Hannah Arendt

Paru le La Lettre AFC n°230 Autres formats

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Hanna Arendt is a project that Margarethe Von Trotta worked on for four years with an American screenwriter none other than the daughter-in-law of Michael Ballhaus, Pam Katz. The great Barbara Sukowa plays Hanna Arendt.

Despite its being dangerously close to the filming of Holy Motors, by Léos Carax, I accepted to work on this project for these three women and for an astonishingly energetic young producer from Köln, Bettina Brokemper, who even took on the job of colour grading the film herself... The screenplay seemed excellent to me, avoiding one-sided judgments and leaving the door open to various interpretations of Hanna Arendt’s stance during the Eichmann trial organized by the State of Israel.

We filmed in Germany (Lander of Köln), in Israel, and in Luxemburg. I realized just what a European coproduction involving three countries entailed : a lot of bureaucrats and a difficult time keeping control over the artistic approach, even though we always had cooperative working relationships with excellent professionals, notably Niko Remus, a very conscientious DIT with whom I pre-edited every evening. We filmed using an Epic 4K HD and 5K that was colour graded by Arri.

Une scène d'"Hannah Arendt", cinématographié par Caroline Champetier - Photo Véronique Kolber
Une scène d’"Hannah Arendt", cinématographié par Caroline Champetier
Photo Véronique Kolber

I would like to especially mention Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre who never hesitates to draw my attention to interesting project, Margarethe Von Trotta for her pioneering sets that magnificently highlight the actors’ work and for whom I have a true affection, and my absolute admiration for Barbara Sukowa.

Barbara Sukova - DR © Heimatfilm
Barbara Sukova
DR © Heimatfilm

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