To celebrate the upcoming edition of Womenize! Games & Film in Cologne, Womenize! Wednesday Weekly will not only feature inspirational women from games and tech, but also film in our WWW –  Games and Film Special! For this edition, we talked to Cornelia Köhler, board member of WIFT Germany, who has supported us a lot in preparation for Friday’s event! Thank you so much, Cornelia! Read more about her in this interview:

Hello Cornelia! You are a freelance dramatic advisor, author of a DVD series about German literary history as well as the vice-chairwoman of the ‘’Women in Film and Television Germany’’. You’ve started out your journey in the media industry in 2000, what was your personal motivation to get into the industry?

I studied German Literature, History and Speech Communication and afterwards worked as a freelance coach for rhetoric and presentation technique. After about 15 years of coaching I decided to change my job: No more teaching but making films. I really like entertainment and I am convinced that well done movies can entertain perfectly, make people laugh (I started my career as a sitcom producer), feel and also learn and think. You see – there is still a teacher in me.

Since 2007 you are writing and directing the DVD-series ‘’Deutsch Interaktiv’’, a film series intended for the use during German lessons at school. Could you tell us a bit about your work process, what goes into the creation of an episode?

I love literature and I like movies – so this work is a perfect combination for me. I made 13 DVDs about German and German-speaking writers from the 17. till the 20. century, whose plays, novels and poems are still read in school. I really like to make people curious about literature and I try to make clear, how modern and up to date some pieces still are. I very much appreciate the close collaboration with several theatres in germany, which allowed us to film their shows and made it possible to talk with actors and actresses, directors, costume designers and stage designers. One of my favourite pieces in the series is the film about Johann Wolfgang Goethes „Faust“ in Stuttgart. We could film the development of the show from the very first rehearsal till the opening night. I really hope, that I can inspire the school kids to go to the theatre and to read novels and poems

With WIFT Germany you provide a network that aims to connect all of the women in the media industry while also fighting for equality. What steps should you take when realizing that you are a victim of inequality?

You should talk about it and you should never blame yourself! It is important to build networks to discuss about and to fight against gender inequality in the media business, which includes film, tv and also games. Networking makes you strong and gives you the opportunity to work together, to recommend each other for jobs, to share knowledge, experiences and contacts.

I am a board member of WIFT Germany since 9 years and I am convinced of the power of networking. But we also need specific numbers about women in the media industry. Since two years we have these numbers about women before and behind the camera, you can read more about them here, here and here. Now everybody knows the facts. Lets go and change the industry.

Thank you for your time Cornelia!

Cornelia’s Links:

WIFT Germany Website: https://wiftg.de/
DVD Series: https://www.dokumentarfilm.com/deutsch-interaktiv/
Cornelia‘s Agency: https://www.charactors.de/regisseure-u-a/cornelia-koehler/

WWW Feature by Anne Zarnecke