Philip-Groening-My-Brothers-Name-Is-Robert-and-He-Is-an-Idiot

Interviews

Interview: Philip Gröning – My Brother’s Name Is Robert and He Is an Idiot | 2018 Berlin Intl. Film Festival

Published on March 26, 2018

Evoking narrative similarities to The Police Officer’s Wife (2013), Philip Gröning‘s seventh film, My Brother’s Name Is Robert and He Is an Idiot is a marathon of philosophical ruminations enveloped within a 48-hour span and focused on the transformative experiences of a set of non identical twins. A provocative, explicit feature that merges violence, nudity and sex, this is a total contrast with conservative German filmmaker peers. Presented in Competition at the 2018 Berlin Intl. Film Festival, I had the chance to sit with Gröning to discuss topical items such his definition of philosophy and the conservatism found in contemporary German cinema.

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.