While this meant that Ania in WILD had to close the door on her social life, Anna and Adrian in A E I O U attempt to take on the rest of the world. They’re a proper couple and more or less do very normal “couple things”. And yet they’re still different to other people: Anna, because she makes absolutely no effort to trim herself into any female image; and Adrian, because he doesn’t care about what people say, as no one ever cared about him – until he meets Anna and finds his voice.

So it’s very similar to WILD as far as outlooks are concerned, but it’s a little more social and to some people maybe more friendly.

With Sophie Rois, Milan Herms and Udo Kier you were able to win three outstanding actors for this special love story. How did this cast come about?

I’ve known Udo Kier for a very long time and have always looked for an opportunity to express my love for him in one of my films. In A E I O U, he plays the friend that all women would wish to have. He’s also the outside view, but by no means your everyday or tedious commentary. I think he and his presence have been a gift to the film and I would love to make a second part dealing just with him and maybe Adrian.

I met Milan for the first time in the sauna. A friend and I wanted to fit in a wellness day just before the end of the year; we’d just started preparing A E I O U and there was this young man in a bathrobe lying on a lounger opposite us; he was with his girlfriend. I saw him and in fact knew immediately that it was Adrian. I said to my friend: "That’s the kind of Adrian I’m looking for!” And she said: “Then get over there and talk to him!” It wasn’t that easy, in a robe, in the sauna. I didn’t want to give off any Harvey Weinstein impression but my friend wouldn’t let it go so I went over to him. I actually spoke more with his girlfriend and explained what it was about. He gave me his email address and we invited him to the casting.

I know Sophie Rois mainly from René Pollesch’s plays so I’ve seen her a few times either before or after a performance and I’ve always been fascinated by her. It’s clear in all her texts – even those spoken in private – that she’s very aware of the prevailing clichéd roles at the theatre and in life, so she’s also opposing them. Sophie’s a punk, and she’s shy, which has always been an exciting combination. When you’re actually face-to-face with her, you realise how beautiful she also is, how her bright blue, sometimes green eyes shimmer against her pale skin while she’s talking all this super intellectual  stuff. She’s incredibly sexy. I was determined for everyone to see this and for Anna to be just like her.

Are there any works in film history that inspired the writing and staging?

As I was writing, I had great fun making my way through a general library of romance films, films that have shaped our mental image of romantic couples. As far as auteur cinema is concerned, that’s mainly films from the 60s and 70s. I don’t know if any of that has left its mark on our film, or if that’s even interesting at all, but the idea was to play with a general memory of images and situations from all our favorite love stories in cinema, and thereby concealing or hazing the inequalities of our film couple. For me, it's always the most wonderful thing during a film to forget that I’m wishing, say, Ann and King Kong a great future, although they really don‘t fit very well together as a couple. Films are often reproducing and manifesting the same images. In A E I O U, I wanted to reference the classic, much-loved images but also to bring a few new unusual ones into the world.

France is a place of refuge in A E I O U. Why France?

France is the country of love; that’s what people say, right? And also, if I think of cinema I immediately think of France. A E I O U was created at a time when most movies are watched on computers. We didn’t just want to film a lovestory but also a declaration of love to cinema. The Côte D'Azur felt like the perfect place for that. It was as if we could wander immediately through a whole array of films from the past. Even the extras acted as if they’d never done anything else. Everything just worked out there as if by itself, everything looked great, everyone always understood immediately what was going on. 

To me, it came across as if shooting a film somehow went without saying there, as if it was simply part of life. And what was pretty astounding to me is that everyone listened to me just like that. I think being a director is a very respected profession in France. And it almost doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman.