Quotes

The premiere is the toughest thing for every filmmaker, not only because you are afraid if everything will work out technically, but also because in some way you have to say goodbye to your film, and it can feel like you're thrown out of an airplane. [2016]

[on presenting Toni Erdmann (2016) in Cannes] On last Monday I was still doing the [movie's sound] mix, and on Tuesday I was seeing the final version, and on Wednesday I went shopping to buy a dress. I bought a suit. And then I came here and showed the film. So it was really, really crazy, and very, very nice. [2016]

[on editing Toni Erdmann (2016)] And almost six weeks after I had the feeling it was finished, the discussion about the length came up and up and up. And I said, "OK, I have to be 100 percent sure. Let me try everything." I took out lots of things, but I put everything back, except maybe 10 seconds. Because when I took things out, the film felt longer. It was strange sometimes. I have to make excuses for the length, but it really lost when you made it shorter. [2016]

[on the reception of Toni Erdmann (2016)] I really didn't expect that so many people would like it. [With] my previous two films, maybe a bit more people liked them than didn't like them, but there were always people who said, "I don't like those films." With this one, I was expecting people to say, "No, it's too long, I don't like that woman..." I was expecting many more critics. [2016]

[press conference for Toni Erdmann (2016) at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival] I had the wish for a long time to make something about this family topic - about the roles everybody played, about all these rituals, things that repeat themselves again and again, and to have on the other side - you had to tell something about the wish to break out of this, to maybe start from zero. So I found this father, this joker, who brought in with Toni the possibility to tell this thing. I found out during writing that the father-daughter thing is a very emotional topic, this children-parents thing.....there's a lot of secret aggression, secret longing, secret fears in that - I could use that very well.

[Cannes press conference for Toni Erdmann (2016)] It's my third film and it's a great honour - to be here is what you always dream of as a filmmaker and it feels good because I have the feeling maybe they give me another carte blanche for the next film! There are so many great directors this year, a lot of them that I like a lot, and if I can make the German film industry happy, it's also good!

[on the origins of Toni Erdmann (2016)] My family is often my first source of inspiration - it feeds my narrative and can influence the links between the characters. Winfried, Ines' father, invents for himself an alter-ego, like a desperate and bold attempt to reignite their father-daughter relationship. Toni Erdmann thus came to life! Humour is often the best way to transcend reality. Winfried, unable to communicate with his daughter, finds a way here to escape from this situation in creating this character. Humour is his only weapon, and it's going to enable him to communicate afresh.

We had a cinema in the town where I grew up, and for my parents and me it was normal to go see every film that played - everything, including Hollywood films and American independent films, like My Own Private Idaho (1991). When the first consumer cameras came out, I wanted one. I enjoyed making little films with my friends, and remaking commercials; it was more about the act of filming.

[on Everyone Else (2009)] At the beginning I just had the idea of this couple. I was interested in whether it was possible to tell the inner life of a relationship, the things you can't express to a third person. When Gitti and Chris are coming home after the holiday, and someone asks her, "How was it?", maybe she wouldn't be able to tell what happened. I'm very interested in characters. First there was Gitti, an extreme woman, and on the other side a defensive man. I was thinking about their relationship, their fears, their longings. After a while the story came out of it, this story of a power struggle, then a power shift. Then this theme of the roles they start to play.

[on influences for Everyone Else (2009)] I love Scenes from a Marriage (1974), so we all watched it together. That was important for me for the film, because there's also this power shift, and you're very surprised at how close you get to the man after you're so much with the woman. I also love A Woman Under the Influence (1974). Thinking about Gitti's character, she's not as lost and insane as Gena Rowlands gets, but that character was important. And I love La Notte (1961).

I was interested in taking on main characters that are more like me, sociologically. I wanted them to have a similar day-to-day experience and similar professions. In itself, there's nothing in the film that's overtly autobiographical, but there is a lot of me in Everyone Else (2009), that's just inevitable.

[on The Forest for the Trees (2003)] In the teaching profession, you can't be exactly who you are. You have to show authenticity so that the children don't see you as a mere figurehead, but you have to lock away certain personal traits. Melanie is so transparent; she can't play poker. She hasn't mastered the little games yet. I'm not a teacher, but when I was working with the pupils, I quickly found myself in a similar situation. When you're standing in front of 35 children and moments of anxiety start to surface, I was able to hold on to my role as a director quite well. But the term 'role' doesn't quite capture it. Children notice immediately if you're not being genuine. They don't buy it when Melanie tries to be strict. Teachers simply have to possess certain emotional qualities.

[asked if she finds Melanie from The Forest for the Trees (2003) to be an embarrassing character] I didn't think about that whilst writing; I liked her too much for that. I was concerned with the emotional perspective, the character's inner logic. To be honest, I don't know why people find others embarrassing. That has a lot to do with oneself, doesn't it? I don't even know if Melanie finds herself embarrassing.