by Dee Jefferson/Talent Press

In a recent interview, Director Christian Petzold said “Real life in film is always only a caricature”. This can be reduced even further because the idea that there is any “real” life in the first place is questionable. And in essence, this is what his latest film is very self-consciously about. He talked at the 2005 Berlinale Talent Campus about his film, now screening in competition at the Berlinale.

In "Ghosts", Petzold doesn’t peddle in platitudes or pander to the myth of “normality”. The entire film is infused with the philosophy that reality is in the eye of the beholder.

To hear Petzold talk was absolutely beguiling: you rarely encounter a director who is so articulate about his work, even in translation, and has such emotional intelligence. On the other hand, "Ghosts" is so necessarily subtle that too much exposition risks suffocating the film.

by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE

Naturally, catching a moment with Berlinale chief Dieter Kosslick can be a real challenge during the ten days of the annual festival here in Germany. For the typically cheery, usually joking fest head things got off to a sad start this year with news of the death of his friend, French producer Humbert Balsan of Unifrance and Cinematheque Francaise, on the first day of this year's Berlinale. By mid-fest, Kosslick was a bit cheerier, sitting down with indieWIRE and a couple of other reporters for a brief chat.

European and German Cinema

The state of European cinema, specifically the health of the German film industry, is a common topic for Kosslick, a booster of Euro and German cinema for years.

"In different countries, the cinema is coming back and the national cinema is coming back -- I think there is a good future for the European film industry," Kosslick said. Of late, Germany has in particular seen success overseas with such films as "Goodbye Lenin!" and "Nowhere in Africa." Continuing, Kosslick added, "I am very confident that Germany is not the only country which (is having) success within the film industry."

[Berlinale chief Dieter Kosslick at the Festival's homebase in the Grand Hyatt earlier this week. Photo by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE]

by Dee Jefferson/Talent Press

For someone who has a reputation for 24-7 insobriety and unpredictability, Chris Doyle is extremely lucid – a reflection of his work with such respected directors as Wong Kar-Wai, Zhang Yimou and Phillip Noyce. Born in Australia, Doyle travelled extensively and eventually experimented with his first camera in Taiwan at the age of 28.

Now 52 and a repeat guest at the Berlinale, Doyle is still unmatched in favour amongst the 530 young filmmakers of the talent campus. He is worshipped by young cinematographers, but his philosophy is unpretentious. He is more than ready to admit his errors. When asked how he copes with mistakes on set, his answer quickly exposes a life philosophy: “You assimilate them”. He talks about working on a picture in South America where a scene was shot near a huge waterfall: the air was full of water, and while they were trying to film the main character, the camera shots were becoming distorted by droplets. “Westerners would have said they couldn’t shoot it, and stop until someone could fix the camera”. Instead, the filmmakers adopted the unexpected visual effect as part of the emotional mise-en-scene – as the character became sadder, so too did the image.

[Christopher Doyle at Talent Campus. Image provided by the Berlinale.]

indieWIRE invited all of the directors in the U.S. dramatic and documentary competition to participate in an email interview as a way of introducing them to our readers. Greg Whiteley’s documentary, “New York Doll,” focuses on the New York Dolls’ bassist and leader, Arthur “Killer” Kane, while discussing the band’s rise, fall, and eventual rebirth.

Please tell us about yourself and include as much of the following information as you feel comfortable with:

Day job (if you have one) and former jobs. Where you were born. Where you grew up. Where you live.
I was born in Provo, Utah but I grew up in Seattle, Washington. I received an MFA in film from Art Center College of Design. I won 2 Clios for spec spots I directed while getting my Masters. In spite of that, I had to moonlight as a limo driver while I was getting started. I drove Mr. T to a 1-800-collect commercial…sigh. I also drove a guy who owned an empire made up of refrigerated warehouses and he hired me to manage one of his facilities in East L.A. I brought my camera to work one day and made a five-minute film about his freezer. This led to other industrial film work, which was what I was working on when a friend at church mentioned he was going to reunite with his former band the New York Dolls. He had an interesting story so I decided to raise some money and follow him to London for the concert. Writing this reminds me how valuable making those freezer films was. At the time, I remember being kind of embarrassed to explain to friends that I was making industrial movies about frozen fish, but so much of the aesthetic of the Arthur Film can be attributed to things I learned while making those little movies.

indieWIRE invited all of the directors in the U.S. dramatic and documentary competition to participate in an email interview as a way of introducing them to our readers. Hank Rogerson's documentary, "Shakespeare Behind Bars," delves into a prison production of Shakespeare's "The Tempest."

Please tell us about yourself and include as much of the following information as you feel comfortable with:

Age: 38 Where you were born? Born in Boston, Mass. Where you grew up. Where you live. Grew up in Groton, Mass. Now live in LA.

Did you go to film school? Or how did you learn about filmmaking?
I did not go to film school. I took film courses in college, and then learned by working in production on films like “City Slickers”, and “White Sands” in Santa Fe, NM. Then, my filmmaking partner and wife, Jilann Spitzmiller, and I began making our own films together. That is when I really learned filmmaking. We financed “Shakespeare” with money from Sundance, ITVS, the BBC and Visa.

indieWIRE invited all of the directors in the U.S. dramatic and documentary competition to participate in an email interview as a way of introducing them to our readers. Robinson Devor's film, "Police Beat," is screening in the American Dramatic Competition.

Please tell us about yourself and include as much of the following information as you feel comfortable with:

Day job (if you have one) and former jobs. No day job. Past jobs: moving furniture, day spa, kennel, runner, vice president PR Where you were born. Northern Westchester County, NY. Where you grew up. Where you live. Seattle