“A Feeling of Fear and Sadness and Mystery” | Tilman Singer, Cuckoo
Starring Hunter Schafer, Jessica Henwick, and Dan Stevens, Tilman Singer’s Cuckoo screens at the Chicago Critics Film Festival as part of our opening-night slate.
Screening Friday, May 3, at 9:30 p.m. at the Music Box (get tickets here), the Luz filmmaker’s buzzy, surreal horror-thriller was recently the opening-night title at the Overlook Film Festival.
Reluctantly, 17-year-old Gretchen (Schafer) leaves her American home to live with her father (Márton Csókás), who has just moved into a resort in the German Alps with his new family. Arriving at their future residence, they are greeted by Mr. König (Stevens), her father's boss, who takes an inexplicable interest in Gretchen's mute half-sister Alma (Mila Lieu). Something doesn't seem right in this tranquil vacation paradise. Gretchen is plagued by strange noises and bloody visions until she discovers a shocking secret that also concerns her own family.
Ahead of Cuckoo screening at the Chicago Critics Film Festival, Singer graciously took the time to answer this year’s CCFF filmmaker questionnaire. Below, his individual responses.
How did you first become interested in filmmaking? What was your path toward directing your first film?
When I went to art school, I had previously done acting, stop-motion animation, and some other video animation. I was interested in photography—which I still am—but, above all, I became interested in shooting movies, because it combined everything I did before. They had this early semester class for everyone, where students would shoot short shorts and switch positions on a small set. That’s where I learned how shooting a film works and where I realized that I’m good at this.
What inspired you to make the film you're bringing to the festival?
A feeling of fear and sadness and mystery, from the way cuckoo birds breed and the German Alps.
Tell us about a film that you consider a guiding influence (whether it has informed your overarching vision as a filmmaker, directly informed the title you're bringing to the festival, or both).
I couldn't decide.
Tell us about a location that's held significance to the film you're bringing to the festival: a setting where filming took place, a geographic area that provided a source of inspiration, or another type of space that comes to mind for you in thinking about the film. What made this place so special?
Richard Neutra, an incredible architect, built one of our houses. You'll see many people behind glass, in glass houses and glass boxes. Another location is an old British Air Force Army base—an abandoned small town, basically. It had been abandoned over a decade ago. That’s where we shot most of the movie.
The theatrical experience brings us together to celebrate artistic experience and expand our horizons as human beings. Tell us about a memorable theatrical experience from your life.
Again, hard to decide. But, recently, I was glad Dan Stevens convinced me to come watch Cuckoo with him at SXSW. I will never forget how fun that was.
Cuckoo screens Friday, May 3, at 9;30 p.m, as part of the Chicago Critics Film Festival (May 3–9, at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago). Get your tickets now.