Character One: Susan

Director’s Note by Tim Lienhard:

“In the early 90s, at the end of the Love Parade. At the time the Love Parade only crossed Ku’damm and ended at Wittenbergplatz. Suddenly, Susan stood before me. A 1.80m tall woman, who was perhaps only 1.75m tall, but seemed larger than life. So much personality, so much glamour, high heels and perfect make-up. It was love at first sight. She claimed that a picture of the both of us had been on the front page of the BZ the day after. Pure cliché: Two celebrating Loveparade people who looked funky and sexy. Then we partied through the 90s. Susan was always high, she tells all this in the film. I was completely abstinent, the counter-programme of Susan and yet a magnificent addition. When I was looking for an assistant for a TV production in Rimini, I hired Susan, because although she was born in Berlin, her father came from near Rimini. The production company fell in love with Susan’s photos and hired her not as an assistant but to be right in front of the camera. Only problem: her hair. The first thing I had to do was take her to Rimini to buy a wig. With this wig she made bella figura at her first and so far only appearance on television.

No question, I was fascinated by Susan’s performance right from the start. Where she was, there was performance. It was not staged, it was always real. And incredibly amusing. Trained in nightlife, with a fascinating language. Great entertainment. So it was only a question of time when I was going to make a film about this great self-performer. Since Susan had literally disappeared for more than a decade, I couldn’t pick up the thread again until around 2015. She was immediately willing to have her portrait taken, loved the camera, especially when cameraman Alexander Schmalz was behind it. And so a film came into being for which shoots were cancelled as often as they had been confirmed, had to be postponed because Susan was indisposed. 

There was always something going on, and it wasn’t easy. But we hung on and we held on. Always with the reward of great, sometimes extremely crass entertainment. Not everything was good for the public. I had a responsibility for Susan. I didn’t want to hurt her. It was a tightrope walk. Apparently it was successful, at least we survived every crash and she was highly satisfied with the result at her first private screening. “Tim, I love you!” she said every five minutes during this first screening, in the company of a few friends.

At the first screening during the Achtung Berlin-film festival, Susan was constantly delivering live commentary. These oscillated between approval and criticism. An adventure called Susan, a journey that I was happy to embark on and which is probably far from over.

Susan is one of the most dazzling personalities I know. Her directness has a power that blows your mind. Susan is truly stunning and if I have succeeded in expressing this in my colourful, authentic portrait, then I have achieved my goal. I worship Susan and my film can certainly be seen as a declaration of love. Perhaps in exactly the same way that life was celebrated at the Love Parade with “Peace, Joy, Pancakes” and lots of drugs, at the abyss of a fire-breathing volcano. In a counter world.”