Monday Night, act II

Interviewing the organiser
S: Können wir Sie auch ganz kurz interviewen?
KK: Na klar.
S: Super. Wow, das ist nun schon das zweite Mal innerhalb eines Jahres, dass ich Sie interviewen darf.
KK: Ach ja, stimmt ja.
S: Genau.
KK: Das war..
S: Im Rahmen der "Germany Innovations".
KK: Stimmt. Na, das ist doch schön. Auf deutsch oder auf englisch?
S: In English, otherwise no one will be able to understand us.
KK: Alright, no problem.

S: What is typical of German film
KK: If I had to say what is typical, I would say it is atypical because we do everything, comedies, thrillers, drama...

....

S: Who comes to the festival?
KK: Oh, we know that exactly! [..] predominantly female, but more and more male [...] the average age is 37 [...] with a good secondary education [...] most of them have some kind of German background, they've been there, have friends or family there or a girlfriend or boyfriend who is German...
S: Wow, how come you know that in such detail?
KK: We've done audience research in Sydney and Melbourne in the last years.


Fan and Star, face to face, 6.20pm
S: Ich liebe "Wir".
MG: Freut mich zu hören.
S: Ja, ich habe ihn auf DVD. Und wir gucken ihn gern bei mir in der WG, weil er ja im Nordischen Viertel spielt und der extra...
MG:Wo?
S: Im nordischen Viertel!
MG: Was ist das?
S: Mmm, na der Teil vom Prenzlauer Berg, wo der Film spielt...
MG: Habe ich noch nie gehört! Nordisches Viertel?
S: Jaaaa.
MG: Westlich der Schönhauser Allee.
S: Genau.. also nördlich der Ringbahn. Und der extra...
MG: Ja, ja, das ist der extra. Aber trotzdem, den Namen kannte ich noch gar nicht. Nordisches Viertel?
S: Ja, weil die Straßennamen alle nordisch sind in der Gegend.
MG: Und da wohnst du?
S: Genau.... also jetzt gerade nicht, aber meine WG ist da.... Ich habe die DVD von einem Bekannten bekommen, als ich dort hingezogen bin.
MG: Das freut mich sehr zu hören, dass der Film immer noch weitergegeben wird....Das war halt so, als ich damals nach Berlin kam. Und darüber wollte ich einen Film machen. Schön, dass das immer noch so wahrgenommen wird.
S: Auf jeden Fall. Wir gucken den gern bei mir in der WG. Und die DVD steht im Wohnzimmer im Regal, also besteht die Chance, dass die ganzen Erasmusstudenten, die gerade da wohnen, ihn vielleicht auch gucken...
MG: Na dann hoff ich mal, dass dir "Nichts als Gespenster" auch gefällt. Es war ganz komisch. Manche, die "Wir" ganz toll fanden, mochten "Nichts als Gespenster" überhaupt nicht.
S: Doch, ich denk schon. Ich war am Freitag da zur Diskussion an der Uni und kenn also die erste Hälfte.
MG: In furchtbarer Qualität!

Q&A with the director after the screening, 9pm
X: I couldn't help but wonder, why do all the characters in the movie smoke? Especially the women?
K: Wow, that question again.
S: Yes.... I can't believe it.

....

Y: I liked the birds singing in the one scene.
MG: Which one?
Y: In America, outside the hostel, where the ghosts are.
MG: I know what scene you mean, but I can't remember the birds...
Y: That was beautiful... I didn't like the sex scenes though. You could have left them out.
MG: Mmm, but that was not a question.



Audience reactions, 9.15pm
S: So, how did you like the movie?
L: You've already got me. Go, ask someone else... Or Steph.
K: Yes.
S: Yes, Steph, how did you like the movie?
St: Noooooooooo.
K: Please.
S: Steph...
St: Nooooo.
K: It's just a uni project.
L: She thought the dark one in the German episode was really hot, didn't you?
S: Really?

....

K: What did you think of the movie?
X: I've just told the director. I think it's a very profound film. It shows how Europeans internalize there feelings. Unlike Australians who tend to externalize their emotions. But Europeans react very differently. They don't speak. They express their feelings through smoking, through sex..escapism.

At the crowded Bar Italiano, over 4 different pasta dishes, an overpriced tiny serve of salad and a cheap bottle of Shiraz from the bottle shop next door, discussing the movie and deciding who was hot, 9.45pm
S: So, what episode did you like best?
L: Mmmh, Steph and I have just been talking about that.
S: So?
L: I liked the Icelandic one.
K: Yes, that was great.
S: I think I liked that one best, too.... I liked the guy, he was funny.
K: Which one?
S: The German on in the Icelandic episode.
L: But he was just as bad as the rest of them. He didn't speak to her. He just fucked her.
S: Mmmm, and the Icelandic woman. She had beautiful eyes.
St: Yes, that's true.
S: Does anyone want my mozzarella?
L: Don't you wanna eat it?
S: I hate mozzarella.
K: I've just had a whole slice.
L: I'll have to save up for gelato.
S: Steph?
St: Okay, but not all of it.
L: Steph and I both liked the dark haired one in the German episode. She was so hot.
S: The dark haired one?
K: She was so lonely. She was the lonliest of all the characters. I think she wanted to be lonely.
S: Her apartment was so empty.
L: What?
S: She didn't have new flatmate.
L: So, you think that's significant?
S: I don't think I really understood that part. They are not gonna be a couple, are they?
L: No, he just knows how good-looking he is and could have any girl but he wanted her because she was harder to get then the other one.
S: Ruth?
L: Yeah, and Steph and I were just saying that there was a certain dynamic between the two.
S: The two girls?
L: Don't you think?
S: Actually... in a way.. Yes, when they were lying in bed arm in arm.
L: See...
K: That's such a nice wine.
L: And only 7,50.
S: That's so cheap. And I like, though I don't really like red wine.
St: But I have to drive.
L: One glass is alright.
S: If I had to pick a girl from that movie, I would go with the dark haired one from the Jamaican episode.
St: Oh yes!
S:She's quite famous in Germany.
L: No, she was too beautiful.
S: What about the redhead?
L: Nooooo, nooo.
S: Well, I liked the director!
L: He was really nice.
S: Yeah, you had a little chat with him, didn't you?
L: Yes. Steph liked him, too. She's thinking about changing sides.
S: Really? You're into men now?
St: No.
L: That's what you were saying the other night.
St: No, I'm just gonna be single forever.


Dessert Time, still at the Bar, 10.15pm
L: Okay, I am gonna get gelato. What about you?
K: I am so full.
L: There's always room for gelato.
S: That's true. When my uncle was little, he used to say that he had two stomachs. A normal one and one for dessert. A dessert stomach.
K: That's great.
St: Pretty cool.
L: So, are you gonna have any?
S: No, gelato? No. I am surrounded by gelato all the time at work. I can't stand it anymore.
L: But this gelato is a lot better than at your work.
S: Really? Still, I don't want any. I'm gonna have chocolate easter eggs at home. I should really eat them soon.
L: Are you gonna have dessert?
K: No, I really can't.
L: I went to the gym today.
S: So you can have dessert because you went to the gym.
L: No, I would have had gelato anyway.

On the way back to Lisa's car, 10.30pm
K: What a lovely night.
S: Yes, it was great. A good movie, good dinner, cheap wine... and we actually got work done.
K: That's the best.
S: Every week should start like this.
K:It doesn't feel like Monday night at all.
L: I wonder what they did for dinner? They should have taken him out somewhere in Leichardt...But the Goethe guy seemed to be a bit stressed out.
S: Pity, I missed him leaving. Just because I went to the toilet.
L: Well, I said goodbye to him.
K: Me too.
S: Well, I really needed to go after the movie.... and now I couldn't tell him that I did research on the internet and found out that there is no idiomatic expression...
L: That doesn't mean anything. It's language. It's living. Even if you don't find it on the internet.
S: I have lived in Germany for 22 years and never heard an expression like that.
L: That doesn't mean anything.
S: And he didn't cast me for his next movie....