The common ground in my artistic examination through films can be found in my search for a potential for protest, for the very individual and personal paths to freedom. When Michael Haneke introduced the project to us, I immediately chose “Gretchen am Spinnrade” by Franz Schubert. I was excited by the idea of interpreting Goethe’s material in Schubert’s composition as a music video – and of being able to connect the timelessness of the masterpiece with the aesthetic of a video clip. In the conception of the character of Gretchen I wanted to bring together three “Gretchen” figures: Gretchen from Goethe’s “Faust”, Susanna Margaretha Brandt, who served Goethe as am inspiration for the character of Gretchen and Margarete from “The Master and Margerita” by Bulgakov. In the story I wanted to liberate Gretchen’s destiny as a woman from being totally romanticised, aware of the ideal of the beautiful art (Abramovic). In the editing,  instead of just following the logic of the plot, I followed the poetic principles, which allowed me formally to depict Gretchen’s ambivalence using the apparent contradiction between text by Goethe and our imagery. With Stephanie Cumming as Gretchen, I found a perfect cast whereas the Villa Hirsch on the beach in Heiligendamm in Germany appeared to me as a perfect backdrop for the story.