The Storyteller

Jana Sintschnig: I’m reading Chekhov now, and I find it totally exciting to see how the time and the context in which a piece was written influence the described characters, their everyday conversations and actions.

Technology! Just think how fast our lives have changed because of it. For example, can you still remember how it was back then to make an appointment without a cell phone? Or think about how we find our way with the cell phone today.

I’m wondering about that, too! (laughs). As a scriptwriter I tell my own stories, while as a producer or actress I help tell the stories of others.

Sure, a bit. Aren’t we always somehow “in the making” and a student?

I quite like how you describe my life (laughs). But that’s not how it feels like at all; it’s rather still a journey for me. And perhaps the journey is the most exciting part. For a while I thought it would be great to be a doctor. There is a clearly defined path. That means security. At the same time I know I never wanted to walk in a straight line.

I wouldn’t be able to pursue a single profession for my whole life. All the problems that come along with this flexibility can also have the effect that you stay daring and don’t fall asleep.

Absolutely! I put myself under a lot of pressure, and so does the society around me. I try to consciously differentiate between what I want and what society imposes upon me. In the end you have to learn to appreciate yourself and to find the special in yourself. When you hope to be acknowledged by the outside world, you have already lost.

Fly to the moon.

I get up very early (laughs). No, it’s actually just good planning of the day. That’s probably also the reason why producing is so easy for me.

The last drag of the joint.

I sometimes ask myself this question. When I was 13 I suddenly said to my mother, I’m moving to America. It was already clear to me back then.

New York is faster, Vienna slower. or something else menacing (laughs). In Vienna there are more profound conversations, in New York there are more.

Yes, very much so! Given my absence I have realized just how great Austria is and what an incredible city Vienna actually is. Of course, one tends to romanticize a bit – especially in the beginning (laughs).

Precisely. (laughs)

Totally. People have become far more creative; they really do something and don’t just talk about it. This goes especially for the artistic, urban, and social fields. It is more colorful, not so monotonous anymore.

I figure most Americans don’t know so much about Vienna, and if they do, then it’s always the same clichés such as classical music, historical architecture, and Sacher cake. Last year, however, I was in Vienna with some American friends, and they found the city absolutely great ­– not just because of the classical stuff but also the lively, young, and creative atmosphere. It wouldn’t have been that way ten years ago!

For me, Vienna is a city of artists and intellectuals, who nevertheless know how to party: smoking and drinking, they get excited, sitting in the coffee houses. I don’t know if I can put this in words so well. I would like to show it with a photo. I have the feeling that Vienna’s rich history – both in positive and negative terms – is used productively today. This goes for the creative realm, where the long tradition of art is carried on and further developed. But also in the social context. A lot has been learned there. Today, Vienna is a city that cares for its citizens. And that was not always the case.

I love sitting in the coffee houses. Berlin can learn a thing or two there! What I don’t like? Vienna is so gray! And the wind is brutal in winter, it really sucks.

Vienna has huge potential. The city could still evolve further and become an even more fertile soil for creative people and innovative life concepts. The high quality of life in the city could really give people the freedom to work on cool stuff, invent new things, and make them reality. That’s the big potential of this city.

I hope the Viennese don’t stand in their own way. There is still this tendency to talk a lot and do little. Also the fear of being different, many have that in Austria.

I don't like it, but it would be Vienna.