In casting the various departments, we gave director Adrian Goiginger full rein for the most part, or rather did he not follow our suggestions consistently. But that was all right for us, it's his film after all. Only for the editing, we wanted to give him someone with as much experience as possible, because, as you know, the film is made a third time in the editing room (the first time with the script, the second time during shooting). In the small chambers, where the editing usually takes place, it is decided whether the puzzle really fits together.
Therefore, Ingrid Koller's acceptance was crucial. After one week of shooting, we set up the editing suite for her right next to the main set, and soon the apartment was covered in clouds of smoke, Mrs. Koller seems to be the last upright smoker.
Throughout this first phase Adrian had a tough time to convince Ingrid Koller of his concept: two cameras, both rather wide-angle shots, no classic resolutions (Establishing, Close ups, material for intermediate cuts) and everything from a child's point of view. But then the magic happened, that accompanied us throughout the whole film. Ingrid Koller's work went far beyond the director's imagination. Adrian reported that he was always exhausted in the evening, to a point where Ingrid sent him home ("Sleep it off!") and continued working on the film.
She has the necessary dramaturgical feeling, experience and skill to break almost all the rules in this film. Being carried away by the story that is told here, we won't notice all the jump cuts and other "nonos" at all, quite the reverse! And that's what makes a masterpiece. And now, after more than 70 awards in Austria and abroad for movies she has been working for, the time has finally come for THE KOLLER to get a well-deserved personal award as an appreciation for her work. Because without her, "The best of all worlds" wouldn’t have become "the best".
When we prepared the DVD, Ingrid agreed to cut a making-of. We had hours of interviews and making-of material – in short - a lot of footage. When we were looking for an assistant for her, we were recommended a young, highly active and well educated (Bachelor and Master Degree) colleague who immediately accepted. She was only able to work in the evening, as she was busy with a project during the day, but when she heard that she would work with THE KOLLER, she immediately accepted without thinking.
P.S.: It sounds like a mockery today, but it was a lot of work before even starting the rough cut, defending the result to others, who said the film, as we know it today, was a failed attempt and demanded an evaluation of the duo Ingrid and Adrian. (I'm not telling to whom I had to defend the result, because otherwise I'll be sued - it wasn't the ORF!)
