct it, but
then we decided
to put the storyline in the film and I offered him to direct it.
Do
talk about your key cast, and why exactly these people? The
key cast are mainly friends of ours, we couldn’t afford any luxury sets or even
catering, so we decided to go to our actor friends and ask them to join us
in this crazy ride, we had professional and non-professional actors, and that
mix made the film interesting, it was a lot of fun working with all of them. A
few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? The
shoot, as I mentioned before, took up 2 years, mainly shot on the weekends, so
it was a challenge to keep the momentum going and not to mess the
continuity, but it worked out at the end. The atmosphere on set was always
good, I really love being on set and I always try to create a fun
atmosphere, more like a playground for the cast and crew. Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of
Snowflake? The
reception has been a big surprise. The way audiences have received the
film! It has been so positive and energizing, it really motivates us to
continue creating and being brave about it, this year has been unreal for
us, we went to so many film festivals, met and talk with amazing audiences
and filmmakers, won awards, we can't believe that this small movie gave us
so many beautiful moments.
Any
future projects you'd like to share? I just finished a film
for Warner Bros Germany, and Arend and I just sold our next
project here in Germany that we will shoot in English and German next
year, It will be crazy again, like Snowflake! Other than that we are
developing a TV series and a couple of scripts. What got you into
filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on
the subject?
I love films, I have been watching films since I’ve been a kid, I like to
say that I was raised by films. I grew up in Venezuela so I never even
thought about becoming a film director. It seemed impossible, but once I
moved to Germany my mentality changed and I decided to go for it.
I have no professional training, I never went to a proper film school,
but I worked on sets a lot, I did every job I could in any position, just
wanted to learn every department as much as I could.
What can you tell us about your filmwork
prior to Snowflake?
I started doing shorts films and music videos, then moved to doing
commercials while shooting Snowflake.
How
would you describe yourself as a director? Hm... this one
is a hard one, I like exploring and dissecting the ways of filmmaking, I
do enjoy working intensely my with my actors, going for more even if is
scary, I'm not afraid of fighting for what I believe in, films is a way of
having a conversation with an audience, with my films I like more to ask
questions than to give answers. Filmmakers
who inspire you? Kubrick, Kurosawa, Lumet, Scorsese, Leone,
Mann, Scott brothers, Fincher, Villeneuve, Coen brothers, Bigelow,
Tarantino, P.T Anderson, Ritchie, Satoshi Kon. Your favourite movies? Always
a hard question, I will try: 2001 A Space Odyssey, 12 Angry Men,
Rashomon, Once Upon
a Time in the West, Heat, There Will Be Blood, Blade
Runner, Seven, Sicario, Snatch, Inglourious
Basterds, Le Samurai. ...
and of course, films you really deplore?
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Hm... I have learned not to deplore films anymore, I respect the process
so much, and so many things can go wrong while making a film that I feel
I’m being unfair to a movie if I trash it, sorry :(
But I don’t like mediocre films that only exist because of a hype, a
sequel just for the sake of expanding a franchise but it feels that no one
thought about it, I think it is disrespectful to the audience.
Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
adolfokolmerer.com Thanks
for the interview!
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