Snowflake is a twisted meta-narrative movie in which an amateur dentist screenwriter finds his own characters pressuring him to change the outcome in his script that features hitmen, angels, superheroes, and fascists fighting it out in a dystopian future Germany. In his review of the film, Giles Edwards raved, “Using a bold style while slavishly following scripted narrative logic, [director] Kolmerer continued to amaze me at every twist and turn.” Snowflake director Adolfo J. Kolmerer was kind enough to answer a few questions submitted by 366 Weird Movies staff via email.

366: William James is credited as “guest director” (“gast-regie”). What was his role in the production?

AK: William James is not only the guest director, he is one of the editors and the creator of Hyper Electro Man[efn_note]The surperhero character in the film.[/efn_note]. William is one of my closest friends and collaborators, we have been working together for a long time.  He wanted to do Hyper Electro Man as a short film and direct it. We decided to put the storyline in the film and I asked him to direct it.

366: Snowflake was made independently on a very low budget— how did you convince so many people to work without immediate pay?

AK: I think we convinced them with the crazy ideas the script was offering. I promised them that I would finish the film, that it will remarkable and different.  It was a lot of energy that we invested into convincing people to help us not only the ones in front of the camera, I’m happy that at the end everyone is happy with the result and they are proud of being part of this unique and mostly wild ride.

366: Did your previous work in making commercials influence Snowflake? Commercial directors are often obliged to make a small budget look big.

AK: Well, what we spent in Snowflake is a quarter of the budget of a normal commercial, but yes, that’s something important that I learned while doing commercials, which is to find a way, always! To work under massive pressure and stay focused.  Of course shooting a film is a different job but I think it helps a lot to have experience in both.

366: With so many characters, who do you see as the primary protagonist of the story (if there is one)?

AK: I developed a different kind of love for everyone, but the primary are TAN, JAVID, ELIANA and CARSON.

366: Is Hauke (synonym for “warrior”) Winter based on anyone in particular, or just representative of the rising fringe in German politics?

AK: Hauke is based in Populism, the men of power that disguise themselves as victims of the system to get to power (Left and Right wing). It is very sad to see what is happening in the world right now. No continent is safe from their own Hauke.

366: Did you know screenwriter Arend Remmers before beginning this project? How did the script come to you?

AK:  I was involved on the project since the beginning, the writer Arend Remmers is one of my best friends. Snowflake was born out of frustration because of failed past projects, that never got done because of financing and producers trying to make our stories more conventional, so Arend and I decided to do a bonkers film and break the rules, but only under one condition: we have to do it ourselves together with our friends, so we don’t have to compromise, that meant no fancy production companies or any budget. We have known each other for 8 years now, we worked together in many small projects before Snowflake. Now Arend is one of the most brilliant writers in Germany, he is not afraid of breaking rules and changing the form, which I love. I am like that too, so we work together very well! We are like brothers, we respect each other’s opinions and share the same film DNA.

366: Why was “dentist” the day job for the in-movie screenwriter?

AK: Because a friend of ours is a dentist and said “you can shoot here.” Everything in the movie is based on Robert Rodriguez’s rule: Use what you have 🙂

366: How did you go about casting someone to portray a character with the real name of the actual screenwriter?

AK: Alexander Schubert, who plays Arend Remmers, is a friend of ours. I remember we pitched him his character and what he does and he was very excited. When we told him that his name is Arend he went crazy and started laughing. He took the job on the spot, ha ha.

366: Did you consider a cameo role for the real Arend Remmers?

AK: No, ha ha, my Arend is too shy, it would give me a headache to direct him.