Monsters from the power line

The heroine in the film believes that she has to save Tokyo. So we are basically telling the story of Tokyo in Hamburg - and that is actually possible. We have the water here like Tokyo Bay and there's a mixture of industry, harbour facilities and modern buildings everywhere. I am always visually impressed by Hamburg and what there is to discover here. We were also very lucky with the weather. There were some rainy days in the script, but I had to cancel them all because there was no money for a rain machine.

It's about a young woman called Mia who dubs a superhero in an anime. While working, she realises that the story of the anime has a lot to do with her own life. And the more she delves into the anime's story, the more she feels that this role is about her. At the same time, Mia realises that her world is becoming asynchronous and, for example, sounds are no longer synchronised with other people's lips. In the course of the story, she transforms into the anime heroine and from then on has the same mission: she believes she has to free the world from monsters sitting in the power lines. She herself is also totally energised and has incredible energy. She doesn't sleep for nights on end, develops superheroine powers and chases around the city faster and faster. At some point, it becomes clear that she is in a manic frenzy.

We shot a lot in St Pauli, for example an important stunt in which Mia jumps from the roof of a car onto the roof of a house. We also spent a lot of time on the water: in the film, the main actress crosses the Elbe in a motorboat, which resulted in some incredibly beautiful images.
One of the highlights so far, however, was the scene at the Strandperle. This is where the most relaxed but at the same time most absurd picture was taken. Mia is sitting on the beach with a friend and there's a little break between all the action. He shows off a little in front of her, she counters with a poem. The two of them want to impress each other by the water. I hope the viewer thinks at this point "Now a beautiful love story begins".

I love the mix of genres. In my youth, there were a lot of pigeonholes in pop culture: Punks, rockabillys etc. I think that all influenced me a lot. There are a lot of funny elements in Electric Girl, but it's not a classic comedy. Many stylistic elements come from the comic field - that's where I come from. The colours are often pop. I love it when pictures have a certain boldness. Then of course there is music as a stylistic element, as well as animation and classic horror elements. We have music clip-like phases such as a long scene under water, which is very epic. And of course superhero elements through the jumping scenes. Electric Girl is a colourful film, but it tells a very clear story.

The most natural thing was that I needed money (laughs). No, that's not quite true, of course. A long time ago, Volker Schlöndorff read one of our comics and wanted us to write him a script. I then realised how much fun I have telling long stories. People often ask me what the connection is between all my professions. Then I always say: telling stories - but every story has its own medium.

I always have the feeling that Hamburg is much more political than Berlin. When Berlin had long ceased to be political, Hamburg was still discussing things. Hamburg also has contradictions and frictions. Now that I'm here, I see unimaginable wealth. Some people live in houses that don't even exist in Berlin. On the other hand, I see teenage girls in St Pauli crying on the stairs in the morning, completely fucked up. That's the other side of Hamburg.

There's somehow everything here. For me, Hamburg is a cosmopolitan city. I am a child of the Berlin Wall and Berlin seemed like a total backwater to me my whole childhood. When I was 14, I hitchhiked to Hamburg with a friend - and even then I thought Hamburg was a gateway to the world. Ships come in here, people arrive from all over the world.

The city also has a certain lightness to it. The sky here is so incredibly wide - in Berlin, on the other hand, everything is very narrow. In Hamburg, for example, you can walk along the Elbe or drive over the Köhlbrand Bridge - these are all images that have a certain grandeur and expanse. All the shipyard cranes in the harbour are very fascinating for non-Hamburgers.

At the FFHSH, I always have the feeling that they understand my humour, they know what I do and what I can do. In Berlin, I'm not perceived as a filmmaker in the same way. Maybe I have more of a Hamburg storytelling style.

Next, I'm making a mixture of educational film and comedy together with Anatol Nitschke. The script has already been funded by the FFHSH. A very different, light film with funny moments - peppered with educational messages for young people