How did you become a film director?
Well, I hope I will become a filmmaker one day. Making films to me means to argue with myself a lot. It´s not easy. 

Did you make other films?
"One Room Man-Kevin Coyne" is my second film. Before, I did one short 16mm-documentary called "Korbinian von Thann im Wald" (Korbinian of Thann in the Woods) about a very old Bavarian who spends his days in the forest. He already made his coffin and his philosophy was that "life is meaningless but interesting".  In the moment I am shooting my third documentary (for Bavarian Television). It´s some kind of nature-film about the last old farmers on an Croatian Island. When they are gone, nature will take over.

Did you do other "One Room Man" type films? Do you intent to do some with other people?
I would like to do more portraits of all kind of artists. Painter, musicians  or poets. But I am also very interested in nature.I would love to make a film about insects. But the "One Room Man" concept was puzzled out for Kevin Coyne. Every film needs it´s own personal touch.

How did you know Kevin Coyne's music?
I was 15 years old when I went to my first Kevin Coyne concert. He did a song called "Lunatic" and from that moment I was a fan. Kevin Coyne wrote the hymns of my teenage years. Today I think that Kevin Coyne is unique as an artist. His music definitely influenced my life.

Why did you choose him for your film?
Because he is a great artist. But I did not choose him: he was the only one that I had in mind for such kind of project. It´s great that he engaged in this experimental way of making a film.

Was his reputation of improviser, both live or in the studio, a reason for choosing him?
I think that Kevin Coyne is a great performer and improviser. To see Kevin Coyne´s performance during the shooting of "One Room Man-Kevin Coyne" has been a great experience for me and the team (Maximilian Plettau; Camera, Knut Karger; Sound). We where witness of a original creative process. It was amazing. The reason is him: Kevin Coyne!

How did you convince him? What was your "script"?
The idea was to built an abstract place in which Kevin Coyne is free to do whatever he wants to do. I wasn´t interested in a normal documentary with interviews and a off- voice comment and archive material. I wanted the audience to take part in a true moment, a real improvisation.

Did you know Kevin Coyne had directed a few films back in the early 70s? Did you talk about that with him?
I didn´t know that he also directed films. But I think I saw nearly all the documentaries, films and concerts with him. And we talked about the attitude a filmmaker should have.

Practically, how did it work? Did you use video or film? How many hours did you shoot? How many cameras? Did the cameras move? Did you sometimes stop shooting?
The film was shot during one night. We had two professional MiniDVcameras and they were rolling throughout the whole session without stop. One camera was installed and shot always the whole room. Maximilan Plettau shot with the second camera on a tripot and he followed Kevin Coyne. We never stopped (except for changing batteries and cassettes) because I didn´t wanted to stop the artist performance. It would have been too expensive to shoot the film on 16mm but we took a lot of pain in the postproduction (colourmatching, filmlook etc.) and I got a 35mm print for the cinema and festival screenings. It has been very important for me to create a special black and white look.

Were there any rehearsals?
Of course not, Kevin Coyne is unique. He doesn´t need a rehearsal.

Did you give him any guidelines? Did you "direct" him?
Not really. Sometimes I threw into the scenery some stimulating words (like 'darkness') on which he could react or not.  And I asked Kevin Coyne to create silent moments. It´s good for the rythmn of a film.

I suppose you have many footage that were not used ? Do you intend to do something with those ?
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I suppose everyone has a particular personal image of a public person like Kevin Coyne. How did shooting that film change that image for you? Or, in a word: do you see him differently now?
I repeat myself but he is a great artist. And I love his music. He  is a very reflected and interesting personage. A real artist. My respect and my opinion about him grew. My life became richer when I met him.

Since this is some kind of improvisation movie, were you satisfied with the shooting? Did you, at one point, think: "Oh my God, this will never work!"?
When Kevin Coyne entered the scenery ,"the stage", I thought to myself "Oh my God, it works!"

Did you do much editing?
The editing has been a real challenge for me and Knut Karger (editor). We broke all rules of the film montage (like the-never-jump-back-in-the-same-position rule) and that was real hard work and real fun at the same time. But it worked! All in all it took some month for completing the montage.

How did Coyne react to the film?
He likes the film!

Did he attend some screening and meet the audience?
Unfortunately not. But I am sure we can manage that in the future. The 35mm print will be screened on international film festivals until November. I hope it will work until then.

When you show the movie over the world, do people know Coyne?
People know Kevin Coyne everywhere. 

If not, how do they react?
They are very interested in his personage and in his music. If they don´t know him, they want to know more. Kevin Coyne even got mails from Ankara! They are impressed by his intimate performance. They feel like having seen a true statement of a great artist. Until today I haven´t had any negative reactions on Kevin Coyne or the film by the audience. The Russians honoured the film with the silver Centaur.

A French verision of this interview was made in June 2010 for the Festival "Filmer la Musique" in Paris, which showed the film, introduced by Pascal Regis .