29/06/2021 - The German director seized the opportunity to overcome coronavirus-related insecurities by making a film that tackles them head-on

Annekatrin Hendel is an experienced documentary filmmaker with a background in the GDR. She first started as a producer and then as a director, making films inspired by Germany's post-war history. Hendel is part of this year's Face to Face promotional campaign, run by German Films. We talked to her about her new film, Banished to Paradise [+see also:
interview: Annekatrin Hendel
film profile], which she created during the first coronavirus lockdown in March 2020.

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Cineuropa: How did the film come about?
Annekatrin Hendel: The idea came about totally spontaneously, two days before the first lockdown, in March 2020. I was desperate because I had the feeling that the pandemic would last a long time. I was in a bad mood, while my family was more positive. When I said I was going to make a film, they didn't believe me, but they let me because my mood improved when I used the camera and the smartphone. Then I started right away and immediately found a TV station that was interested.

In your new film, you are one of the protagonists yourself. What was this experience like?
When I make films, I often deal with problematic stories. I want people to show themselves and reveal something about themselves, and if I expect that of my protagonists, I also have to be ready to do so. Banished to Paradise is not the first personal film I have made, though. One of my more intimate and cheerful films about dying is Five Stars [+see also:
trailer
film profile] [2017], about the death of my best friend.

Did the coronavirus pile additional pressure on you?
My partner, a cameraman, was already feeling quite a lot of pressure, but our children were fairly calm. And I felt a lot of pressure as the boss of a film production company, where everything immediately ground to a halt. Certain contracts were no longer signed, and filming was suspended. I was really afraid for my livelihood. As a result of that pressure, I thought, “I'm making this film now because this might also be my last one.” That was my fear, and that's why I wanted to at least make a film about that fear.

How do you usually find your subjects?
They have actually been there for a long time, and they're all very personal. I've never made a film that wasn't based on a personal experience or a personal acquaintance with a protagonist. The reason I make films comes from my background. I come from the GDR, and I never saw movies that had anything to do with the reality of, or the attitude to, life as I experienced it there. For all of my films, I know the starting point very well; I do extensive research, usually over several years. I am always very well prepared. In comparison, Banished to Paradise is quite different because I haven't done any research. Therefore, the film is extraordinary in terms of my body of work.

How do you go about developing the visual concept for each film?
Each film is a complete reinvention. Every story, I believe, needs its own approach. There is no set scheme that I work by, as that would bore me. In Anderson [2014], about Sascha Anderson, for example, I recreated the protagonist's famous kitchen in East Berlin as a setting in a large studio. It was a re-enactment through set design. That was very specific and would not be practical for another movie. Every film needs its own approach and visual concept.

Do you have any cinematic role models who have influenced you?
No; there were some very good filmmakers in the GDR whom I liked, but that has nothing to do with me. I wasn't allowed to study, and that's why I'm self-taught. Of course, I like to watch films. I'm also a big fan of Fassbinder, and I made a film about this legend. But he is not my role model in filmmaking itself. Still, he impressed me because he is the German filmmaker whose work has told German post-war history almost seamlessly and in a very complex way over 44 films and series. In that regard, perhaps, he is a role model after all, as he didn’t tear things, or history, out of their contexts. He allowed himself a socially accurate, subjective point of view. That's exactly what I want, except that it's about recent German history for me.

What changes in promotion and film funding would you like to see in Germany?
I would like to see more flexibility, especially for documentaries. For example, you can't start shooting before you’ve applied for funding. That makes no sense for a documentary film. There have been movies where the protagonists were already dead when the funding started flowing. More money for the material and project-development phase of documentaries would also be very much appreciated.

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