Franz Rogowski – Transit #Berlinale2018

PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Franz Rogowski, actor of the film Transit.

Franz Rogowski is not only Germany’s 2018 Shooting Star but at the Berlinale he is the star of two films in competition: Transit and In The Aisles. FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti meets him during the presentation of Transit, so halfway through his exciting journey at the 68th Berlinale. In Transit, Christian Petzold’s new film, Rogowski is Georg, a man with no past who in a sort of imaginary future where German refugees are escaping to the States and to Mexico, steals a friend’s identity to change his life and destiny. As Georg starts to become a person the more he gets deeper into another person’s shoes, Rogowski explains his approach to the character and whether having to create Georg out of nowhere was easy or difficult. Rogowski then talks about Christian Petzold, their work together and Petzold’s abilities in a famous game in Germany.

Transit:  German troops are fast approaching Paris. Georg, a German refugee, escapes to Marseille in the nick of time. In his luggage, he carries the documents of an author, Weidel, who has taken his own life in fear of his persecutors. Those documents include a manuscript, letters and visa assurance from the Mexican embassy. In Marseille, only those who can prove they will leave, may remain. Visas for possible host countries, transit visas, and those scarce tickets for passage by ship are much needed. Georg has memorized Weidel’s papers and assumes his identity. He delves into the quasi-existence of flight: refugee chatter in the corridors of a small hotel, the consulates, cafes and bars that line the harbor… He befriends Driss, the son of his comrade Heinz, who died on the run. Why move on at all? Are new beginnings possible elsewhere anyway? Everything changes when Georg falls in love with the mysterious Marie. Is it devotion or calculation that has led her to share her life with a doctor, Richard, before journeying on in search of her husband? He’s said to have surfaced in Marseille in possession of a Mexican visa for him and his wife.

To discover more about the film, click here.