A.L. Jobrail - Interview

Your recent cycle of films has garnered over one hundred and fifty awards and accolades in the last few years. Some of your film crew has been working with you for decades.  What was their reaction to winning so many film awards?

Considering that just a few years ago none of us had a single award to our names, this came as a surprise and a little bit of a shock to them.  Not for me. I know best of all how talented the people on my crew are and I knew we had pure cinematic magic on our hands.  My crew has been loyal to me for decades and it has always been my goal for us all to rise together.  When I started this latest film festival run it was my vow to make sure that everyone on my crew won awards and had their talent recognized because it's never been just about me.

What are some of the other benefits that you have experienced outside of winning film festivals and collecting trophies?

Outside of the awards and red carpets, my latest series of films have opened doors for me that I never even expected. For instance, in the last few years I have become an honored member of the Film Consortium San Diego, which is in my opinion the most important industry organization in all of San Diego.  

Can you address the rumors regarding your alleged "lost" art film, another cult classic, "The ADVENTURES IN ULTRA SUBURBIA"? And after nearly 2 decades will it ever see a public release date? 

No, the rumors are not true and no the film is not lost.  It does exist, however we have no plans whatsoever to release this film publicly at this time.   This was our youth angst Rock n' Roll odyssey. We set out to make an outrageous film about drugs, sex and Rock n' Roll and the result was a film too crazy even for my catalogue.  I'm sure some of us are trying hard to forget it even exists.  The film garnered a small underground cult following in the early 2000's but never saw an official release.  Occasionally we will have an anniversary screening of the film just for cast and crew but then it goes back into the vault. Some say we went too far in this film, others say we didn't go far enough, but it doesn't matter because you will never know.




When you say you have rejected the "Hollywood System" what do you mean by that?

It means that I've never been a fan of the traditional paths to Hollywood success.  I prefer to make my own destiny and I'm certainly not serving coffee all day hoping for a big break.  When I launched my production company I had a vision in mind of a place where all of my fellow artists had a safe place to create their art without worrying about judgment, creative theft, or predatory tactics.  The crew and I are a tight entity, a perfectly synced machine of unbridled creative power with the goal of success on our minds.

If a major Hollywood studio decided to bank roll your next project would you take the money? 

Other filmmakers might have a sense of desperation but not me. I've always been able to keep working and producing my films one way or another and I'm satisfied with that.  Sure it would be nice to have a blank check to make a film but I've never needed it before to create great movies and money doesn't always produce great cinema. Should I ever be given the opportunity of a massive budget I'll consider it if it's on my terms.  The "system" has never helped me so far and I'm not holding my breath that it will.  If you want me Hollywood, you know where to find me.     

It's the 15th anniversary of your cult classic film "BEYOND HUMAN the LAST CALL" what is your perspective on the controversial events then and have they changed? Also, how has it affected you as a filmmaker today? 

Ironically "BEYOND HUMAN the LAST CALL" not only is our most notorious film it's still one of our most popular films to date.  Nearing its 25th anniversary this film is still winning awards and is still very popular.  Plagued by incredible misfortune, the production of this film was one of the most disastrous I've ever worked on.  The cops busted us, the DA confiscated our equipment, we had to go to court, and it almost broke up my crew.  Those were very painful times.  On the other hand, the film has only grown in popularity and has become the ultimate haunted house film of our repertoire.  Truly, I get more fan mail for this film than I get for all of my other films combined.  It just struck a chord with people and for that I am very appreciative.       

What do you think sets your films apart from other indie films?

Some indie filmmakers think a film is something you throw together over the weekend. No matter what I produce I always try to deliver a film that is unique and unprecedented.  I try to make films that would be difficult to replicate, if not impossible.  My 2007 documentary thriller "BEYOND HUMAN the LAST CALL" is an excellent example.  Sure with a big enough budget, "A" list actors and an incredible set on a soundstage a major studio might be able to mimic this film but it won't ever be able to recreate the intense raw energy of this film.  My film feels real because it was real; it's as simple as that. It took me nearly 8 months to hand build the Magic Piano prop from my 2022 short film "CAPTAIN FANTASTIC and the MAGIC PIANO".  Later it took me six years in all to build and shoot the vehicles and infrastructure of my 2023 documentary film "The ELECTRIC CYCLE RACING LEAGUE".  Not many filmmakers can pull off the level of detail and dedication that I put into my films but I would like to see them try.      


What is the most difficult aspect of being an indie filmmaker?

Watching all of the normal people in the world have happy lives and careers without the eternal suffering of being an artist. Other than that, it's all hard if you are doing it right.  If you are living your best life you aren't working hard enough.  Indie filmmaking takes dedication, concentration, punishment, follow-through, and patience, the likes of which the civilian world will never understand.  If you know, you know.  The movie making hustle can be epically painful and not everyone can do it.  As for me, thanks to my extraordinary filmmaking talent on loan from God, perhaps my greatest trick of all is that I make it all look so easy.       

What is your next project?

My next project is a thriller titled "Where the Dragons Sleep" and it's a very personal project that I have been developing for years.  It will have a lot to do with indie filmmaking, the Hollywood system, and what happens when control and regulation begins to destroy the fabric of the filmmaking world.  It was originally slated for release this year however this project grows bigger by the day. There is a lot of world building involved and I'm really enjoying focusing on one project for a change.  So, I might spend another year in development.  We will see.  To learn more about this project you can visit the website at wherethedragonssleep.com.   

Do you think you will ever win an Oscar?

Maybe one day my work will be recognized, but hopefully not too soon.  I have to save something for the final act. 

Final thoughts?

I just want to give a shout out to my friends back home in San Diego the legendary "San Diego Rat Pack" Jordan Jacobo, Randy Davison, Mark Atkinson and Prince Sergio Gadoy.  Thanks fellas for letting me play with the cool kids.  

What really excites you artistically or emotionally?

Seeing a film, hearing music, looking at a painting, or discovering any work of art that is brave, new, and real.   

Marlon Brando said “Never confuse the size of your Paycheck with the size of your talent”. Do you agree?

Yes.

Have you ever been discouraged by someone about your life\career  choices?


Constantly.  In all the arts rejection becomes part of life.  You have to believe in your own vision, because the more original or unique you are, the more intense the push back is from others.  Almost every successful filmmaker will tell you that getting your project green lighted can take many years, and only a small number of people have the strength to keep working when the going gets rough. 

Do you think it is harder for a woman being a Filmmaker?


I'm not a woman, and not a filmmaker, so I don't really know, but I've spent decades in the music business and it's clear to me that in spite of all the gains that women have made in recent years, sexism and misogyny are still major factors in Hollywood.

Do you think that Fame and money could easily change your own Vision as a Filmmaker\actor\screenplaye?

Not necessarily.  Fame and money can be very seductive but they're often fleeting.  As a singer and guitarist in a rock band, I was signed to a major record label by Clive Davis while still in my 20s.  Our band was gaining a following, made a terrific album, recorded at The Record Plant with guest stars from the Grateful Dead, but just as our debut record was being released, Clive Davis was suddenly fired as president of  Columbia Records.  Within a few months, the new regime at CBS took over and they didn't like rock n' roll.  We were immediately dropped from the label, along with many other young bands, and we 

were all back on the street starting all over.  The lesson I learned from that experience was stick to your own vision because everything else is out of your control and subject to change at a moment's notice.

Who’s the Movie star that made you dream for the first time?


Marilyn Monroe

Make a wish about your career...

That I will have the stamina and good health to keep singing, writing, performing  and producing for years to come.

Talking about cinema\Showbusiness, how hard is to remain completly honest to yourself as an artist?

It's always hard to be completely honest with yourself.  As you pursue your dreams, It's important to accept your strengths and weaknesses and choose to work in the areas where where your real talent lies.  Going against your nature is like swimming against the tide.  Do what you do best.  Everyone has their own path and art is not a competition.   

The Film you have loved the most?


So many come to mind, but Casablanca and Citizen Kane are two films I never tire of seeing.

And now, don’t be shy….the one that annoyed you the most?


Plan 9 From Outer Space is right up there.

Your biggest artistic goal is…


To write meaningful songs that reach people.  To keep trying to improve.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

I would love to be a journalist.

How important is to be rewarded as an Artist?

One shouldn't become an artist expecting to be rewarded, but the respect of my peers is what means the most to me.  My real reward as an artist has been all the wonderful partnerships I've had with talented musicians in the journey of making music.  My latest reward has been teaming up with director Debra Knox to make the new video for my song "Crossing the Line".


Do you have regrets?


In terms of my career, not many.  I don't regret my choices, but I wish I had allowed myself to enjoy the highs more.  

What’s the message you wanna express through your art?

If I have to explain my message then my art has not succeeded.
                     










For you a Film is... 

Still looking for words ever since I saw Monty in that film in 5th grade 

What do you feel when you're acting/directing/writing?

Always same thought starts my day "If I do what I'm about to do outside of where I suppose to do I could get arrested" 

You can go to the Movies with an actor/director/screenplayer that you love. What kind of movie do you choose and with who you're gonna whatch it?

Since we both love poetry I would enjoy watching "The Petrified forest" 1936 with Al Pacino and look how the poetry of the writer Leslie Howard destroy the wickedness of the gangster Humphrey Bogart.

Audrey Hepburn used to say “Nothing is Impossible”, what do you think about it?

Totally agree. I feel starstruck everyday seeing myself how high I climbed on the success ladder.

Can you live just of your passion?

Of course. You are doing something you love isn't that the point?  

What's more important talent or luck?

Not believing in coincidences and accidents brought me to a conclusion that luck doesn't exist, because I wasn't lucky at all when I was starting out back in the day when I didn't know anything. As I went on learning over the years hall's became longer with more doors. I would say it's all talent.

You must go to a desert island but you can bring with you just one movie...

Gulliver's Travels 1939.

Have you ever accepted a part/ a movie to direct/ a script to write even if you didn't like the project?

Shout-out to my mentors Robert Sapoff and Ted Wrigley from NJSDA, and Yuri Kvyatkovsy from MXAT Moscow, that taught me how to critique from and in the name of the art and not as Lazar. It matters only that I love the art, it's just different culture came up with different idea.

What's the best compliment you have received about your Job?

You are good enough.  

Are you satisfied about your career?

Very.  

Do you have a good luck charm?

Not really.

Which is the worst moment on set ?

I don't have any.  

How do you feel when a job you've been part of it's ending?

It's hard it always end with hugs, cries, speeches and flowers,but tomorrow is a new day.

Have you ever lied to get a part/job?

Nope, sooner or later they'll figure out.  

If you should win an Oscar your first taught would go to…

My mom explaining me when I was 6 that Jett Rink in "Giant" 1956 is the same actor throughout the entire film.

Did anyone ever tell you weren't good enough?

Yes, and that made me change to be good, even better. 

How can you stay focused on your goal?

Just being myself and truthful to that

Have you ever had a breakdown because of your Job?

Yes, many.

Talent is a blessing or a curse?

Talent is a blessing, if you accept what you have to do and be an expert in that.

What would you like to improve about yourself as a director?

As Director I would like to improve the art of transmitting to the public the central focus of the movie message . Just being myself and be truthful to that.

What's the worst critic you have received?

Critics for me become a way of wisdom to improve some issues.

If you weren't an actor/director/screenplayer what would you like to be? 

I am also a musician. And another profession would be a pilot 

If Cinema was a color what would it be?

Gold

A day without a movie is...

A day without joy.

If someone offered you to direct a movie that you despice but that for sure will make you rich and famous...would you accept the job?

No.

What's your greatest ambition?

That my music would be plaid on airplane programs.

What's your biggest fear?

When you are in love, there is no fear

Does music helps you to play/direct,write?

Completely, it translates emotions and the mood of the film!

You have the chance to make a Silent movie, what's your message to the audience?

Express yourself in silence.

Share your speech if you should win an Oscar.....

Thankful and grateful are not enough words to translate my gratitude to the universe and to my collaborators to bring us to this accomplishment. I hope that makes you feel the glory of your work and be honored by that! This is a beacon of hope and possibilities and we are ageless. We have the Age of the Stars. This is a proof that dreams come true, and ladies, don’t let anyone say to you that you are past your prime!

I said in a music festival in Cannes in France when filming in the event that I was training to be a director, and now I am a female director.

https://linktr.ee/anayamusic1anaya_music

International Gold Awards: That's really incredible. Your themes are also so diverse. Do the works influence each other? Do you film your books or do you write your films? How should we imagine that?

Kristina: There is definitely a mutual influence. However, I haven't yet turned a book into a film or written a novel after a film project. I would say that I often revolve around similar themes. Sometimes, however, the topics come to me, and I'm bought in, so to speak, by a producer as a team member or director, or I'm asked by friends and colleagues if I'd like to take part in their project. It's all very different. I often do what feels right to my gut, what interests me, what fascinates me. I never actually repeat anything, at least not yet. Only once did I deal with the play "Spring Awakening" several times. I staged Frank Wedekind's play as an entire play in the first semester of my first degree at the independent theatre in Halle. And much later, in a seminar during my second degree, I picked out another scene from this play and worked on it with students and developed a dance improvisation from it, which, however, no longer contained any text from the actual play. The production was quite classical, you could say, and the dance scene was very modern and abstract. But apart from that, I can't remember doing the same thing again in a different medium.

International Gold Awards: And you as a scientist? Does science influence your art?

Kristina: Yes, definitely, but also the other way round, that art has influenced my scientific texts. I have often taken scientific concepts and turned them into art. Especially in my very art-house orientated films, but also in my literary texts. I tried to portray the theme of "appearance and reality", which also appears in the Platonic dialogue Timaeus, in the music video "Breathe on". The woman is in a cemetery and obviously she cannot detach herself from something, cannot move away. She is repeatedly thrown back to the same place from which she is trying to get away inwardly. Finally, she finds a solution by putting on a social mask, so to speak, and leaving this place for appearances only. She puts on make-up, sunglasses and finally leaves as someone who leaves a part of her being behind in this cemetery. She could not detach herself from her authentic being, who she really is. She could only seemingly leave the place, but something remains. I often use film locations to show inner places. This is also the case in "Fear, that the Rats rise up", for example. Here, a love affair doesn't work. The lift is the metaphorical place for this relationship. It looks like a prison cell, it descends all the time. The lovers try to reach each other, get closer, but they talk past each other and can't really open up. But they can't let go either. So, this uncomfortable lift is a symbol of the relationship, of their inner world. “Cold Thoughts" is also about the inner world of a relationship. The relationship is at a crossroads. Is the couple splitting up, literally going in different directions, are the partners now going their separate ways? The protagonists are stuck against the wall of a house and flashbacks, memories of their time together keep coming up. But the relationship seems to have dried up, so I also applied dried up lips for playing the character. She literally stands still. The male lead "Time comes to a halt" also expresses this extremely well. The sentence is repeated like an echo. In this way, the meaning of the sentence is also reflected in the auditory form. It is the decisive moment in which a relationship between two people breaks up or remains intact. Precisely this moment is also captured in a still image in the final image. 

My psychological vampire novel incorporates a lot of my psychology studies. I have contrasted the outside world with the inside world. A woman finds the opportunity to become a vampire through witchcraft. Suddenly, she is immortal, she is flawlessly beautiful, she can travel through time and has increased strength and superpowers as a result. But she is no longer socially acceptable at all, has a thirst for blood, hurts and kills other people as a result, she falls out of her social network and her family and can't cope psychologically at all. I found this contrast exciting. I also wanted to show that it's human bonds, family and friends that make people happy, not power and superpowers. Science often inspires me, and I come up with completely new ideas, which gives me a new perspective and this flows into my art. But I've also incorporated my experiences here and there in my academic work or conducted academic research on art and film, for example in my final thesis on Ernst Cassirer's symbolic forms "Semiotic Processes in Feature Film", but I also did research on film in my dissertation on Michel Foucault and discourse analysis "On the Mediation of Film in Schoolbooks".

International Gold Awards: Your works are sometimes arthouse art and sometimes genre art in very different genres. One gets the impression that anything is possible. "Inequal" is an experimental feature film in which you are one of five performers. Here you deal with the current art discourse of the time. In contrast, "Monster on a Plane", which will be released soon, is a classic genre film. Your documentary film "The Sound of Cologne" chooses a middle way. Broadly speaking, it is a classic narrative style that is orientated around a timeline and structured according to themes. In detail, however, it uses very art-influenced means, such as the moment when the birds are buzzing around Cologne Cathedral, where the recording is sped up and slowed down to match the music of Stockhausen's "Song of the Youths", or a special, musical film cut is used again and again. How does that come about?

Kristina: I'm actually open to everything. I am fascinated and influenced by artists from all genres, including arthouse. Every work of art has to be considered individually. I don't necessarily think in terms of genres. That would limit my imagination. It is precisely in the breaking up of genres that new things usually emerge, and a lot can develop. Sometimes I feel like using a genre completely, which can also be a form of rebellion when you come from an art academy that rejects all classical forms of narrative and classical working methods, but sometimes I want to break away from precisely this traditional form or do something completely different. When I founded my independent theatre group during my first degree at university, I initially staged more classical productions, then grew, discovered new things, became more and more abstract, then really made free art during my second degree at the art academy, performance, free dance, symbolic film, site-specific art, construct improvisation dance, so I was completely away from any genre, any classical form. But in the end, I had to free myself from that as well, because this rebellion has become old again. Marina Abramović is older now, too, Peter Handke's "Offending the Audience" is older, absurd theatre is older and I wanted to try things out, to really immerse myself in a genre for once, to really find my feet here in a stricter form, to use it and to leave art school behind me for once, even if it was a great time. They are never finished movements, I can be fascinated by anything and know no boundaries. I have a great desire to keep discovering new things, to keep exploring new themes in new ways. 

International Gold Awards: Dear Kristina, what you are saying sounds really fascinating. Your work is already incredibly rich and diverse and completely unique in its own way. It really takes time to grasp, read and look at everything. You haven't just done your usual academic research in one area either but are active in many different fields. Your doctoral thesis uses discourse analysis to analyse the topic of film in school textbooks and compares historical textbooks with current ones. Discourse analysis goes back to the philosopher Michel Foucault. Your final project deals with the topic of film as a symbolic form and has the theory of the philosopher Ernst Cassirer in the background. Then you wrote articles on Friedrich Nietzsche and the corona pandemic, for example, or on the artistic creative processes of the Swiss media artist and author Matthias Zimmermann. You delve into new topics again and again. Such knowledge in so many scientific fields is truly outstanding. What's coming up next?

Kristina: In spring, Matthias Zimmermann and I will be publishing a literary thriller that we wrote together. Then I'm working on a completely new topic: GDR philosophy. I'm writing a book on this topic together with Prof Harald Seubert and my mother. I'm also working on a feature film project, which is very genre orientated. It's going to be a mystery thriller. I've already written the script. I've also been working on a documentary film project about regretful mothers for a few years now. I'm not a mother myself, but I find the subject very exciting. A documentary short film is due to be released soon, which will later lead to a documentary feature film. 

International Gold Awards: That sounds very, very exciting. We definitely wish you all the best for these great new projects. Thank you very much for the impressive interview.

Kristina: Thank you very much! I was really pleased about the interview as well. 

Kristina Schippling on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5923371/