An Open, Free Approach – A Portrait of casting director Jacqueline Rietz
Casting? Ubiquitous today, this word was still unknown in the German film and television industry when Jacqueline Rietz began her career. For almost 30 years, she has specialised in placing and casting children and young people; something completely new at the time, when there was no established agency and casting scene in Germany. Today, the distinction between casting children and adults is well established – and a German speciality. "Naturally, there are colleagues abroad who focus on young talent," Rietz reports. "But unlike here, they still cast the film in its entirety."
She gained her first experience casting young actors rather by chance, during a semester abroad in London: she had a camera with her, and some film student friends were working on a short – one thing then led to another. However, it was her family who lay behind her actual entry into the profession. Her mother worked in the acting department at Babelsberg Film University, so Rietz was able to watch acting students auditioning from an early age. But it was director Karola Hattop who first recognised her stepdaughter's talent for casting. "She always had a good eye for young talent in her work," Rietz recalls. "She was the one who encouraged me to try my hand at it. She and my father thought I had a nose for it, an interest in people, and in engaging with content."
Although it was others who initially recognised her special intuition, now Rietz is well able to describe what it takes to be a successful casting director over time: "I believe you need a high degree of empathy and sensitivity. But it is also about understanding material and characters, social structures, and historical backgrounds. You need to be able to familiarise yourself with a lot of things quickly." She continues: "Marked curiosity is a trait that helps a lot in this profession. Along with an open, free approach. On the one hand, I need to empathise with the director's vision. But on the other hand, it is up to me to be courageous and contribute my own ideas as well. So being able to communicate successfully in every way is also crucial."
This year, Rietz, who has already worked with Andreas Dresen, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Caroline Link, Julia von Heinz and Burhan Qurbani, among others, was involved in two films, playing a key role in their success by casting the children and youth roles.
Mascha Schilinski's "In die Sonne schauen" ("Sound of Falling"), which won an award in Cannes, was a particular challenge, not least because of the different time periods and the number of roles that required casting. "Although I have a very good overview of the scene, especially when it comes to young people, we opted for an open call," she recounts. "In addition, we didn't commit to anything in advance and always kept all our options open. For example, one of the sisters from the 1910s is played by a young actress who we initially had in mind for the 1980s." However, one role assumed a special significance: "The most important decision was probably the one in favour of Hanna Heckt, who now plays little Alma in 1910. We chose her quite late, which is why we waited a long time with many of the other castings to find the right counterparts. This didn't just affect me, but also Karima El-Giamal, who cast the adult roles – she had to find the perfect mother for this girl."
The situation was different with Fatih Akin's "Amrum;" Rietz was collaborating for a second time with Akin on this project. As with Nora Fingscheidt's "Systemsprenger" ("System Crasher "), for which she discovered Helena Zengel, the aim was to find a child who could take on the leading role and carry the film. "I was looking for someone who would fit into the 1940s and this location. Not too modern a face and someone from northern Germany. Above all, the protagonist is a quiet observer, so we certainly didn't need a child who has been on Hamburg's musical stages for years," Rietz explains. Once again, she succeeded in demonstrating her special talent for seeking and finding people off the beaten track. Because the boy in the film has a special relationship to water, she wrote specifically to sailing clubs. And that is where she found what she was looking for – once again providing German cinema with a remarkable new talent in Jasper Billerbeck.
Author: Patrick Heidmann