The 17th edition of the German Film Fest Madrid (11-15 June) closed with the screening of Rock'n'Roll Ringo [+leggi anche:
intervista: Dominik Galizia
scheda film], the latest work written and directed by Dominik Galizia (Figaros Wölfe, Heikos Welt), and starring Martin Rohde. We caught up with him at the Embajadores multiplex cinema.

Cineuropa: Your new film shows your fascination for the world of the circus and travelling fairs. Did working at Disneyland Paris years ago have an influence on that?
Dominik Galizia: Artistically, I wouldn't say that Disneyland Paris influenced me. I went there because I wanted to be a stunt double and since I didn't live far away I decided to work there as an acrobat. But there weren't any interesting positions available at the time, just stupid dances that did not appeal to me, so I decided to work in the kitchen, and that did have an impact on me, because I was working alongside French colleagues and I went from living in my hometown to a much more independent life, and that had an impact on my path to adulthood.

Your feature is set in places with special magic and photogenics, a bit like in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, Freaks (Tod Browning) and The Crying Game (Neil Jordan).
Yes, also in Carnival of Souls (1962), a black-and-white film directed by Herk Harvey. This is my third film: in the previous one I also looked at the working class, as I am concerned about the problems of ordinary people. In Heikos Welt the action all takes place in a bar, and in this one it is based at a fair and in the circus. Both worlds bring together upper- and working-class people, men and women of all ages and backgrounds. I am from West Germany, where circus shows and fairs are more popular than in Berlin. That’s where I saw that kind of boxing, in the nineties when I was 12 years old, and I was fascinated. Obviously, I didn’t know I would go on to make a film about a boxer, but I did wonder what kind of people would consider travelling around Germany beating each other up. I am not interested in the boxing itself, but in the person behind it. They are trying to break out, blow up barriers and they fall into fair life by chance. I think my films have a hyper-stylised realism: I shot in 35 millimetres, which means I can give it a special look, because there is no more beautiful way of filming.

Does the fact that you have previously made so many video clips also play a role in the stylisation of your filming?
Definitely. I arrived in Berlin in 2010, and I joined a collective of musicians and worked with rappers on their videos. We bought a 16mm camera and I evolved in that direction. In all my films I have also mixed natural or amateur actors with professionals: for example, in Heikos Welt there are a lot of heavy drinkers. In this one I also used real-life people, which gives the film authenticity.

But it can't be easy to shoot in crowded places, especially in 35 mm.
It’s horrible! Before shooting it I thought: What am I getting myself into? Filming in a place full of people and with non-professional actors... I felt terrible before each day's shooting, as if I were 21 again, wondering if I would be able to shoot what I wanted to shoot. I understand why they build fairground or circus sets especially for a film, but I wanted to capture something else: I was looking for the authenticity of reality.

How would you define Rock'n'Roll Ringo: as a dramatic comedy, a family film...an adventure?
I have mixed genres here, just as I did with Heikos Welt. This new film is an action drama, two genres that are rarely put together. That, plus the portrayal of the working class. 

It also addresses fatherhood. Why include this conflict?
All my films have something autobiographical about them: they are about what we grew up with or family experiences, and as you get older you can see what you might have missed out on and what you’d like to do differently. In this new film there is silence and lack of communication. Many people have told me that the film has made them reflect on their position as parents. That is one of the goals of the film. Because there are many men who see manliness, being a man and family the wrong way.