A portrait of actor Nicolette Krebitz

“I‘m probably the only actor who hasn’t been in BABYLON BERLIN yet!” Over a cappuccino in Berlin-Mitte, Nicolette Krebitz can’t help laughing when I bring up how long it has taken her to face Tom Tykwer’s camera for the first time.

The two have been friends for over 20 years, both achieving their breakthrough in the late 90s when they made films such as BANDITS and RUN LOLA RUN respectively, giving German cinema something of a younger, wilder side. But THE LIGHT, which will celebrate its world premiere in autumn 2024 and is due for release in German cinemas before Christmas, is the first collaboration between the two as actor and director.

According to the official synopsis, this overdue collaboration is the portrait of a family caught between destruction and new beginnings, dealing with the major issues of our time in a world that is reeling. Alongside Krebitz and Lars Eidinger as parents Milena and Tim, Farrah (Tala al Deen), a refugee from Syria, also plays a key role in the story.

For the Berlin native, who has also recently starred in the series TESTO and films such as RP Kahl’s DIE ERMITTLUNG and HYSTERIA by Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, this work present­ed quite a challenge – and not so much because dancing and singing are also involved in THE LIGHT. “Milena is a working mum of three children and the wife of a successful man. And somewhere along the way she has lost sight of herself. I live a completely different life, so it was hard work for me to make this character my own, to become exactly the person Tom imagined,” Krebitz says.

It is impossible to overhear how special it was working with her director on this project: “Tom already has a totally unique film language. Here, too, you are catapulted into the story with a bang, and incredible things happen. THE LIGHT is a real Tykwer film with all the trimmings, and that makes you realise just how much we’ve missed his films in recent years!”

Incidentally, the actor’s career behind the camera has lasted as long as Krebitz’s and Tykwer‘s friendship, as he took her first, self-produced directorial work JEANS into cinemas with his company X-Filme. To this day, he is often one of the first people to be shown her films. Krebitz does not think back to the late nineties as a time of great acting success so much as a real turning point in her professional career: “It was around then that I realised where my true interest lies: not what other people thought of me, or what dress I wore on the red carpet, but actually making films. That was a time of freedom because finally, I got the chance to do what I had determined I would do.”

Krebitz continues to do her own thing in both professions, even after major festival premieres of her films WILD at Sundance and A E I O U – A QUICK ALPHABET OF LOVE at the Berlinale.

“I love acting, but I also struggle with it quite frequently. I have a very ambivalent relationship with the profession, and whenever I’m in the spotlight too much, my first reflex is to run away,” she admits. “But directing all the time wouldn’t be enough for me, either, even if I feel slightly more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it. My play instinct is too well-developed for that!”

“It‘s probably like an author who writes for the newspapers as well as producing their own books,” she adds by way of explanation. “The process of work is very similar in both cases. But the demands you put on yourself and the time needed are completely different.” Krebitz could tell you a thing or two about the latter: she has just finished her latest screenplay, a fantasy story she has been writing for around seven years – with several interruptions, of course. It may still be a while before it is turned into a film, so we are sure to see her on the big screen once or twice before then. At least as long as something “is ignited”, as she calls it, when she reads offers of roles. “Because if I can’t think of anything in advance to bring a character to life,” she adds as a parting shot, “then I’d rather devote my time to something else.”

Patrick Heidmann