Director's Commentary
Jim Rakete on his documentary „NOW“
»There is actually no classic direction in a documentary . Rather, one looks for the attitude that is appropriate to the subject. Often you run after the events with the camera, and sometimes you are a small step ahead, which means that you are on the right track.
The story originally sketched by Claudia Rinke was often re-discussed during shooting, without ever changing the core of the narrative. A documentary about current events can never be completely planned through. The dynamic in this case is precisely the fact that the activists' calendars are overflowing. Anyone seeking a conversation with Greta today has to bring a lot of time with them. We never had this on the shooting schedule. Greta Thunberg makes the best statements in her speeches, not in interviews.
Hajo Friedrichs once said that a journalist should never get involved with anything – not even a good thing. We have therefore kept a respectful distance, and from all the answers we have chosen the most promising and hopeful for the film. What we did not want to tell was the personal circumstances of the activists. The focus is on the hopes, solutions and setbacks for the activists.
On the other hand, there are the scientific statements, and also those of two veterans of earlier movements (Patti Smith & Wim Wenders), because this question also came up again and again: how long can a movement last, when does it fall asleep? If someone had told me a few years ago that I would run with the camera at demonstrations again, I would probably have smiled reservedly. Because that's exactly how my profession as a photographer once began more than fifty years ago – with photos of the 68 riots in Berlin.«