A student at Filmacademy Vienna, Austrian born director Mathias Seebacher has made Home Is Where The Scars Are From a short film which will be part of European Film Promotion’s Future Frames, which will take place as part of the 55^th edition of Karlovy Vary.

The film follows Andi who lives in a deserted Vienna building with a group of fellow squatters. When his sister turns up with her son Levi, both on the run from her abusive partner, Andi begins to play the role of doting uncle. As Levi begins to adapt to a new atmosphere of freedom, the adults get used to a new dynamic as they reflect upon their personal lives and political beliefs. Home Is Where The Scars Are From is an intense and engaging drama which manages to balance personal stories with a politically charged undercurrent.

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Seebacher chats more about this undercurrent as well as more practical considerations about making the film.

Cineuropa: Where did the idea for the film first come from?
Mathias Seebacher: The idea came as I saw a short video of a group of squatters in London (who call themselves “ANAL” - Autonomous Nation of Anarchists and Libertarians) who specialize in occupying very expensive and prestigious houses in and around London. The main character in that video fascinated me because he seemed very eloquent, intelligent and had a great sense of humour. Also they offer these squats as a home for refugees and the weakest in our society such as (former) drug addicts and homeless people.

Where did you find the location?
We had an old school building on the outskirts of Vienna, which had all the signs (graffiti, etc) of being a squat. But two weeks prior to shooting the private owner - a big real estate owner - denied us the right to shoot there, even though we had consent at first. So we had to scout locations again (in total for more than a year). We were lucky to find a former hospital administrative building that granted us the right to shoot and to spray all over the walls. To quote the former hospital manager, after we asked several times if it would be OK to spray graffiti all over: “Sure, no problem, at least we have nice decoration for our Christmas party!”

Tell me about the casting of the character of young Levi as working with a child can have its challenges.
I was really lucky. Levi is the son of Andi Winter, who plays the lead. They have a really interesting relationship in real life. For me since they often seem to be not only father and son but are also like friends. That struck me in a very positive way but also had its difficulties since it would be hard for Levi (who was 4 at the time of shooting) to act as if he didn`t know Andi that well. We have dozens of outtakes where he calls him “Dad”. For Andi, it was especially challenging since he had to act or prepare himself and had to care for Levi as well.

While it’s a personal story, with a family dealing with grief and loss, there’s also a political aspect to the film.
At first, after watching the aforementioned video about squatters in London, the political aspect of the matter was the most important one to me. Also after researching the squats and evictions in Vienna and other places, that seemed to be the main focus for me. That changed continuously as I started to develop the characters and their internal lives. I began to gain interest in who lives in these buildings and why, rather than to make a big political statement, although that has to resonate in a film about squatters.

What are you working on next?
I was working before on the feature version of the same title. Actually I adapted the long version into a short film since I had to make one for my degree at Filmacademy Vienna. I would like to work on the long version again. Also I am planning to do a documentary about nomads. But I don`t know where that is going yet.