Ewa Wikieł presents Krzyk – Losing Control [+lire aussi :
interview : Ewa Wikieł
fiche film] in the Global section of this year's SXSW festival. The movie mixes elements of horror and drama to tell the story of a woman who loses control over her life because of an unprocessed trauma. We spoke to the director about her inspiration for the story, her vision for the look of the film, and her main protagonist.

Cineuropa: Why did you choose the German-Polish border as the location for your story?
Ewa Wikieł: This came to be when we mixed the two elements of the Polish city of Łódź and the fact that the main protagonist comes from Berlin. The movie begins on the highway, which is not only a geographical link between Poland and Germany, but also a symbol for the emotional journey that Lena, the main character, experiences. In Poland, she tries to find a way back to her former self and to get some rest, but her past follows her, until she confronts it. 

Where does the inspiration for the story come from?
The inspiration for the story came from a scream that I heard myself on the motorway towards Łódź, and a burning car I saw at that moment. Like our main character, I couldn't let go of this image, and that's how the basic idea for the film came about. During the pandemic, I also had bouts of sleeplessness and I realised how different night can be from day, and I wanted to incorporate that into the story. Lena is like an animal that sets off into the night, which was previously unknown to her.

How did you decide on the profession of your main character?
Together with the screenwriter Halina Rasinski, we originally thought that she would be a virologist. Then the pandemic came and we changed her profession, so Lena became a bacteriologist. During the writing process, we visited a laboratory in Poland several times to familiarise ourselves with Lena's profession and to get a feel for the atmosphere there. It was totally fascinating to immerse ourselves in the world of scientists, which is so different from the everyday life of filmmakers. We were amazed to discover how many people are still dying of tuberculosis worldwide. It was also important to us that the character was working on her own research project. 

The bilingualism gives the film additional depth. Why was it important for you to use both languages?
The fact that the film has a German main character who lives in a Polish environment gave it an exciting dynamic. I realised that you can suddenly be a different person in a different language. She speaks German with her boyfriend, but the more she immerses herself in the life of the deceased Nina, the better she speaks Polish. And then it gets scary...

How did you find your actress?
It was clear from the start that Gina Henkel would play the role of Lena. I worked with Gina for the first time when I was making a short film for ARTE during my studies at the DFFB in Berlin. Even back then, I saw her as Krzyk's Lena. It was a special journey to develop the character of Lena together with her. Gina learnt Polish intensively for the role. She was involved right from the script development stage; we first did readings, then rehearsed a lot and "researched" Lena's character.

Much of the story takes place at dusk and at night. What were the most important elements for the aesthetic concept of the film?
It's no coincidence that the story begins at dusk and ends at dawn. Together with cinematographer Konstantin Minnich, we found a visual language to depict Lena's sleepless nights. We bathed the city in warm orange light at night, which creates a very special atmosphere that is completely different from the merciless grey morning light in which the character wakes up from her nightmare and goes to work. What was very exciting is that we started with spherical lenses to shoot her normal everyday life, and the more the border between reality and dream becomes blurred, the more the image is influenced by anamorphic lenses. 

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during the making of the film?
One of the biggest challenges was shooting in the middle of the pandemic, as we wouldn’t know until the last moment whether we’d be able to continue shooting the next day. We also had a lot of night shoots, which is why we shot in locations in four different time zones, from Eastern Europe to the Pacific. This meant that on some days, we started shooting at 6am, and on others at 6pm. I am very grateful for the commitment of the team, who stuck together despite difficult circumstances.