An Interview with Jaschar Marktanner, Director of Vielleicht besser so

by Mike Haberfelner

November 2025

Films directed by Jaschar Marktanner on (re)Search my Trash

Your new movie Vielleicht besser so - in a few words, what's it about?

You know, after our last interview was published, I realized you were probably asking for a summary rather than the theme. At any rate, Vielleicht besser so is about how everything happens for a reason, and you never know what it’s good for.

What were your sources of inspiration when writing Vielleicht besser so, and is any of it based on personal experiences?

It’s pretty much inspired by my experience of making movies again. I essentially only began the pre-production for Turing Test because a friend bullied me into doing it. I hadn’t made movies for roughly six years at that point, and I had no intent of ever going back to directing. So much good came out of it though. I reconnected with a person I thought was gone from my life forever, and of course it connected me with Marlene Fahnster, who is just perfect for the roles I create. I thought Turing Test would be a one and done, but knowing that someone like her exists motivates me to write more and better scripts.

As a creative person yourself, to what extent could you identify with Jule and the artistic drought she's apparently going through? Or to what extent could you identify with any of the other characters in your movie?

I think there is a right way and a wrong way for self-inserts. I hope I did it the right way. Turing Testled to a few good things, but there were also some downsides. There were reasons why I didn’t want to make movies anymore after all. Doing creative work is hard and often not rewarding, especially if it can’t be done alone and needs to be a collaborative effort. In the independent circle where nobody gets paid, you can’t always count on people having the drive to bring your vision to life. Which to me makes no sense, because if I join a project and know I won’t get paid, I will probably work even harder. If there is no money to be made and I am on board, that means I want to be there for the project, and make sure the director gets exactly what he wants from me. But I digress.

As for the characters, Clara is thematically based on the friend I mentioned earlier. Other than her function in the story, I modeled her a bit after another friend of mine, even placing a hint to that which only she and I will get. Since Jule is a condensed version of my experience, I can identify with her and what she is going through a lot of course.

Do talk about your directorial approach to your story at hand!

Do talk about your directorial approach to your story at hand!

I’m all about the acting. I sent the actors the script, had some meetings with them, then we shot the thing. I know that a lot of directors spend more time on other things, and if it works for them, why shouldn’t they? For me, it works to focus on the actors. Everything else will fall into place.

What can you tell us about Vielleicht besser so's cast, and why exactly these people?

Marlene Fahnster was a given. She will always be the lead in my movies, for as long as she wants to do it. I write most of my scripts in one go, forgetting everything else around me. I remember finishing the first draft, and immediately apologizing to her afterwards, telling her that I have a new script where she would be a perfect fit for the protagonist. We had just worked together on another movie at that time, and I already had presented her a script for the next one, which she had agreed to luckily, when Vielleicht besser so crossed my mind and I had to write it. I was really afraid that she would be mad at me for asking, which sounds ridiculous now, but that’s just how it was in that moment. I feel blessed that she was not only very open to read it, but also liked the script and obviously ended up playing the part, embodying Jule perfectly. I would have probably discarded the script if she had declined. I truly believe there is no one who could have brought Jule to life the way Marlene did. I tend to neglect the supporting roles in my scripts a little bit (I’m working on it), but my protagonists are extremely important to me and I feel somewhat protective of them. In the past, I made some casting mistakes, and it still hurts me deeply to this day. But with Marlene, I’m always at ease and know the respective character is in good hands.

I found Lisa Leonard while browsing an actors database and contacted her. There was something in her material that just screamed “Clara” to me. I had two other candidates which I already knew from other projects, but Lisa was the most convincing when I talked with her. I think her on-screen chemistry with Marlene is great, and I hope I can get those two together again soon.

For the man, I posted an ad. Francisco Aurell was one of the applicants, and it was pretty clear that he would be the best fit. There isn’t a lot to work with for this role, since the man is a bit mysterious, and as a director I also tried to not know too much about him, in order to convey that feeling to the audience. Francisco did a great job, even though my approach might have not been the most beneficial one. I definitely need to work with him more often as well.

A few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?

Without a doubt the most pleasant shoot I had since making movies again by far. Even overall, it’s probably in the top three out of my now eleven movies, with Vielleicht besser so being the eleventh, or third from the “modern era”. Back in the day, we used to finish ahead of schedule every shooting day, something that I didn’t seem to be able to replicate in my first two modern movies, quite the contrary actually, to my shock. This time, we did it again, everything just flowed as flawlessly as you could ask for with a no-budget project. There were moments that must not happen again, but I’m really happy overall.

The $64-question of course, where can Vielleicht besser so be seen?

Tallying up to $128 I see. I found Vielleicht besser so hard to translate into English, especially but not only because of the allusions to Benjamin Blümchen, which hardly works internationally. They didn’t even work for some of the younger people in the team, which wasn’t the greatest way to learn that I am old now. I really threw away those six years … Then again, Marlene was too young back then, so it was probably for the best. Here’s that theme of the movie again, whatever happens, you never know what it’s good for … It’s all happening for a reason. To answer your question, I’ll try to get it into some festivals. We’ll see how it plays out.

Anything you can tell us about audience and critical reception of Vielleicht besser so?

My sloppy translation worked for a few critics, or maybe it didn’t and that’s why they liked it. There aren’t many German speaking people (that I know of at least) who concern themselves with reviewing short films, which isn’t the best base for a German short film to get recognized. That was part of the reason to shoot Turing Test in English, but Vielleicht besser so had to be in German.

Any future projects you'd like to share?

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Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever else?

Still nothing. I’m old, remember?

Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?

I want to thank the person without whom I would have never made a single movie.

Thanks for the interview!

© by Mike Haberfelner

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