We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Otwin Biernat a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Otwin, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

When I was a child, I was an insecure person. It was not easy for me to stand in front of the class and say something. Now, I am a film director and actor. So, looking back, I think I took many risks. The main decision for studying drama was to gain more security. I knew that there was something inside of me that had to come out, but that was blocked by my insecurity. Acting forced and helped me to see myself from a different angle. I have performed in front of hundreds of people over a thousand times. It is my profession, and I love it. But working on yourself and your insecurity is a permanent process, and you have to take new risks again and again if you want to grow and get better. That keeps it interesting. Working as a director and having the responsibility for a project, can be risky too. I love it. I love to motivate others and when everyone works together, and we all pull on the same string, then it can be very rewarding.

​No risk, no fun is kind of true for me.

And I can only recommend you to follow your dream and passion if you have the possibility. Take the risk and fail as many times as you need to learn, get better and come closer step by step.

I know it is so easy to say but so hard to do. Like I said, a never ending process.

Otwin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a film director and actor from Graz, Austria.

I studied drama in Vienna and in Berlin I started directing short films and music videos. My short film “Codewort Mr. Bean” that I directed together with Anna-Sophie Brandstetter ran at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2010.

I played in different theaters (Hamburger Kammerspiele, Allee Theater) in Germany and Austria. I worked for TV, I produced and co-produced different film projects f.e. “Homesick”, directed by Jakob M. Erwa and was nominated at Berlinale 2015. I directed many commercials, live events, concerts, music-videos, short films and two feature films. My short film Macbetto ran at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival in Toronto, one of the biggest Italian film festivals outside of Italy with over 50 000 attendees. I made a film called “Leaving FG” (with Paolo Sassanelli) with students at the Academy of fine Arts in Foggia. It was organized by the great artist Annalisa Ciaramella, funded by the Puglia Film Commission and introduced at the Biennale di Venezia.

My first feature film, “Point of View”, had its premiere at the Jagran Film Festival in Mumbai, the world’s largest traveling film festival and one of the biggest international film festivals in India. My second feature film “DeadEnd” is still running at film festivals. F.e. it was selected for the Buenos Aires International Film Festival or Seattle Film Festival. Beginning November it will be screended at the “We Make Movies International Film Festival” in Los Angeles and at STUFF Mx in Mexico City, which is considered the most important independent film festival in Mexico. All that means a lot to me, and I am very thankful for the attention and the rewards.

Last but not least, with the association C4C, we organized film festivals in Italy. We did the Pompei Street Cinema Film Festival, Neapolis Persia Film Festival, Casoria Film Festival as a partner festival to the prestigious Giffoni International Film Festival.

Now, I am working on a feature film with the writer and actress Kristina Boehm, the daughter of the famous actor Karlheinz Boehm daughter of the Sissi trilogy, and the founder of the great relief organization “Menschen für Menschen”.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I love to create something unique out of nothing. As a filmmaker or director, you create a world out of your imagination. First you write it down, you film it, you edit it, and make it visible in moving pictures and sound. All that happens in cooperation with other great specialized artists like DOP´s, sound designer, set designer, costume designer etc… You create a world. You unfold your thoughts and feelings, and you make others feel it. So, unlike other art forms, film is most of the time a cooperation between different artists. A film is like a picture where every artist has a color, and together they draw and combine their color with others. In my career as a filmmaker, I did every part of filmmaking because I did many guerrilla-style projects where everyone has to do everything. Learning by doing. For me, that was the best school to learn about each film department. I love to watch films. I am a big fan of unconventional storytelling. I like the Danish Dogma95 concept. I think they made some great unique films. I love to challenge myself and make things very difficult for me. In my two feature films, I also reduced effects and possibilities to put more focus on certain things. In my first feature film, “Point of View”, I did not make a visible cut within the first 80 minutes. This film is a real-time, experimental family drama that only takes place in one house. So, the first cut was after 23 minutes. This is a huge challenge for actors, camera and sound. If there is one mistake, you have to do everything again. And if you don’t have cuts, the screenplay has to be very strong to keep the audience dragged into the story. I like such challenges.

In my newest (second) feature film AusWeg (DeadEnd), I decided to make a film on my own. I think this is the first fictional feature film made by only one person. This was definitely the biggest challenge I ever had to deal with. It took me 5 years to finish the film, and I almost did not want to finish it because I felt overwhelmed. But I did, and I am very happy about that because my film has run at many festivals all over the world, and it won many awards.

If others watch and value your work and see the effort, energy and sweat that you invested in, that is very rewarding.
My next project will be with a big team on the set but let´s see what unconventional thing I will add.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I want to tell stories because I think that I have to say something. If you have to say something, you just have to find your way to say it. I write, I paint, and I make movies. Those are my tools for saying something. I like to explore new things. That’s why I am such a passionate traveler. In my art I also explore and experiment with new things because I am a very curious person who wants to find out if new things work or not. I like surprises. I am always searching for unconventional ways of telling a story that underlines and intensifies the concept of a project. So, I permanently challenge myself with such tasks to force myself to find creative solutions, and to improve my skills as a filmmaker. It is a bit like putting yourself with very few surviving tools on an island. When you survive a week, you surprise yourself. If I surprise myself with my films, I will probably also surprise the audience.

​So, my mission is to permanently challenge myself and to learn out of my mistakes. Because you have to make mistakes to get better. Everyone makes mistakes and the biggest challenge is not to pull yourself down but to stand up, learn from them and get better.

The more mistakes you make, the more often you can rise like a phoenix.

If someone tells you that you can’t do it, do it. “Don’t listen to the naysayers!” Print it out, put it on the mirror in your bathroom and read it out loud every morning and evening. Sometimes it happens that I lose myself in self-doubt because I forgot this simple sentence. But, to never give up, that is what counts. This simple philosophy, I learned from one of my Austrian relatives, a very famous person, who visualized his aims and followed his path. This life story is very inspiring.

​

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.otwin.info
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/otwin_filmmaker/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OtwinOfficial
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/otwinfilm-21321894
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNumsB74kqaJXgqKaUzGfEQ/featured
• Other: https://www.otwinfilm.com

Image Credits

Felix Specht