Behind SHAPES

"Since the age of 11 my back has been fully opened surgically three times. Suffering from several diseases of my spine, I felt like I needed to make a film about it to sensitize others and to represent people of my community who suffer from the same or similar diseases and to support them with my work. I intended to confront the audience with uncomfortable, very close images."

"I always felt very strange myself, watching reports about people with back problems. Either there were only doctors stating facts without any emotional value or people portrayed in a very one-sided way, as victims or less fortunate. SHAPES became my homage to people with backs that are different. We live in a society in which beauty has a very high status. But I feel that especially our back can show pride - even if bent."

Comfort on set

"SHAPES is my first documentary that is made during my studies at the University of Film and Television in Munich. My university's only requirement was to make a film about 10 minutes long, which had to be black and white and shot in the City of Munich. Overall I had a budget of only €400."

"The production process took very long. I started to cast people in December 2017 and we shot in spring 2018. I searched for people by posting my request in support groups on social media and I was very surprised when I got feedback from over 50 people who wanted to be part of the film. I then narrowed it down and talked to around 15-20 people through Skype. Out of the them I chose my 5 protagonists."

"On set I wanted to make sure that everyone feels very comfortable. It was very important to us to only have women on set when we shot, so only our cinematographer Natalia Mamaj, our sound engineer Neary Wach and me were present on set. We gave our protagonists a lot of time to relax – my mother for example helped us to welcome them first, while we did the shooting with another protagonist."

Teamwork

"Our teamwork was excellent. We had one long day at the studio where we did the interviews and 90% of the shots. On the second day we visited our protagonists at home. After finishing, I did the edit myself. I've been editing for quite a while, but I must say SHAPES was especially extensive, since the dramaturgy is the most important part to me. I had excellent supervision from Maria Knilli, who gave me so much good feedback on my film. I think this is very important as a filmmaker: to accept and think about feedback and critique. In the end you still make the big decisions, but I think it's important to open up for feedback."

"The edit took me weeks – I changed and conformed over and over again. The last step after the grading that was made in house (at my university) was the music. My friend and composer Karim Shalaby (KARMA Audio) did the composition. This was a big gift for me – Karim and I talked a lot and in a short time he composed the music for SHAPES, which I think is perfect. Producing a film through film school is very beneficial, I was sponsored by the color grading, the sound mixing and the creation of a DCP."

The importance of festivals

"SHAPES was in a few competitions and festivals so far. The most prestige we got was when SHAPES was shown at the Festival de Cannes 2019, since it is part of the selection of the Next Generation Short Tiger 2019. Overall, I have only had good festival experiences and we are looking forward to SHIFT. I think festivals are very important for young filmmakers since it is the best possibility to show our work and network with others. My tip for directors is quite simple: Don't be scared to fail and just keep working."