Interview Michael Schmid-Ospach, Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen

Congratulations on opening the Berlinale with Tom Tykwer’s Heaven, a Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen production. Any other NRW highlights at the festival?

Personally I find Heaven, based on a screenplay by Krzysztof Kieslowski, to be a truly wonderful film. The same feeling is shared by cameraman Michael Ballhaus ­ he, too, feels Heaven is Tom Tykwer’s best film. But don’t miss another NRW attraction at the Berlinale: Viel passiert ­ Der BAP Film (Ode to Cologne ­ A Rock’n’Roll Film) by Wim Wenders. His rock documentary is also in the main program, running out-of competition, and scheduled on Wednesday night, February 13, at 10:30 pm.

To say nothing of the Oscar Nominations on February 12 ...

Like everyone else at the Berlinale, we’ll be keeping an eye on the Academy Award Nominations for Best Foreign Film. After Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s success at the Golden Globes in Los Angeles, his comedy Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (Amélie of Montmartre) is now the favorite of many to win an Oscar Nomination and the Academy Award too. As you may know, much of Amélie of Montmartre was shot in Cologne.

Congratulations also on your recent appointment as Chief Executive Officer of the Filmstiftung NRW. What was your prior position?

Formerly, I was Head of the Television Department for Culture at WDR Cologne and Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Filmstiftung. I became its CEO when Dieter Kosslick moved on to head the Berlinale. Just recently, we met in Berlin to discuss mutual ways to be of continual service to one another. Our friendship goes back a long time.

Looking back at the 11-year history of the Filmstiftung NRW, how was it possible to create a powerful subsidy system out of what was previously considered a film production desert?

Back in 1991, when the Filmstiftung NRW was founded at the suggestion of Wolfgang Clement ­ then the State’s Minister of Economics, now the Minister President ­ it received the backing of Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR Cologne) in the First German Television (ARD) network and was greeted with weary smiles by the film production centers in München, Berlin and Hamburg. Six years later, Second German Television (ZDF) joined the party. Today, thanks to the regional government, the boom in private broadcasting, and the increase in the number of local producers and filmmaking professionals based in Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, NRW is the leading media state in Germany and one of the most important media regions in Europe. Right now, there are over 200,000 people working in the state’s scattered media industry.

What have you added to the picture since becoming CEO at the Filmstiftung NRW?

I’ve intensified the relations with our European coproduction partners ­ for example, I’ve had promising meetings during the Warsaw Film Festival and in France. We've been able to expand our base with the private TV stations. We’ve now reached an agreement with RTL in Cologne, the market leader among the commercial channels. This will make the Filmstiftung NRW much stronger than before. Eleven years ago, whenever someone wanted to shoot in Northrhine-Westphalia, professional crews and technical equipment had to be imported. Today, filmmakers have no trouble hiring qualified personnel or vast studio space for large-scale cinema productions. The supply of specialized craftsmen is going better and better and will improve in time ­ thanks primarily to AIM, the coordination center for training in media professionals, and the International Film School (IFS) Cologne. The IFS brings together the successful models of the Film School NRW and the Cologne School of Writing.

What are your plans for the 2002 Berlinale?

We going to have our usual press luncheon. And we’ll organize again our action-push called »Cheque Is Back« to focus on productions that have been commercial hits ­ films like Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie, Michael »Bully« Herbig’s Der Schuh des Manitu (Manitu’s Shoe), and Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Das Experiment (The Experiment). All these have not only returned large sums at the box office, but they have also filled the coffers of their financial investors. One can only be pleased when there's a return on an investment. It means funds can be made available for a future production.

What are some pitfalls to avoid in the German subsidy system?

As you can read in the papers everyday, there’s been a lot of turbulence on the German stock exchange of late. Also, in regard to the situation on the sector of the film funding boards, a lot of money has been clearly wasted. So my main concern at NRW is not to fall into any kind of »film abyss«, if you will. Every film that flops, every production company that goes under, is a blemish on the entire industry as a whole. In any case, although the year 2001 was very good for us at NRW, I tend to be a bit wary in this regard. We started this year with European coproductions, such as Jeanine Meerapfel’s Annas Sommer (Anna’s Summer) and Werner Herzog’s Invincible. And I hope that Heaven will be a success at the box office.

What are some of Filmstiftung NRW’s past achievements?

Over the past ten years, from 1991 to 2000, we have cofinanced 236 feature films, 86 telefeatures, 58 documentaries, and 33 children’s films ­ in addition to earmarking funds for the distribution of 168 films, the modernization of 200 cinemas, the writing of 170 scenarios, plus grants for 88 scholarships ­ altogether projects amounting to over 250 million Euros and creating an economic »NRW-Effekt« of over 500 million Euros. If a film is successful, the Filmstiftung gets its money back. We’ve also invested in such important infrastructure factors as research, vocational training, festival presentations, location assistance, even radio plays.

How does the »NRW-Effekt« work?

The NRW-Effekt requires producers to spend one-and-a-half Euros in Northrhine-Westphalia for every Euro in support that they receive. This has enabled us to direct money towards the film industry in the Rhine and Ruhr regions over and above our budget ­ over a half billion Euros to date. That the »NRW-Effekt« works as an attractive financing possibility can be seen from the list of directors who have made films in association with the Filmstiftung NRW: Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark (Golden Palm, Cannes 2000), Tom Tykwer’s Lola rennt (Run Lola Run) (7 German Film Prizes 1999), Emir Kusturica’s Black Cat, White Cat (Silver Lion, Venice 1998), and Ken Loach’s Land and Freedom (European Film Prize 1995) ­ to say nothing of Amélie and Der Schuh des Manitu.

Have you ever »stretched the rules« a bit for one or another NRW project?

Actually, for Dogville, Lars von Trier’s new film with Nicole Kidman, the NRW-Effekt will be nearly 100%. In the case of Das Experiment the NRW-Effekt was 130%. For Amélie it was over 200%. So more was done than really had to be done. But I should add that both of these production companies didn’t feel it was a must ­ rather, they felt right at home here during the shooting. In other words, the feeling of a noose around the neck is the worse possible scenario. I should also add that, in some special cases, we’ve decided to drop discussion on the NRW-Effekt altogether.

Good luck, now and in the future, at Filmstiftung NRW.

­ Editors