02/07/2025 - We spoke to the German directors, who teamed up to capture a symbolic night at a techno club, about their visual concept and working method

Nikias Chryssos (left, © Viktor Richardsson) and Viktor Jakovleski (© Raphaela Fiuza Nowakowski)

Rave On [+see also:
interview: Nikias Chryssos, Viktor Jak…
film profile], written and directed by Nikias Chryssos and Viktor Jakovleski, has premiered at Filmfest Munich, in the New German Cinema section. What’s more, its national release is planned for 31 July through Weltkino Filmverleih. The directors have created a frenetic homage to techno music and to an attitude to life held dear by many generations of partygoers around the world. We spoke to the directorial duo about their approach to the topic, their visual concept and their working method.

Cineuropa: Where did the idea to make this film come from?
Viktor Jakovleski: The idea for this film came about in an actual club. For many years, I dreamed of capturing the feeling of what it means to be in a techno club. Of course, it's always something unique that happens in there, but I wanted to find a way to transfer a version of that to the big screen and share it with audiences. The idea took many years to mature. I took a lot of notes, sometimes while in the club, and created a collection of drafts. One time, when Nikias was present, I shared the idea with him. We then developed the film together and submitted a treatment to the BKM film-funding agency, which agreed to give us a writing grant to develop the screenplay. The fact that it was 2020 and during the coronavirus lockdown, when all the clubs were closed, made it a symbolic moment. We argued that we wanted to make a cinematic monument to celebrate club culture and raving. That must have been convincing.

What was the most important thing when developing the story?
VJ: It was clear to us that we weren't just going to randomly film club moments and focus solely on the beauty of clubbing itself. We needed a story that would justify spending the whole film in the club, and which would outline the highs and lows that one can encounter during such a night. The central element was the character of Kosmo, who is obsessed with the idea of hand-delivering his latest vinyl record to his idol, and he has to overcome many obstacles to achieve his goal. We wanted to stick with him at all times and feel what he feels. This was the key idea: to find a way to make the film immersive and experiential.

Nikias Chryssos: Clubbers should be able to see themselves in the movie, and those who don't know techno clubs should simply get a sense of what it might feel like, even if it can't be conveyed fully. We wanted to suggest as strongly as possible, cinematically, what it feels like to be on the dance floor. It was all a big experiment because, as Viktor says, the club experience is obviously something unique and fleeting. We tried to give it a form. For this to succeed, it was important to find the right people, the right partners and the right locations. We always tried to work with people who have had these club experiences themselves.

What does the figure of Kosmo represent?
VJ: For me, Kosmo is a conglomeration of many DJs and producers that we have got to know over the years. Kosmo embodies the characteristics of many of those people from our circle of friends and acquaintances. There are DJs who are successful and earn a lot of money, but that's a relatively small group. The others struggle – some more so, some less. Kosmo is totally stuck in his creative process and blames the whole world, because he can't admit to himself that something is wrong inside him. He’s a semi-tragic figure who has something romantic and nostalgic about him. His love of vinyl, for example, is very important. I've also seen producers walking around with their records, waiting for the right moment to give them to a specific DJ. Aaron Altaras, who plays Kosmo, said something really nice: he sees the club as a healing place where the character experiences a night of catharsis.

NC: As filmmakers, we are familiar with creative crises similar to Kosmo’s. He has the feeling that everything around him is changing, that he is being left behind and that he is in danger of looking at the younger generation in a bitter way. He has to learn to deal with this. It was important for us not only to show the character as someone who is annoyed, bad-tempered or depressed, but also to show that you can identify with him.

The camera merges more and more with Kosmo’s perspective.
VJ: As I mentioned, the challenge was to combine Kosmo’s mission with the most immersive, authentic film experience possible, and we developed the camera concept accordingly. The viewer ought to feel like they are stumbling through the club with this guy and feel every drug he takes, so everything that happens to him also happens to the viewer – including the drugs. That’s why we used a variety of analogue and digital camera and computer effects to enhance these feelings.