Swiss director Lisa Gertsch, a fresh graduate from the Zurich University of the Arts (ZhdK), won the Award for Best Fiction Film at this year's edition of the Max Ophüls Prize with Electric Fields [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], her first feature (see the news). We caught up with her to ask about her aesthetic choices and her inspiration for the multiple stories that the film weaves together.

Cineuropa: What did you particularly like about the episodic form?
Lisa Gertsch: I was interested in telling several stories that could maintain a narrative openness thanks to their brevity. I wanted to weave all of these stories into one big cosmos through subtle connections.

Where did the inspiration for the various episodes come from? Did you draw on your own dreams?
The inspiration for the various episodes came from intuitive images that had been with me for some time and which I then wrote out into stories. For example, for a long time, I carried the image of a character talking to a tree in my head. Thanks to its free form, the film offered the opportunity to explore this idea, to develop a character and a world for it.

Why did you decide to shoot in black and white?
The characters and their stories have somewhat shifted, as they don't seem to fit completely into our world. The black and white creates a certain distance from reality and gives the impression of a different time. I like the contrast this creates: a bygone era and, within it, figures from a modern world.

Melancholy and longing are two of the topics you focus on in your film. Do you associate the medium of film with any theme in particular?
For me, personally, film provides intuitive access to the expression of such feelings. Despite all of the script-related theories on cinematic storytelling, there remains a certain mystery in the sum of all parts of a film. Those intangible feelings, such as melancholy – will they really unfold in the finished film, and how? I love exploring this process.

This is your graduation film. Was it difficult to get well-known Swiss actors and actresses on board?
The film is a production by our film collective Sabotage and was co-produced with the Zurich University of the Arts. All of the actors signed up because of the script and their interest in the project, and many were keen to work in a more open process for once – or even again. We didn't know at the beginning how the movie would develop, exactly. It was a very nice experience to explore this film together with the actors. I was given a lot of trust.

What were the biggest challenges during production?
The main challenge was the production itself. As we were working with a very small budget, I acted as the film's producer and organised the shooting of each episode myself. This was only possible thanks to the flexibility and openness of everyone involved, and the support of our film collective. Being a producer, writer and director all at the same time was sometimes a bit bizarre. For instance, one day, I wrote down the idea for a glowing light bulb; the next day, I was annoyed with myself because I had to figure out how to build such a light bulb.

Do you have any new projects in the pipeline?
I'm currently developing the script for my second feature: a drama that explores our social interaction with people who don't quite fit the usual mould.