What inspired you to tell this story?
A fascination with meeting strange, in the sense of unknown to me or new, people. I think it’s a bit of a wonder, when two people, who have never seen each other before, meet and can communicate and (partially) understand each other. Not necessarily, like in the film, with a romantic note to it. That came with the main actor Stefan Lampadius, who inspired me to the concrete figures. With him I knew how they’d talk and what kind of an encounter it would be.

Where is it shot? How did you shoot at night? How was it?
It was shot in Schleswig-Holstein, in the north of Germany. We shot for five days at night, so we slept during the daytime. It was exciting first, but then exhausting. I wonder how people who are working night shifts do it.

Tell us more about the casting process.
I knew Stefan from another film project and Renate was the ideal counterpart to me and I was happy, that she liked what I wanted to tell, so there was no casting really.

Why the black and white?
The places we shot in were very colorful, like supermarkets. To keep the focus on the present or then absent figures it was better to use black and white.

What films have inspired you in your work more generally?
For that film, road movies like Stranger than Paradise by Jim Jarmusch or Alice in den Städten by Wim Wenders or the romantic comedy Punch Drunk Love by Paul Thomas Anderson were inspiring. In general I have seen Wes Anderson’s Rushmore very often.

What’s your favourite short?
I very much like Big Business (James W. Horne) with Laurel & Hardy: everyday people in everyday situations freak out.

What does the Festival mean to you?
I’m looking forward to see great shorts and meet other film lovers.

Der Zufall is being shown as part of the International Competition I2.