“The quality of German television is so high that you can screen it in a cinema and it looks great”: Rainer Lipski and Jan Kruse on Der Tatort – Colonius at Mallorca Film Festival 2024

A standout instalment of the Tatort (Crime Scene), the beloved German police procedural series that has been on air since 1970, Colonius blends nostalgia with suspense to keep audiences at the edge of their seats. Directed by Charlotte Rolfe, with Rainer Lipski behind the camera as cinematographer and Jan Kruse as producer, the 90-minute episode shifts between the past and the present as the mysterious death of a photographer is traced to her past in Cologne’s vibrant 90s techno scene.

Following the screening of Der Tatort: Colonius at the 2024 Mallorca Evolution Film Festival, The Upcoming caught up with Lipski and Kruse for a wide-ranging discussion. The pair delved into a variety of topics, including the challenge of filming atop a free-standing television tower, the recreation of Germany’s 90s techno scene, the unexpected presence of Evolution Cinematography Icon Award winner Anthony Dod Mantle in the audience, and the growing presence of feature-length television productions in film festivals.

Would you like to start by sharing what your episode is about and what people can expect when they watch Der Tatort: Colonius? 

Kruse: So we made a film centred around a radio station, with a story that spans over 30 years from when a group of people were young and had parties there. The party ended 30 years ago – but something big has remained hidden. It comes back in their life, and they have to deal with it. It’s about a woman who was missing for 30 years and everybody thought that perhaps she was in the Caribbean or Hawaii, but perhaps there was something much bigger behind her disappearance. 

And what made you want to work on this television series? 

Lipski: For me – it’s Germany’s most popular programme, I think it’s like soccer games from the national team. Tatort has almost the same viewership, the same amount of people as soccer – it’s super popular. And since I have just shot films for the last 15 years in the United States, I thought it would be nice to work on my first project back in Europe on something that is super popular. So I was very happy to do this.

So what were some of the challenges you faced during the making the episode? 

Kruse: First of all, Colonius is not a “normal” film that takes place in houses or on the street. It takes place in this radio tower. So it was very hard to get all the team – 50 people – every morning up there, up 266 stairs. It was by elevator but it took time for the shooting, and then bringing them down with all the clouds and sunshine. 

Lipski: Of course, you can’t really control anything. We were shooting on the top of a TV tower on the rooftop and we didn’t really have the capacity to move the schedule around to fit the weather, so we just had to cross our fingers and hope that it wouldn’t be windy. And it was windy, but not so windy that we were not allowed to work. But hey – there was just a single elevator leading up to like all the way up to the tower, so if that would have gotten stuck or something, the whole production would have come to a halt. So I think that was a big challenge, and also to shuttle the gear up and so on. But yeah, it was a very, very unique location. 

And as both of you have experience in television and film, how do you feel about the growing inclusion of television in film festivals?

Lipski: I think it’s good to combine television and film at festivals because, for the audience, it’s interesting to see a film or TV series on a big screen and have contact with the people who do it, because most of them work on both TV and film. And there is no border between these two things – I think it sticks together, and the quality of German television is so high that you can screen it in a cinema and it looks great. 

And moving back to the episode, what was your main focus when recreating the visuals of Cologne’s 90s techno scene? 

Lipski: It was like we had some footage from back in the day, which is like old video footage on how the parties looked like, and we tried to be kind of as realistic of how it was back in the day. It was just in the transition phase, so it was a lot about the wardrobe and the production design. There wasn’t like the neon colours and the wardrobe – that would happen like a few years later. So yeah, we paid some attention to those details. 

And did you have any specific influences, people, artists, musicians or other films that influenced the visuals for the 90s techno scenes? 

Lipski: Personally, I had a lot. I liked the photographs of Wolfgang Tillmans, for example, who took amazing photos of the Love Parade and, and some in Cologne. I liked his compositions and some of the colouring, and I was also inspired by some films and gave it a little California touch – so those were some of the visual references I have had. 

How does it feel to be here at Evolution Mallorca 2024, and how important do you believe festivals like this are for the industry?

Kruse: It’s the first time I’m here, so I can’t tell you a lot about this festival, but I will find out tomorrow. 

Lipski: And I’m super happy that we have a screening. I’m the cinematographer of this film, and we actually have one of the biggest cinematography icons in the world coming to the screenings. And I think that’s an amazing thing about the festival, or festivals in general, that you make such amazing contacts. And I think what’s so unique about this festival is that the Cinematography Icon Award winner goes to screenings to see what his peers are doing. It’s amazing, I love it. 

Finally, which other works from the festival’s lineup are you most looking forward to?

Lipski: I loved seeing the opening night film, Alonso Ruizpalacios’s La Cocina, in a beautiful theatre. I’m not that focused on the films, but I’m super excited about the amazing people that are at the festival, and to network with them and meet them and make friendships that hopefully last a lifetime. So that is my focus on the festival. 

Kruse: And as for me, I’m only going to be on the island for 24 hours. Next year, I will come back and stay for a whole week, and I’m looking forward to that.

Lipski: We will put him on panels next year.

Christina Yang

Der Tatort: Colonius does not have a release date yet.