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 it was important to liberate Gretchen’s story from being  romanticized, and staying 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.