Your new movie Sturmgewehr
- in a few words, what is it about?
Sturmgewehr is
about a leader of an underground company who sells snuff videos to rich
customers. It’s about greed, betrayal and violence.
What were your
sources of inspiration when writing Sturmgewehr?
And what got you interested in the topic of snuff filmmaking in the first
place, and did you do any research on it?
Actually, this is the first film I wrote a script for. I guess my main
inspiration was the thought to explore the snuff theme more than in my
previous work. I did a few short films in which snuff plays a role as well
but this time I wanted to show it in a more organised way. In Sturmgewehr
the killers wouldn’t just kill for the sake of killing but because
there is a full organisation behind them who’d pay them high amounts of
money.
Killing on camera has become a major horror for modern society and
shows how primitive humanity is even though humans consider themselves as
something higher than for example animals.
When it comes
to violence, Sturmgewehr
doesn't exactly hold back - so do talk about the gore effects in your film
for a bit, and how were they achieved? And was there ever a red line
regarding blood and guts you refused to cross? The gore
effects needed a lot of preparation in advance and every scene could only
be done once because there was hardly enough material for a second try.
The only “red line” are technical aspects which sometimes limited me
while doing the effects. The film has many mistakes and many scenes
couldn’t be used after filming due to some problems. Do talk
about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand!
I tried to work as efficiently as possible because I didn’t have a
lot of time and had no chance to reshoot many of the scenes. The cast
received parts of the script so they knew what to say. However, they were
just meant like a guideline, therefore they could also change some
vocabulary, and this is what happened during the shoot. Some speaking
parts were spontaneous.
You've
also created the score for Sturmgewehr
- so do talk about the music in your movie for a bit, and your musical
influences? I try to avoid using too much different tracks
in my films because I am not very experienced with doing music. Most of
the music could be considered as dark ambient/synth tracks I guess. Some
tracks are quite repetitive and they have the task to get the audience in
trance. What can you tell us about your key cast,
and why exactly these people? And how easy or hard was it to actually find
actors willing to appear in a film as disturbing as yours? The
whole cast, except Thomas Goersch, were friends of mine who I knew before
I even had the idea of shooting Sturmgewehr.
I chose them because I thought they would fit the roles, but also because
I prefer to work with people I know. For example Tabea the girl in the
wheelchair had to be played by someone very young looking, so Tanja doing
the job was the right choice. I met Thomas on social media when I
had already shot some scenes for the movie, and he gladly joined the
cast when he heard about the film. He is very reliable and did a great
job.
A
few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
The
scenes in the forest were very exhausting because it was an extremely hot
summer with temperatures up to nearly 40 degrees. Shooting hours in dirt,
blood and sweat led to many insects following us. I felt like a cow which
has to fight flies every few seconds because they want to land on it’s
eye. The other scenes were more comfortable. The atmosphere was mostly
good and focused. The
$64-question, where can Sturmgewehr
be seen? At the moment, Sturmgewehr
can only be seen on the DVD from Beheading Films, which is limited
to 100 copies. Anything you can tell us about audience and
critical reception of Sturmgewehr? I’ve
seen many reviews popping up in the last weeks and they were mostly really
positive. Some people contacted me personally and told me they really
liked the movie as well, so I’d say that people who saw it overall
enjoyed it. Any
future projects you'd like to share? I'm currently not
working on any project but I have some small ideas in mind and we’ll see,
maybe next year. What got you into
filmmaking in the first place? In my opinion, films are the
highest form of art. They combine visuals and sound. Every single
individual has their own perceptions and movies are a way to look into the
conception of someone else.
What can you tell us
about your filmwork prior to Sturmgewehr?
I did many short films in the past with different people, however they
won’t be released due to different reasons. In 2015 I released two short
films and now, four years later you can find more shorts, a documentary
about drug abuse and Sturmgewehr.
By the way, I decided to release an old short film called STGW90
from 2016, which can be found as an extra on the Sturmgewehr
DVD.
Going through your filmography, you seem to repeatedly pick rather
controversial topics for your films - so why is that?
In my opinion, the greatest danger to humanity is the human beings
themselves. I explore different ways of thinking and worldviews in my
films, with morality aside. What's okay for someone can be a limit for
someone else, and that's exactly how it is with people in my films. Brand,
for example, played by Thomas Goersch, has no problem killing people
because they are the goods for him. Another individual may prefer to
starve instead of harming someone. People create their own reality and
everyone experiences the world through their own view, linked to personal
beliefs. Additionally, I am interested in the destruction and
decomposition of the human body and also the bodies of animals.
How would you describe yourself as a director?
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I put a lot of energy in the things I do and try to manifest my
thoughts and stories in my films. As an underground filmmaker I have the
possibility to record the films I want and don’t need to be afraid of
anyone else who couldn’t like what I do. My films aren’t meant for a
huge public and I don't intend to change that.
Your/your movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
Infos about my projects can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/beheadingfilms/
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to
ask?
Thank you for your interest and for the interview.
Thanks
for the interview!
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