Interviews

Interview: Christian Petzold – Transit

Published on February 28, 2019

If we think more broadly about the possibilities for narrative cinema in the age of “post-cinema” we can certainly make a case in point with the central preoccupation of Christian Petzold’s latest film. Courageously using such a template, Transit, an adaptation of a novel written in the 1940s, has brought the immigrant problems during Nazi occupation into the current climate. Here the filmmaker is not insistent on the historical recreation of the atmosphere or outfitting the characters in the film with the look; but he ultimately utilizes the crucial elements and beliefs of that era and sets them in the current turmoil. Presented in Competition at the 2018 Berlin Intl. Film Festival, I had the chance to sit with Christian to ask what historical progress means for him and the role of aestheticism within this feature. Here is the German/English interview:

Amir Ganjavie

Amir Ganjavie, a Ph.D. in communication and culture, is a Toronto-based writer, cultural citric, festival director, community activist and filmmaker. Fascinated by the issue of alternative and utopian space in modern urban settings and cinema, Amir has published several articles on utopia and two books, one on utopia (Le rÃ´le de la pensÃ©e utopique dans lâamÃ©nagement des villes de demain) and the other on walkable neighbourhoods (Pour une ville qui marche). He has recently co-edited two special volumes on Iranian cinema for film International and Asian Cinema and edited a Humanities of the Other: An essay collection on the Dardanne Brothers (in Persian). Aside from academia, he writes for MovieMaker, Filmint, Mubi, Senses of Cinema, Offscreen and Brightlight. Amir is very active in the community. He serves as the CEO of CineIran Festival and Phoenix Cultural Centre of Toronto. He is also the founding member of NaMaNa Cinema. He has recently directed/produced a long feature film in Canada, named Pendulum. His top 2 theatrical release for 2017: IldikÃ³ Enyedi's On Body and Soul and Michel Hazanavicius's Redoubtable.