I ignored my father’s threats and dropped out of school when I was 18. I wrote a goodbye letter on the cover of The good person of Szechwan that I left at his front desk. By the time he found my letter – “one day you’ll be proud of me“- I was already at the train station in Paris to start a new life in Berlin. I ignored the repeated calls; nothing would revert my decision. I was angry, scared, and sad. But then an announcement came from the speakers: “DingDangDong, all traffic towards the east is interrupted due to a strike.“ Damn you, France, and your continuous fight for your rights! My phone rang again; this time, I picked up the phone and went home shaking at the thought of what would happen next. My dad opened the door and said that we had to talk. Silently I sat down in the living room. Sweating. My old man came back from the kitchen and in his hands… a bottle of champagne! “I wouldn’t have thought you’d dared to do it. I’m proud of you. So, tell me your plan”.

Who would have thought that a couple of years later, I would voluntarily apply to enter the film school in Vienna where Michael Haneke taught?

Currently I’m in pre-production for my next full-length film, The Box, an adaptation of a theater play and moving between New York and Paris.