Johannes Jöcker: Interview
by Becky Tan

Johannes Jöcker was a member of the festival press department, where he interacted with press, television, actors and communications. This included writing and researching texts/photos for the festival magazine published under Hamburg Pur. The job was part of a three-month festival internship program and it’s not surprising that he was chosen from many applicants, considering his multiple majors around the subjects of culture, music, and language at the University of Hamburg. He had never worked with film before, but was always interested, having worked in a videothek. He thinks nothing of dropping into a cinema all alone for an interesting film. Most team members were women – no problem for Johannes who grew up with three sisters in Bleckede near Lüneburg. He spent a university semester in Spanish Murcia, where he lived with international students from France, Germany, Spain and Great Britain, a real-live version of the film L’Auberge Espagnole. He also spent two months in France. Johannes said, “Teamwork is extremely important during the festival because you never know which problems will arise. The night of the opening I walked three kilometres to my apartment in the pouring rain because all public transportation had discontinued for the night. I was soaked. However, each day as the festival progressed and finally drew to a close, the work became easier and more relaxed. It is a wonderful experience for a semester break. Now I’ll return to the university to finish my degree. Who knows: maybe there will be film in my future.”