Dr. Klaus Sparwasser | Film Director, Southern Cross Films
Interview given to Good Move Initiatives
-What inspired you to pursue a career in directing and how has your vision evolved over the years ?
My vision evolved at the time when I was studying. In those days, I always believed that I would get a job somewhere in nature conservation, or in teaching students. However, I found a routine job I didn’t enjoy and stayed there for too long… My interest in photography and filming was always a kind of job on the side, but my earnings from it weren’t enough…
A couple of years ago, I was able to quit my job and decided to finally pursue what I wanted to do all my life: movies. A bit late, but better late than never !
Exploiting resources, driving species and indigenous people to the brink of extinction and all this just for the wealth and comfort of a minority of the population of this planet were always things which disturbed me and I wanted to make a movie about climate and forest. When I heard about the destruction of an ancient forest in the middle of Germany to give away for an useless highway, To me, it was immediately clear that the movie was going to be symbolic of fake politics on the environment and nothing seems to ever change. And this is why I decided to make this movie.
-Can you walk us through your creative process- how do you translate ideas from script to screen ?
At first, there is an idea without an actual script and a storyboard like in feature films which you follow strictly step-by-step. For this movie, the initial idea was to do a movie about forests and climate because when I look outside my window I see how the forest has changed dramatically over the last decades with more and more gaps in it due to droughts and heat.
Then, one fine morning, I heard on the radio that in the area where System Change would play out an old forest was about to be logged down to give way for a highway, and I immediately knew that this would be the common thread of the film. Also, I wanted to show what was happening there, the eviction of people trying to defend the forest. However, I had no idea about the ending- whether it would end with another disaster which is normal in this kind of documentaries, or a happy end.
So, the whole story of System Change followed a kind of evolution.
-In this case, what intrigued you to produce “System Change” ?
The initial idea was to make a movie about forests and climate and the underlying topic being that the drivers of all of this and what how we have been destroying the ecosystems of this planet and the basis of the livelihood of so many people and species…
What is happening right now is not a crisis of the planet, it’s the self-made crisis of humanity… So, I wanted to do something to give voice to the voiceless which otherwise are being expelled, criminalized and denunciated.
The movie was also a kind of self-therapy in a way because I couldn’t stand any longer what was happening around me and still is, and felt I was actually making a difference. I could have occupied trees or clued myself to the roads, but I decided that I possibly could do more by making all this accessible to the public and depict what truly going on beyond what we usually read…
-Please talk to us about the principal themes developed in the movie.
What drove me inside is the destruction of the planet for our wealth and comfort and dismissing biodiversity which is the main topic of the movie. What we know, what we feel and what we do for all this.
What I wanted to achieve with this movie is not to reach people in their minds but more in their hearts and touching the emotions because I believe that actions mainly come from emotions. If you look at how we are manipulated in our societies, if you watch ads, you feel that something in your life is missing, This is the engine of the economic system. The only thing missing is a reconnection to what nature is, to stop this nonsense that we are doing to supposedly fulfill our happiness which will never fulfilled by material things.
I really enjoy the discussions with the people afterwards about the movie. They unanimously said that they feel deeply touched. This is what I wanted to achieve.
This is not the crisis of our planet. It is the crisis of humanity. We have to ask ourselves. How to we want to deal with the environment for the future ? Do we want to survive ? Its not only the climate disaster, but also what keeps our society together.
There are two aspects: one is that it shows what’s locally happening on the ground by the destruction of forests and villages for highways and the further exploitation of brown coal, and to personally get to know the people who resist against this destruction.
The second aspect is that what is shown in the movie locally is only symbolic of a much bigger destruction going on in Germany, Europe and in the rest of the world. It is symbolic of the ignorance of politics resulting in the biggest crisis of humanity was and just knowingly proceeding with business as usual by just changing the narratives, but not the fundamental mechanisms of the system. Thus, this aspect touches upon the emotions of the potential viewer by showing the suffering of nature and the people who try to protect it.
We don’t need more knowledge- what we need is a new feeling for this word and what we are doing, and this is probably the main message of the movie. Don’t look away, do something, according to your skills, and get out of your chairs and comfort zones because these comfort zones will end anyway sooner or later… It is our decision if we change them voluntarily or by the brutal force of nature, which doesn’t care about humans.
-What is the turning point of the film’s plot and why is it important ?
I’m not even sure if there is a turning point of the plot because it illuminates an ongoing disaster. One of the scenes that touches me the most is that of an activist lying face down in the mud while the police try to carry her away. They lift her up, put her down again, and eventually drag her off, while she endures it all with seemingly stoic calm.
-What key learnings do we take away from “System Change” ?
One of the main things is to make people stop thinking only about themselves. People are not helpless. They need to get out of their chairs and do something. Everybody can contribute. This is my way to express my concerns for the future humanity.
Surely a principal message is that we shouldn’t believe everything we are told by politicians or the media and start questioning things to find the real purposes and potential agendas behind things.
We should start looking behind the barriers of our own thinking, which is influenced and manipulated by a permanent type of brainwashing. When we listen to TV ads or the radio, the only thing missing is the feeling and the consciousness of our identity, the oneness of the world and our responsibility for our lives and the world we live in.
-How challenging is it to create a movie nowadays, what are the biggest difficulties ?
Our world is full of stories, but unfortunately, there are lots of them that people don’t want to hear… This is true especially if they contain bad news. And the bad news about System Changes is that we just cannot go on like we have done during the past 70 years, and this scares people, particularly in the wealthy parts of the world, given that this world, at least the western part of it, is completely materialistic. So, this is one of the biggest problems of making films like System Change, as you don’t find people ready to put money into it.
This movie came into life with no other than moral support from supportive people and it took three years of my life, a lot of energy and resources and almost complete savings to make it, but I still believe that stories like this have to be told.
-How do you balance staying true to your artistic vision while also considering the commercial part of a film i.e. audience expectations or studio demands ?
In the case of Systems Change, there is definitely no balance between an artistic vision and financial considerations or fulfilling the expectations of the potential audience. Therefore, it is not balanced in the traditional way of journalistic thinking.
I rather followed a line of what is called “new journalism”, showing facts and the truth but explicitly positioning myself and my personal views as a filmmaker.
Systems Change is an honest piece of work and will probably never be considered as financially “successful” like our societies define success. I am grateful for the support of many people, my executive producer Wolfgang Knöpfler (without him this movie would not exist). I am also happy that I pursued my instinct and not so much my rational thoughts and yes, I think I can still look into the mirror every morning by having done it like this.
-What advice would you give to aspiring filmmakers and directors who are just starting out in the movie industry ?
If you want to make movies because you want to make money, it’s a total different approach. This is what I would call film “industry”… If, however, you want to make movies because your heart calls for it, you do everything that’s possible to make it happen.
Believe in what you do and what you want to achieve with your artistic work, and when the time is right, the people you need will be there, and maybe also some of the money you need to sustain your life.
-Usually, film directors relate to a character in their film. Do you identify with any characters in the movie ?
It’s hard to say, but the character with whom I identify the most would be Dominic. He says really smart stuff and reaches people with directness.
-Finally, when is “System Change” being screened ? What are your plans in the near future regarding its promotion ?
System Change was made for the big screen, and the cinema release in Germany took place on the 19th of September, followed by the cinema release in Austria on the 4th of October.
In terms of promoting the movie, I believe that if you don’t have enough funds for advertising, the power of your reach is just limited. I could do a bit more and grateful to Good Move Initiatives for its generous donation. The future will show the influence of my efforts for the distribution of the movie.
Personally, I have worked for the promotion of the movie 24/7 for the last four weeks with special screenings in selected cinemas on the way and I’m preparing a campaign with people from Friday for Future for the global climate strike on the 20th of September in 12 big cities in Germany where we spread tons of picture postcards with the poster of the movie and information leading people to our website where they can request for the movie in their local cinema. I am confident that this at least will produce some awareness.
What is coming after the cinema screenings is not quite certain yet, but we will make sure to place the movie on some streaming platform, probably not Netflix, but maybe some alternative platform with proper reach.
Our efforts are not just about the return on investment, but reaching a maximum number of people who hopefully spread the message and contribute to the urgently needed discussions about what is truly going on in the world.
Trailer of the Movie: https://systemchange-movie.de/trailer/
Press Release: https://systemchange-movie.de/medien/
Schedule of Screenings: https://systemchange-movie.de/#termine
Thank you.