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German film director and author Chris Kraus arrived at Shanghai International Film Festival in 2006 in a jittery state of excitement, later highly justified when his film Vier Minuten won the Golden Goblet Award. Seven years later, he has returned to China, but this time as a judge. In this interview, he compares the role transformation from nominee to judge as being like "from an ant to an elephant." Even today, he still remembers that it was Chen Kaige who presented the award to him. Kraus is not only a writer, director, screenwriter, and film editor, but also a producer, often shuffling to and fro between the tasks. For him, money is the biggest obstacle to artistic creation. He says, "You have to tell a good story if you want to persuade your investors, and the story must be original. For the audience, the reaction is either to laugh or to cry, and the worst situation is for them to fall asleep."
Daily News: In 2006, your Vier Minuten won the Golden Goblet Award. What\'s different between then and now?
Chris Kraus: Speaking of difference, it is more about myself than about the festival. In 2006, when I came to Shanghai and competed for the award, I was too nervous to take a good look at the city. But this time, I\'ve had the honour to make my own judgment about other characters and to travel deeper into the beautiful cosmopolitan city.
Daily News:What is the difference between the view of the jury and that of the person being judged?
Chris Kraus: It is as between an ant and an elephant. They share the same world in front of their eyes, but they see differently. An ant sees part of the world, while an elephant sees the whole.
Daily News: In the announcement of the 2006 Golden Goblet Award, Jury President Luc Besson said, "It only took us four minutes to give this award to Vier Minuten!" So what characteristics of your film do you think had moved the jury?
Chris Kraus: Hah, how smart that is. I bet Luc Besson would come up with a joke about the name of the film! Now as a jury member myself, I think it took a long time indeed. I mean, what Luc Besson did was far more than give this award to me. He purchased the release rights of the film in the U.S. and in Europe, which made it a global success. You don\'t usually know what will happen to your work after winning the award. I guess such influential figures as Tom Hooper, Jury Present of this year, will help those winning films with something apart from the award. We are all trying to find these kind of films.
Daily News: Vier Minuten is about the redemption of two women. Why did you choose to work from this angle?
Chris Kraus: As both an artist and an ordinary person, I\'ve been especially sensitive about the intense and curious relationship between people. Years ago, I read a newspaper story about an old woman in jail, which is the beginning of this film. I had no inspiration and, as an artist, you never know what you will see, who you will fall in love with, or which kind of work will move you.
Daily News:How did you manage to make some small news item into an entire film? You are both writer and the screenwriter for this film, so what connection do you make between words and images?
Chris Kraus: The connection is quite close. A director may, from time to time, comment on the screenplay. You always work with two brains, and sometimes it is hard to criticize yourself. Often it is the director who says to the screenwriter, like, "well, I love your story, but this part..."
Daily News: Do you see conflicts between your two identities?
Chris Kraus: Of course, they often fight with each other. I have three roles in fact, director, screenwriter, and editor. The screenwriter demands me to expand the storylines, but as a director, I know deeply that I only have one hour and a half to tell the story.
Daily News: Take Vier Minuten for example, What was the primary difficulty?
Chris Kraus: Money was the biggest problem. Part of the film deals with the homosexual issue. It is hard to describe well the emotional bond between two women. It\'s not about a boy and a girl, but about an old lady meeting a rude and perverse young girl. So it is really difficult to get funding.
Daily News: In Germany and even the entire Europe, is it hard to find investment for such an art film?
Chris Kraus: It all depends. After the huge success of Vier Minuten, it became very easy for me to find investors for the next film. It has taken two years for me to prepare my next film and it will be produced in 2014. Of course, because of the global economic depression, it is very tough to find funding for a serious film. Generally speaking, how do you convince your investors? In fact, much like the situation in China. You have to tell a good story, and it has to be original. If a film can make the audience laugh, people get interested in it. The second good story makes people cry. But the worst one makes the audience go to sleep.
Daily News:How do you weigh the relationship between commerce and art?
Chris Kraus: It is similar to all interesting relationships, which are always full of contradictions. Unlike painting, the movie art always needs money. We need to find investors, just like the situation faced by these films in competition. The first stumbling block is to find the money to support the art.
Daily News: Taking an example, if an investor gives you a sum of money, you have to make changes as he requests. Will you compromise?
Chris Kraus: It\'s hard to make a definite decision. When I\'m doing a movie of my own, I\'m my own independent filmmaker, not working for any company. When I\'m my own producer, there would be no such problems. But sometimes I have to direct films for a number of companies, so I listen to their views.
Daily News: What\'s your opinion of Chinese film?
Chris Kraus: I think I\'m very lucky to have received the trophy from Chen Kaige and his Farewell My Concubine is one of my favorite films. Zhang Yimou was rather famous in Europe and his Raise The Red Lantern is very great. I really admire these two directors. When I was young, I saw their early works at young age, and they had a great influence on me.
Daily News:It\'s also rare for Chinese fans to see Germany movies in the cinema. What\'s the current status of German film development and is it also engaged in the global effort to fight off Hollywood\'s monopoly?
Chris Kraus: Five, six years ago, German films were much more successful around the world. It\'s been more than a decade since Tom Tykwer\'s Run Lola Run and now it\'s difficult for German films to enter the world market. Indeed our theaters are occupied by Hollywood-style movies, and is that not the case in China? I saw a lot of Hollywood movie posters in Shanghai streets. I think films are not worse than before so it has nothing to do with film quality, but the tastes of millions of viewers worldwide matter.
Daily News: Could you give us a brief introduction about your newest collaboration with Tom Tykwer?
Chris Kraus: In Germany, this movie style is called "Omnibus Film", directed by five directors and each of us taking 20 minutes. The movie\'s theme is about a famous German director\'s 70th birthday, and each of us presents an individual\'s perspective. The film is characteristic of both documentaries and feature films.