The Precise Look

With sharp bounded blue eyes Germany's well known editor Dirk Grau gazes at me. The tall man seems very relaxed while I am interviewing him. To stand in the center of attention doesn't seem to bother him at all. Odd because normally he sits in dark rooms for weeks, going through film footage with directors, assembling scenes. Supposably a lonesome and quiet life. But Grau never really wished to be an editor, it kind of happened accidentally. While editing his own short movies he simply learned by doing, he never went to any film school. That' s maybe the reason why his way of editing is unconventional, even though he denies to have a personal style of cutting: "That always depends on the project.", he straightens out.

"A good cut itself stays invisible", Grau combines. The editor who goes to the movies at least twice a week likes especially those in which he remarks nothing but the story. "The moment I ask myself why they edited it that way, used a tracking shot or if the light is to bright, I realise I am not captured."

Editing cheesy TV series as well as independent movies he has a big variety in his projects. "Sometimes you choose movies only to earn some money." Not because of financial but quality orientated reasons he decided to cut his latest flic "Knallhart" (“Tough Enough“) by director Detlev Buck. Grau almost stayed unsatisfied: "In the very beginning there was something wrong and I struggled long with telling what exactly it was." 20 short seconds made the difference in the end. "That's what easily happens, that you get too close to your movie. You simply forget whether certain information have already been given, if people have already been introduced". Then he adds: "It's essential not to be too much in love with your own labour. You should be able to erase a hourlong work for a good result. In the ends it's only the movie that counts." Which other qualities should a good editor have, except for being unselfish, I ask Grau. "He or she should be a good dancer", the ambitious editor replies. Because following Dirk Grau it's always about the right rhythm. No wonder that his most successful project so far is called "Rhythm is it!". For his work in the German documentary by Thomas Grube and Enrique Sanchez he even received a German Film Award in 2005.

The constant will to keep learning from other directors and editors, his focused look and light hearted style make Dirk Grau one of Germany’s most talented and creative editor.

Anne von der Goenne

© Berlinale Talent Campus 2006