Sebastien Schipper

film director, berlin

interview by SVEN SCHUMANN
portrait by MAXIME BALLESTEROS

Sebastien Schipper

After Victoria premiered at the 2015 Berlinale, suddenly no other film in the festival seemed to matter. Shot in Berlin, in one 138-minute take, the film tells the story of a Spanish girl who joins a group of men for an after-party drink that unexpectedly turns into an intense adventure — including a bank robbery. It may sound gimmicky, but Victoria is a rare film that succeeds in taking the viewer on a wild ride, not as a spectator but as part of the gang. Director Sebastian Schipper has created the best German film of the last decade.

SVEN SCHUMANN — What would you have thought if someone pitched you the idea for Victoria, a film shot in one take and involving a bank robbery?

SEBASTIAN SCHIPPER — It sounds awful! It sounds…