Alison Kuhn is part of this year's Face to Face promotional campaign, organised by German Films. In 2020, she presented her feature-length documentary The Case You [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Alison Kuhn
scheda film], which dealt with sexual harassment in the film industry. Kuhn has just finished a series and is finalising two scripts each destined to be a feature-length fiction film. We talked to the helmer about her plans.

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Cineuropa: In your works, you deal with topics such as gender roles and the power structures between the sexes. How did you start taking an interest in making films about this?
Alison Kuhn: The starting point was my documentary The Case You. It is a very personal film. I realised while working on it that there are so many layers to the topic that I wanted to look into. This one documentary was not enough to do so – there is so much more to say about it. My fictional short Fluffy Tales is closely inspired by the documentary, as it is basically a summary of it. After that, I made The Swarmers, which deals with the fact that most power structures are established at a very young age. I wouldn't say that this is my only topic, but most stories can be related to it. I am interested in exploring the power structures that lie beneath the characters and how the characters act within them.

How important is it for you to use a personal experience as the starting point?
I need a personal link to the topic, but that doesn't mean that I need to have personal experiences to work with. I don’t think I would make a film that is completely autobiographical. It is necessary to differentiate between the private and the personal. In all stories, I search for my own personal link and, most importantly, my personal attitude towards it. I think you need that as a filmmaker, otherwise nothing good can come out of it.

Your first feature was a documentary, The Case You. How did you decide to make the transition to fiction features?
I never saw myself as a classical documentary filmmaker, and it shows, since I use a lot of fictional elements in The Case You. I always knew I wanted to focus on fiction. I am an actress myself, and I like working with actors. I like to direct. I’m not ruling out making a documentary again if there is a topic that requires this format.

You like to experiment with different formats: you have made several shorts, and you just completed a series, WatchMe. Which is your favourite format?
I am due to make my first feature-length fiction film this year, and I am working on the second one for next year. I will then be able to say more accurately which of all the formats I really prefer. But otherwise, I take it as it comes. I was glad to be able to try out the series format; I think it has a lot of potential. It has a big impact on the perception of the audience, and it might also influence the dramaturgical elements of feature films.

At the moment, you are working on the development of a black comedy. Can you tell us more about it?
Yes – in a way, it's a “blackened” comedy. I will start shooting at the end of this year. The plot is about the staging of the Passion of Jesus Christ with amateurs. The topics it tackles are the contrast between the urban and the rural space as well as artistic self-fulfilment. I still have to complete the script.

Religion is a good topic if your aim is to research power structures.
It is. I know it quite well, since I grew up in a Catholic village and went to a convent school.

What does it mean for you to be a German filmmaker?
It's an honour for me to have been selected with the others for this German Films campaign. I hope I will be able to get in touch with others and to extend my network. When you want to make a film, you need a lot of support.

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