Casting

The director Vera wants a perfect cast for her first television film, which happens to be a remake of Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. The first day of shooting is approaching, session after session has been held, and the lead role is still not filled. As the producer and the crew lose patience, Gerwin, who reads the opposite lines at auditions, is glad of the extra work; he has more or less given up on acting and is thinking about opening a bar with his husband. When the male lead suddenly drops out he decides this is his opening. Nicolas Wackerbarth’s film screened in the Forum section of the 67th Berlinale in February 2017, and what it is really about is power inside the German television industry.