Jan Schmidt-Garre - Friends of Friends / Freunde von Freunden (FvF)

Jan Schmidt-Garre

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Director and movie producer Jan Schmidt-Garre I know for way more than ten years. We first met in Munich, at an exhibition opening of his wife Ms. Philomene Magers’ gallery. Looking back it is hard to name a precise day, actually it is impossible, because when does friendship actually start? So I give it a go with my feelings: in my memory we were friends from this evening on (I think it was outside and it was warm).

That we are pursuing a similar profession, I realized comparatively late, when we tried to handle a modern film version by Così fan tutte. I of all people, who dislikes operas (he loves them), was supposed to rewrite the libretto (that means the dialogue scenes). And in the course of this cooperation we met at restaurants and bars and in a tea room in Munich, which you must really like – to work at. But most of all: to think about the essence of this work. Loudly and in twos. Respectively and with good grace: why it is today, now, upright not possible. But soon again! Eventually.

Meanwhile Jan Garre-Schmidt, his family and I, too, we live and work in Berlin. His documentary Der atmende Gott – Reise zum Ursprung des modernen Yoga (The breathing God: Journey to the origin of the modern Yoga ) just recently lured the 50.000 visitor to the cinema. Our conversation started on a Monday afternoon in Dahlem, in Jan Schmidt-Garres study with a outlook to the garden. Later on we changed to the cutting room at his production company PARS Media at Monbijoupark, downtown.

The whole conversation between Jan Schmidt-Garre and writer Joachim Bessing will be available in English soon. In the meantime, enjoy the interview in German here.

 

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