This is how far it goes!

A conversation with author and director Rupert Henning

How did this film project come about?
One day, producer Eva Holtmann read an article about a woman in Germany who bought two shirts as a birthday present for her husband. At home, a small note fell out of one of the shirt collars. It was a quickly scribbled message: a cry for help from a worker in Bangladesh who was working in one of the local sweatshops.

So the film is based on a true story?
Yes, it is. The article about the woman in Germany who found the note in the shirt collar was the starting point for us. It is a moment that suddenly changes the lives of two families in completely different worlds – and the beginning of a very moving, exciting story. In other words: It’s great film material.

Do you have a preference for stories that deal with relevant topics in a light-hearted way?
Humour, as Charles Dickens said, is one of the best ways to cope with life, alongside love. Life itself is rarely one-dimensional; it can be a tragic drama or a turbulent comedy. Often it is both – in quick succession or even simultaneously. It is difficult to draw a clear line between drama and comedy. However, if comedy is’nt made seriously, it quickly becomes pure nonsense – and if serious films are not entertaining, the audience simply finds them boring. It’s always a matter of finding a balance between comedy and tragedy. Ultimately, it is the audience that decides on a film. I stick to Billy Wilder's commandment for filmmaking: You shall not bore!’

Is it more difficult to produce material that cannot be clearly assigned to any genre?
You can reach a large audience with TV Movies like this, which is what makes them so attractive. But it's not about some kind of sporting ambition. We are trying to bring complex stories and challenging themes to the centre of society. This is possible if you take both the audience and the characters in the story seriously – and if you don't take yourself too seriously. In my opinion, good storytellers never push themselves into the foreground. If their story is well constructed, then in the best case it will detach itself from the narrator, unfold in the audience's ‘mind's eye’ and have its effect there.

How much do the actors and actresses contribute to the success of a film?
The ensemble – from the central characters to those who may only appear briefly – naturally plays a very, very large part in the success of a film. The script is the foundation, but the casting of the roles is literally decisive, because the actors ultimately bring the story to life in front of the camera.

When you think about the current state of the world, isn't it difficult to remain optimistic and make optimistic films for television?
Optimism is not necessarily synonymous with whitewashing. Human beings are neither inherently good nor inherently bad. We often help each other in exemplary ways, but we also sometimes let each other down completely. Altruism and egoism exist side by side. The point is that we are challenged every day to be as attentive as possible to others – especially in the so-called ‘little things’. Mere pity, for example, does not help. The writer Maxim Gorki noted the following on this subject: ‘Actually, one should not pity a person at all. It is better to help them.’