Hello Jan Bartels, we appreciate you providing us with an exclusive interview regarding your project, “Lifestream” Viewing your project has made us very happy. Could you please share your experience working on it?
Well, I needed three months to plan the film, and the meticulous preparation paid off in the end. In the beginning, we had four changes in the casting of all roles before the final team was in place. After that, everything worked out perfectly, and the shoot went very efficiently. We all had a great time on set.
Why did you decide on this specific content? Because I find the topic of surveillance and media very fascinating. We are all constantly online and share a lot of private information about ourselves. Some people post many things about themselves every day. How do people react when they realize they’ve been secretly filmed and their data has been uploaded to the internet? Does this loss of control even matter anymore?
Give us more information about yourself and your career path. I’ve been making short films for about 15 years, and I still do it with great passion. In contrast to many other productions, my actors can contribute artistically to their roles. I do not earn any money with my films, but it is also much more than just a hobby of mine. I put my heart and soul into it for 100%
Would you mind giving us a sneak peek at some of your next projects in this field? In addition to another short film, I’m planning a shocking thriller mini-series with a runtime of five minutes per episode. You can tell a lot in five minutes, even without dialogue. It will be exciting to create a cliffhanger at the end of each episode so that people want to know how the story continues.
What have been some of the most challenging positions you have held in your professional life, and what challenges did you face along the way? Every film is a major challenge for both mind and body. You have to plan carefully, and if something goes wrong, you must improvise. You need to manage budgets, always be there for the actors when they need you, and constantly keep an eye on your timeline. Good preparation is extremely important. The actual shooting on set is not that exhausting. It’s the many small things that happen beforehand.
You are from Germany how is the state of the film industry there right now? Which movie—the commercial or the art house—did you prefer? I don’t know because I have nothing to do with the German film industry; I produce everything myself. As a filmmaker, I am fascinated by the films of Stanley Kubrick. His way of telling stories is brilliant, and he takes his time developing characters. No hectic cuts—everything runs like clockwork.
In 2025, we will all be reliant on AI filmmaking. What do you think? Is artificial intelligence filmmaking the next big thing in filmmaking? The question is, why do we need AI when it comes to art? Do we no longer have our own ideas, so now we need a machine to tell us stories? For me, art is still a craft, a work created by humans. But this development will continue to advance and will no longer be stoppable. We will see how the quality of films changes under the influence of AI.
What is your opinion on independent filmmakers, and how do they connect or market their films to the right distribution channels? I love making my own films, and I’m glad that there are many other filmmakers besides me. My films have been shown at numerous international film festivals for years.
To conclude, once again, many thanks, and what message would you like to share with the next generation regarding your love of guidance? Write the stories you want to see. Don’t try to please other people with your films because it will not work. Stay true to yourselves and do what you do with passion.
