BIMIFF #4 - ENG

B I M I F F I N T E R V I E W 06
Bullying is a big problem that occurs inside and outside the
classroom, affecting the social and also psychological life of
children and teenagers around the world. What was Milas
Tagebuch's scriptwriting experience about combining
bullying with the immigration issue in a short but powerful
film?
I knew that this story is going to treat the topic “bullying”
from the beginning on. The immigration issue came later
through the writing. There are many immigrant kids
right now in a foreign school due to war in their country.
Those kids are traumatized and their childhood is
affected by it. I can imagine how difficult it is for them to
find friends who understands them or gets connection to
other kids. Every child wish to have someone like Mila
who encourages her, comforts her and most of all help
her to learn their language. A lot of people think they are
open mind and tolerant to immigrants. But it’s not
always like that. Especially when there is a culture clash
between different Religions or political views. This also
can lead to bullying and makes it harder for kids if they
see adults fighting over these things and it affects then
also friendships in school.
Besides "Milas Tagebuch", your first feature film "Der Lautlose
Schrei" also has the issue of bullying as its central theme. Can
you tell us about the interactions between these two projects
around this theme?
They both treat the issue “Bullying in school” but are
totally different stories. While Milas Diary is playing in a
elementary school with kids is The silent scream playing
in a High school with teenagers. But the main difference
is that on milas diary it’s possible to prevent bulling
getting worse at its top. While on silent scream the
bullying is already out of control and there are many
people who are looking away and letting it happened. So
the situation is much worse in the silent scream for the
characters there and the bullies are more evil. But also
there is a female heroine who fights against the bullies
and helps the victims just like Mila. So it’s very
important for me also to show brave, strong female
characters with a strong justice for the weak and
excluded people. Both movies give a clear message to the
audience; don’t give bullying a voice and do something
against it.
"Milas Tagebuch" film scene
The short film features great performances by Alba (playing
the title character) and Sarah Mantel (the teacher Eva Meyer),
how was the casting process for both actresses?
Alba went to the same school as my mother was working
as a teacher. So trough her I knew Alba and felt directly
that there is a big potential inside her. We made a Test
where she had to play the scene with Sarah, who plays
her teacher in the movie. She listens very concentrate, is
focused and plays it exactly as you explain it to her.
That’s a gift which not even professional actors have or
they need some time to change quickly in a different
emotion. She also can switch very well from a smiling
happy moment to be very serious or even sad. She is very
talented. Now Sarah I knew from my comedy short movie
“I hate Casting”, which is a dark comedy about the Job
actor and Castings/Auditions. She is very friendly and
works as a professional actress and I knew she does a
good job. When I wrote the script I had a feeling that she
is the right Actress for that role as a teacher. In general, I
can trust my feeling which Actor or Actress could fit well
in a specific Character. But of course a good Showreel
and Casting helps also a lot.