Happyland

“That Happyland is set in the music scene certainly has something to do with the fact that I once had a record label, together with Sebastian Brauneis and—like many others—failed miserably. But the real reason for choosing the music scene was different: I wanted a character who lives out the longings we all have but don’t dare to act upon. We tend to choose idols who live very different kinds of lives. Helen is a character who stopped at nothing and now looks back on the damage she has caused—to herself and others—with the awareness that she didn’t really achieve success. In the history of film and literature, it’s usually men who go out into the world and act with a certain ruthlessness in fulfilling their longings. I was very interested in creating a character of that sort who is a woman; after all, I know women like that, and this behavior is not purely male; the basic idea, the longing, is gender-neutral. But women are usually forced into a role centered on caring and putting their own needs aside. That’s why it was important for me that this character be played by a woman, even though that brought certain ‘plot-logistical’ difficulties.”

Evi Romen