Hanna Schygulla gave a press conference on Thursday, 6 November 2014, at Warehouse C, in the context of the 55th Thessaloniki Film Festival. Festival director Dimitri Eipides attended. This year, the Festival is paying tribute to the emblematic artist, who will receive the Golden Alexander for her motion picture achievements. The honorary event will take place at Olympion Theatre.
Mr Eipides welcomed Ms Schygulla, calling her “a screen icon” and adding that she “excelled both as the muse of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and as a singer. She is a living legend of European cinema, a timeless, charming personality.”
Moderator Elena Christopoulou opened the press conference quoting a line from Fassbinder’s The Marriage of Maria Braun, the film that won Schygulla the award for Best Actress at the 1979 Berlin International Film Festival: “ I am who I am.”
“I almost never knew exactly who I am. To be honest I did not even want to know who I was”, commented Schygulla
Asked about the surprises cinema hides, Ms Schygulla replied: “We always need to be on the lookout for surprises, because they can awake us from our half-asleep state. We should always search for wonders. Life is wonderful and I do not mean that in the sense of la vie en rose.”
The need for survival is one of the main issues of life, according to the actress. “For a time I had become a vegetarian. Fishing was what led me to that decision. While I was fishing, I realised that we were killing the fish and this realisation was so appalling to me that I no longer wanted to eat fish. But I was not able to remain a vegetarian, because I enjoy eating, I enjoy the taste of everything. I realised that killing a fish or an animal is necessary - it is a precondition of life.”
Commenting on her autobiography “Wake Up and Dream”, the actress said: “I always try to pay attention to my first impulse, to that first time I meet someone, the first exchange of glances, the first gestures. When I play a part I believe it is wiser to let my body react before I open my mouth. Our body knows a lot and tells the truth. We are used to being opinionated about everything, but in my view, it is a blessing to be able to change your mind. It gives me pleasure to acknowledge where I was wrong. There is no right or wrong, there is only right and right. Our body and subconscious are connected to our inner selves, to our instincts and our soul. I have confidence in what my body tells me. And I also like dreaming at night, I follow with great interest these travels as if they’re messages in bottles.”
Asked about her impressions from her first meeting with Fassbinder, Ms Schygulla reminisced: “One of my first reactions was the realisation that standing before me was a very special, a uniquely talented man. Which is why I told myself ‘be careful lest you become too dependent on him’. He once told me that was what he felt as well. He wanted to have a relationship with me, but he did not want us to come too close, because he feared that this would ultimately drive us apart.”
Discussing the changes that have taken place in the motion picture industry since the 70’s, Ms Schygulla said: “There are great differences. When we were young, we wanted to change the world, we were open to almost everything. Now, young people are preoccupied mainly with one thing: finding their place in the world and finding a job. We cared more about how we felt. But perhaps the outcome is the same. I learned here that Thessaloniki has a 60% youth unemployment rate. Young people cannot be opportunistic under such circumstances, because there are no opportunities to speak of. This is when you delve in your deepest desires, trying to find a creative way to express yourself. My generation grew up in a country that was ruined, not only materially, but morally as well. When we were children we enjoyed playing among the ruins, but then we felt ashamed and had qualms, even though we were not guilty. This was followed by a period of internal revolt: we had no trust in anything that had existed in the past, in the values of the previous generations; we were trying to make a new start. We were more interested in ‘being’ than in ‘having’. We thought love, not feuds, should be our driving force.”
Ms Schygulla then added: “I imagine that Greece will have to rise from the ashes like a phoenix. Today, we talk a lot about preventing the collapse of old buildings. We should do the same with our mindset and value system — we must not allow them to collapse. All of us belong to the same body: Europe, the world, the human race. We have so much in common, despite our differences. In Germany, we have reached a state of satiation. We make products the world does not need. This cannot go on for much longer. We don’t need all those cars. The economy is incompatible with environmental awareness. Manufacturing weapons is a horrible way to make a profit — it is like profiting from death. Our minds are also weary and tired by everything becoming faster. We should teach our minds how to relax. Satiation in Germany is not a healthy state — collapse will ensue.”
Commenting on the modern German cinema, Schygulla said: “The films by the new generation of filmmakers examine the extreme right and the alarming rise of fascism. This is not the case only in Germany. Europe as a whole is taking a turn to the right — see what is happening in Hungary or in France with Le Pen. People are trying to find ways that will allow them to do everything themselves, which is why they try to seal the borders. Modern films are not so concerned with aesthetics, but this is Ok. Reality is much more interesting. Besides I would never be able to write a science fiction book. I chose to write about my life. Life is interesting, you know.”
Ms Schygulla said she is not very familiar with Greek cinema, but praised Penny Panayotopoulou’s Hard Goodbyes: My Father: “It has been some years since I watched this film, which is based on the real life experiences of the director, but is narrated through the eyes of the protagonist, and I find that extremely interesting.”
Asked about what made her turn toward her inner self, she said: “I was interested in those issues ever since I was a child. Life is more interesting compared to great plans, theories and philosophies. I should also note that I was an only child. When my parents were old, they became debilitated and I had to look after them. For twenty years, I spent half my day taking care of them, to make sure they could spend their last days in peace. My parents had grown up in families with 12 or 13 children. My generation did not procreate, because we mistrusted society. We were emerging from total disaster. Not only was I an only child, but I never had children of my own. This is a decline in numbers. I think the natural order of things is to grow up, have children. My generation experienced a historical earthquake that had various consequences, including biological ones. We learned to be always critical, to doubt everything others said. We realised money is not everything. The cultural revolution of 1968 did not influence only Germany, but all of Europe, including of course Greece. The world had experienced two world wars. It could not go on like that. But it did. Eventually I realised that it does not help to be always suspicious, because this outlook prevents you from enjoying your life. That was when I, and many other members of my generation, started working on our inner selves. We realised that if you want to change the world you must start by changing yourself. And this is exactly what I try to do with my life.”
The tribute to the work of Hanna Schygulla is organized in collaboration with Goethe-Institut Thessaloniki.
