A Bavarian family history became a nationwide documentary success in 2020. In “Walchensee Forever” director Janna Ji Wonders tells of the women in her family, the search for freedom and the connection to the Walchensee as a place of refuge.
Kochel am See– Seestrasse 1 on the Walchensee. An old house with the Bucherer café, right on the water. From the outside everything looks idyllic, almost as if it were painted. The story of the family, who has lived in the house for five generations, was made into a film by Janna Ji Wonders, daughter of the fourth generation. Her documentary "Walchensee Forever" was already recorded at the Berlinale 2020 with the Bavarian Film Award in the category Best Documentary. At the moment the director's work can still be seen at the DOK.Fest, which is taking place digitally because of Corona. In an interview with the Tölzer Kurier, Wonders tells of the extraordinary life of the women in her family, which she artistically modeled to be a film success.
Ms. Wonders, congratulations on your success. How did you get the idea of portraying your family's life in a film?
I actually started the film when I was a kid. Only I didn't know that at the time. My mother had a camera and used to film me a lot. I saw it as a game, grabbed the camera and interviewed my mother and grandmother.
The film runs until May 24th at the digital DOK.Fest
That was a few years ago. What happened then?
I studied at the Munich University of Film and Television. My first film "Waiting for Summer" was a short portrait about my grandma. I captured her life at Walchensee in meditative black and white pictures.
And from this “student film” did “Walchensee Forever” emerge?
I was only ready to really make the whole film after I graduated. The initial spark was that I won an award for the treatment at the Berlinale 2016. Then I finally wanted to develop the film further. My grandma was 104 years old at the time. I knew: "If I don't do it now, then never." The time of filming was also her last summer. She died two days before her 105th birthday.
What inspired you so much about your family life?
The film plot started 100 years ago. There was also a lot of archive material from the women in my family. The connection between mothers and daughters has shaped me very much in my life. We have this bond, even though everyone went different ways. The Walchensee was and still is a refuge for us, which is a shelter and prison for the women of my family at the same time, which keeps driving them away and magnetically withdrawing them.
What do you mean exactly?
My great-grandmother was the one who discovered the Walchensee for himself. It was the only place where she found comfort after her little daughter died of the Spanish flu in 1918. My grandmother, the remaining daughter, has spent her whole life at the lake. Her roots were the opposite of my mother's restlessness, who wanted to discover the wider world as a musician. After taking care of my grandmother, she was forced to settle down again.
Walchensee as a shelter and a prison at the same time
You only speak of women in your family. Didn't men matter?
But. But the focus of this film is on the women who turned the café into a small matriarchy in almost 100 years. I mainly focus on the perspective of women, each of whom defies the patriarchal structures of their time in their own way.
The film shows the controversy between village life and the outbreak ....
My mother traveled the world a lot in her search, always with me in tow. I was born in California, my father is an American hippie. When we came back to Bavaria, we first lived in Munich. My mother was one of the women around Rainer Langhans.
So you grew up partly in the hippie scene. How did it shape that?
I have positive memories of my childhood. I was given a lot of freedom, was able to try a lot, always found understanding and was supported in my creativity. It also shaped me in that the adults were role models for a more conscious lifestyle.
What freedoms, for example?
When I was 17, I moved to a squat in Berlin as a punk. I also did my Abitur there.
Janna Ji Wonder's mother Anna Werner was one of the women around Rainer Langhans
They show many private scenes in the film. How did you manage the balancing act between art and privacy?
We have always been creative. Be it photography, filming, writing, music. And there was never a separation between art and the private. With all my personal involvement, it was a great challenge to tell the story in a way that gave it a more personal meaning.
What message do you want to convey with "Walchensee Forever"?
I tried to tell a universal story in the hope that people could find themselves in it. A lot is about finding a home. My mother says in the film: “Home is in the heart. If you look at the world with your heart's eye, then the world is also home. ”
What's next now?
"Walchensee Forever" will be released in cinemas across Germany. Exactly because of Corona is not yet certain. I myself would like to turn to new projects. This time it should be a feature film.
Also read:
Film "Walchensee Forever at Berlinale"
Janna Ji Wonders grandmother Norma Werne celebrated her 100th birthday at Lake Walchensee
Ottfried Fischer on the 25th anniversary of "Bulle von Tölz"