German film lacks diverse voices

When did you first hear about an "inclusion rider"?

Mia Spengler: At Frances McDormand's Oscar speech in 2018 - like many other people, I think.

How exactly did you implement the Inclusion Rider at Tatort and how does it work?

Mia Spengler: An inclusion rider is nothing more than a contractual clause that states that I and many of my colleagues in the area of diversity and inclusion will only work under certain conditions. For example, the rider lists certain population groups that must be involved in the production to a certain percentage - these include women, people of colour, people of the third gender, people with physical or mental disabilities, LGBTQ+, people who are discriminated against because of their gender and their gender and/or cultural identity, their physical stature, their socio-economic status or their age.

If these conditions are not met, we will not go ahead with the project. Of course, this is an extreme emergency brake that leads to very intensive negotiations in advance. In the end, the inclusion rider for Tatort was only possible because I worked with Wüste Film and Segment Producer Sophia Ayissi Nsegue, who is simply incredibly skilled in this area. She knew exactly what I was up to and what it was about, as she herself is affected by the issue of racism. The fact that Sophia was responsible for the project as Segment Producer was a very important factor for me in making Tatort.

Where were there problems with the implementation?

Mia Spengler: You have to be careful that the rider does not become an obligation to provide information and the people in question are discriminated against even more. Many things are also very difficult to request from the production company.

Are there currently enough skilled workers to fulfil the Inclusion Rider?

Mia Spengler: Unfortunately, hardly anyone still feels responsible for the next generation in this field. The film schools say they don't get enough applications, the production companies say there aren't enough skilled workers for the team. And so we go round in circles. At some point, we have to ask ourselves how we can solve these problems together. Because with the current level of skilled labour in Germany, you can hardly fulfil the Inclusion Rider. The people simply aren't there.

Why is that?

Mia Spengler: Certain population groups have had the door closed to them for decades - starting with internships. I myself did a one-year internship in film and got 150 euros a month for it. I could only afford that because I was supported by my parents. If I hadn't had this support, it would never have been possible for me to do such an internship. I worked up to 14 hours a day during this time, it was a tough job. And my parents were also very stressed by the situation and thought this career choice was anything but great. Along the lines of "She's ruining her life and we have to pay for it". (laughs)

If you read the biographies of many people in the film industry, there were usually parents or relatives who had something to do with film. And access to film is limited. As someone who has never had anything to do with this film cosmos, you are at a disadvantage. Internships are often not advertised publicly, but are given out in secret.

How can the Inclusion Rider help to bring people from different population groups onto the set?

Mia Spengler: The Inclusion Rider is formulated in such a way that a certain percentage must be met. And for every 5 per cent shortfall, an internship must be created for the listed population groups, at minimum wage conditions. In this way, we want to help people who would otherwise simply not be able to afford an internship.

For which trades was it particularly difficult to fulfil the inclusion rider for the Tatort?

Mia Spengler: It was really difficult in all trades. Even finding women in certain areas is anything but easy. It's most difficult in the areas of sound and lighting. But we had a female sound recordist on Tatort.

Did you orientate yourselves on existing riders?

Mia Spengler: Of course, we took a look at the BBC, even if it's not all transferable one-to-one. And the MOIN Film Fund has also already presented its Diversity Checklist, which was a very good overview for us. My agent Gaby Scheld and lawyer Lioba Cremer worked on our rider for a good six months until everything was finalised - but not full-time. But we simply had a great team and NDR got on board in the end.

Were there also thematic reasons why you worked with an inclusion rider for the first time on this Tatort in particular?

Mia Spengler: As it's about a queer/feminist flat-sharing community, it was a very good thematic fit. However, I also used the coronavirus year to ask myself what is important to me and where I want to go at this point in my career. And after this year, it was clear to me that I wanted to work with the Inclusion Rider and also accept that certain work constellations would no longer materialise. But it's worth it to me.

How was the atmosphere on set? Was everything as usual?

Mia Spengler: I think it depends a lot on your perspective. I perceive the set very differently to someone else in the team - and of course I only get certain things reflected back to me. I was just really pleased that we got this far. Working with Director of Photography Zamarin Wahdat was particularly great. It was my first professional collaboration with a Director of Photography who is also my age. I suddenly no longer had to fight many of the battles that I usually had to fight as a camera/director team. We also already have a new joint project in the pipeline. We also had a very strong episode lead in Gina Haller. There was also an opportunity for team members to report incidents of discrimination - and we encouraged the team to make use of this opportunity. This contributed to some very instructive encounters. In the future, there should be a code of conduct for film sets. We are currently looking for partners to develop one.

What does the Inclusion Rider mean to you personally?

Mia Spengler: I always had the feeling that I had a kind of alien position in the industry. However, I could never pinpoint exactly what triggered it. With the Inclusion Rider, many things became clearer to me. I've said in several interviews over the last few years that I still can hardly believe I'm on set as a Director. And I always meant that in a positive way. Nobody in my school career or from my environment would ever have thought that I would work in this profession - and I did it anyway. I was proud of that at first. At some point, however, I realised that it was a systemic problem. For other people, being on set was a matter of course. Not for me. But this naturalness is extremely important - especially for the next generation of filmmakers. German film lacks diverse voices, especially young women of colour. It is in the interest of the entire industry to change this. The Inclusion Rider is hopefully a mini-step on a long road.

Did people come to you after Tatort who now also want to work with an inclusion rider?

Mia Spengler: In any case. And many more are welcome! (laughs) I'm currently in contact with many colleagues who are just starting to work with an Inclusion Rider. And of course everything is still developing, we're just at the beginning. We need everyone who wants to think along with us.