Rob Munday
From Gang Boss to Best Boy, anyone who’s sat through the end credits of a big Hollywood movie will know just how many people and how much hard work is involved in bringing a little cinematic magic to the screen. We often hear from the directors and actors, but what about all the other roles? Those who build the sets or create the costumes. In Jannis Alexander Kiefer’s narrative short Kollegen (Good German Work), the writer/director invites his audience to spend some time in the company of two craftspeople makings sets and props for a war movie.
At first, when Kollegen starts, it has the feel of an observational documentary, as the action unfurls leisurely with little dialogue. It’s only when we see what Uli is working on – a swastika – almost three-minutes into the film, that we start to question the scenario. From here on out, we’re introduced to extras playing concentration camp prisoners, tanks rolling past toilet windows and discussions around prop incineration ovens. It’s comedy that could easily cross a line, but Kiefer always finds the perfect balance.
The extras enter the workshop dressed in Nazi uniforms and concentration camp clothing.
The reason behind this equilibrium is of course largely down to the director and his vision, but as Good German Work reminds us, there are a lot of other people whose input makes a film successful. The performances are perfect, from the camaraderie of the short’s central pair (Didi: Gisa Flake & Uli: Fritz Roth), to the comic timing of the wandering extras, they add a great lightness to proceedings. While the unobtrusive camerawork of DoP Adam Graf adds a voyeuristic quality to the experience and the patient edit of Kathrin Unger makes it all feel very authentic.
Based around his own experiences of working as a crowd marshall, where he had “a lot of weird, funny, uncomfortable moments with extras”, Kiefer’s short had a solid tour of the festival circuit, playing Clermont-Ferrand, Palm Springs ShortFest, Odense and more. Speaking the director about what he’s been focusing on since completing Good German Work, he revealed that he was now developing his debut feature, which would be set in the same “cinematic world” of this short.