Writer-director Romina Küper and producer Katharina Mumper join us to discuss their short film: THIS IS NOT A CHARACTER, THIS IS BETRAYAL, made by the German duo during their time at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and selected for the 2025 T-Port Lighthouse by guest curator Kasia Karwan.
The film takes inspiration from the book RETOUR À REIMS by Didier Eribon and explores classism, transclassism, and shame through the story of a son navigating two worlds. In this interview, the pair reflect on their filmmaking journey, what happens when you watch MULHOLLAND DRIVE at age 12, the challenges of low-budget production, and their vision for a cinema that resists elitism and embraces authenticity.
Hi Romina (RK) and Katharina (KM), tell us about yourselves and your journey into filmmaking
RM: I’m 33 years old and come from the west of Germany, Ruhr Area. My mum is a hairdresser so I spent a lot of my childhood in her studio talking and observing her clients. I think this is why storytelling feels so natural to me. Right now I live in Berlin.
KM: I was born in 1999 and grew up in Lohmar, a town in the Rhineland as a daughter from a Brazilian mom and a Banat Swabian dad from Romania. During my childhood, I spent a lot of time in Brazil and was raised multilingual. That influence still plays a role in my work today. For my film production studies I moved to Ludwigsburg, a small town in Baden-Württemberg where I currently live.
The important questions first – if you could watch one film forever on a loop – what would it be?
RK: Maybe MULHOLLAND DRIVE or TITANIC… MULHOLLAND DRIVE because I watched it with my best friend when I was 12 as a test of courage. It was so creepy for us back then. I love challenging myself. TITANIC because it reminds me of my grandfather, who bought the VHS in Berlin, and I was allowed to watch it when I was 6. I watched it every time I was at my grandparents’ house.
KM: BACURAU by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles. The strong sense of community in the village as they come together to fight against the oppression of Udo Kier’s character and his followers is fantastic. The film is so brutal and poetic. Truly a masterpiece of resistance!
How many films have you made before this one, and what did each new film teach you?
RK: Before this, I made one experimental film (PÜPPI) and one narrative film (FRAGMENTS OF A YOUNG WOMAN). My latest film, THIS IS NOT A CHARACTER, THIS IS BETRAYAL, made during film school, took on a more classic form, but I’m currently exploring a class-sensitive and resistant aesthetic. One that embraces fragmentation and rupture. With my first feature, I want to find a visually unique cinematic language, that is more alive, more radical.
Do you affiliate yourself with any cinematic or artistic movements, or see yourself as fitting in with any? If so, could you tell us about this?
RK: I don’t put myself in a box. that’s for other people to do. I just know I really like Radu Jude, Maren Ade, and Éric Rohmer.
How did you first start working on THIS ISN’T CHARACTER, IT’S BETRAYAL? What was the process like and what first sparked the idea to make it?
RK: I read the book RETOUR À REIMS by Didier Eribon, which explores the sociological dynamics of navigating between classes. I felt seen like never before and immediately wanted to work on a film about transclassism and shame.
Personal feelings related to my own history and the structural issues of classism came together, and I started working. It also raised questions about hierarchy and the narrator’s perspective. There’s this strange feeling of having to sell out and betray your own story and background in order to be part of the establishment. The fetishization of the working class.
What would you like people to take away from your film?
We hope the audience becomes more sensitive toward classism and the complexity of identity through the perspective of the son caught between two worlds, who betrays his mother in an attempt to fit into bourgeois society. We hope the audience can feel the son’s double shame: the shame for where he comes from, and the sense of never truly belonging to where he’s trying to go.
We hope that after watching the film, people ask themselves: Where do I come from? Where do I want to go? And what does it truly mean to ‘move up’? Have I already betrayed my origins? And with whom should I truly stand in solidarity?
Once you had the idea – how did you go about the production process?
Since this was a low-budget production, the entire cast and crew worked on a voluntary basis. The camera, lighting, and production departments were mainly students from our university and young film enthusiasts from the local area. For some key positions, we collaborated with external professionals. We were fortunate to have the great Rafael Loß as our set designer and the impressive Eleonore Carrière as our costume designer.
The biggest challenge was finding the right actress for the mother role. We realized that many actresses couldn’t convey the raw humor and authenticity we were looking for. They often didn’t look like people who truly work hard. At one point, Romina even considered casting her own mother, who is a hairdresser. The casting process continued until Romina discovered Sabine Urig in a short film. Sabine had only three lines, but Romina immediately thought, “She is perfect!” After a phone call and a theater visit, Romina was even more impressed. Sabine’s humor was exactly what the film needed. By the way, Sabine Urig also runs her own cabaret show, “Alte Mädchen,” which is highly recommended!
With Sabine on board, our team was complete. It was a perfect mix of emerging filmmakers and established professionals, which created a really magical and inspiring atmosphere on set.
What were the biggest challenges you encountered during making your film?
The biggest challenge was the pressure. Film school is wild. It’s competitive, sometimes toxic, and back then, the energy was filled with envy and bad vibes. Honestly, it shocked us.
But here’s the thing: we learned to trust ourselves, stay open, but also keep our vision clear and focused. To all the fellow young filmmakers out there: stay bold, stick to your vision, and create something that comes straight from your soul. Don’t let competition, hate, or toxic energy mess with your flow. Do what feels real, and hold your ground through the storm.
How was it to collaborate with your cast and crew? Have you formed any particular meaningful connection from someone from the crew you would like to share?
We will be working with some of the cast and crew in a similar constellation for our upcoming feature film, HYPERBABY. It feels amazing to slowly grow into a little film family. Especially our costume designer, Eleonore Carrière, has become such an essential part of our team that we simply cannot imagine working without her, she’s truly the best.
In January 2025, we also shot a small music video together for HOPELESS ROMANTIK by DAS BEAT.
Tell us about the sound choices in your film – what type of score did you use?
RK: I don’t work with traditional film scores. Instead, I use existing music with strong pop-cultural influences. For me, it’s about creating the right mood, not manipulating emotions. I love the realness of acting, and the music should add depth without dictating how the audience should feel. I like an artistic approach in general, which is why I enjoy changing codes, like using classical music for working-class characters to challenge expectations for example.
What was the distribution strategy for your film?
We didn’t wait for the big festivals to pick us. we just wanted the film to be seen. We didn’t want to hold it back or play some kind of elite strategy. So, we submitted it early to a bunch of festivals. And it paid off. The film even made it to TV and is now available for everyone in Germany on ARD Mediathek (until March 2026). For us it was about making the film accessible to real people, not just the film industry.
What did you find (or still find) as especially lacking in the process of distributing and promoting your film? What was especially challenging?
Finding the right festival strategy for our film was quite challenging. But we were fortunate to have Armin Schneider from YTF Berlin on our side, guiding us through the process. Together, we developed an effective strategy and stayed in close contact to discuss next steps. Through this partnership, we really understood just how important the distribution phase is. It’s a game-changer!
What I believe is lacking is early consideration of distribution, especially for short films. There’s barely any funding to support it, and the costs of submitting to festivals and attending them are really high. We think there needs to be a better framework for short films regarding distribution, not just production. Take our film school, for instance: We’re not allowed to calculate distribution costs in the budget, even though they’re a given. In the end, it falls on filmmakers to cover these expenses, which disadvantages filmmakers with less financial backing…
What do feel young film talents lack the most today, after graduating from film school? Where are the gaps in the film industry?
We see that after graduating from film school, fellow filmmakers often struggle because the financial side of the industry favors big commercial projects, leaving independent and arthouse films in a tough spot. Funding for these kinds of films is unstable, and many filmmakers end up taking on side jobs just to stay afloat.
It’s becoming more clear that mixing artistic films with commercial success isn’t impossible, but it needs a lot of persistence, and the courage to take risks. This is where the industry has a huge gap, and it’s something we need to address.
In times of rising neoliberalism, weakening democracies, and growing authoritarianism, independent and arthouse films are so important as they offer fresh perspectives, tell important stories, and spark conversations often ignored by mainstream media, making it more necessary than ever for us to have a system that supports our vision without forcing us to choose between art and survival.
What’s next for you?
We’re currently working on our first feature film HYPERBABY with a team similar to our previous film THIS IS NOT A CHARACTER, THIS IS BETRAYAL. It’s a tragicomedy about class, money, sex, an illegal retirement home and dead grannies in a freezer. It’s a radical, humorous, and heartfelt exploration of responsibility, community, and what truly makes life worth living. We’re currently in advanced script development and securing funding, with plans to shoot in late summer 2026. And we’re thrilled to have Lena Urzendowsky on board as our lead. Exciting times ahead!
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