Florian Eichinger Director of ’Bergfest’

What was your idea and wish for writing and directing Without You I’m Nothing? The idea occurred for several reasons. The conditions to produce the film affected the setting, I knew I wanted to write a low-budget script to be independent from film funds, and I personally love chamber plays because they intensively deal with the characters. The essence has to be right and you can’t cover any weaknesses in the script through cinematography. To some extent the story is also autobiographical; I know these kind of patchwork families as I used to have a stepfather and didn’t live with my dad.

You only had ten days of shooting. Yes, ten days is something I wouldn’t recommend, it’s a nightmare. Nevertheless […] I knew the team from previous shorts and commercials. Two of actors had known each other before, which was good for the atmosphere on set.

How would you describe your style as a director and which stories are you interested in? I definitely want to direct films where the rubber meets the road, films that make you think and are not superficial, not films that fade out life but reflect it. In Without You I’m Nothing I wanted to also show the beauty behind the self-centredness of the characters.

Tell us about your cinematic background. Shooting my first short with two other colleagues, after graduating from school I soon realized that I seemed to be the only one who cared. That’s how I accidentally became involved in directing. Afterwards I worked as an editorial journalist and at the same time I shot short films. I never went to film school, because school was always something miserable to me. After having taken part in a workshop, financed by a film fund, I realized how rewarding a classic film seminar can be, but at this time it was already too late to study.

40 German co-productions are screened in Rio. What do you think of the recent development of German cinema? German films have made good progress in the past 10 years. There are many ambitious films, diverse, but back on a competitive level with other countries. Personally I couldn’t name any contemporary German director with a lasting historical influence, but I hold Andreas Dresen, Tom Tykwer and Hans-Christian Schmid in high esteem, and I believe that many other European filmmakers do leave a more enduring mark.

Zsuzsanna Kiràly