Anna Schudt as a threatened local politician: “We definitely have to make films like this!”

In the ZDF drama “The Mayor” Anna Schudt plays a local mayor in whose small community accommodation for refugees is to be built. The right, on the other hand, is mobilizing – and has chosen the politician as a target. Unfortunately anything but purely fictional material.

The murder of the Kassel District President Walter Lübcke by a right-wing criminal or torchlight marches by Corona measures opponents to the private home of the Saxon Minister of Health: Violence and intimidation of politicians – often at the local level – are becoming increasingly widespread in Germany. Statistically, more than every second official in local politics has already experienced violence. In the ZDF drama “The Mayor” (Monday, October 24, 8:15 p.m.), Anna Schudt plays the honorary mayor of a fictional small community that is the focus of the right-wing scene. A conversation about the reasons for the hatred in our society and about how Anna Schudt would like to live on as an actress without her “office” as a “crime scene” commissioner in Dortmund.

teleschau: Is the film “The Mayoress” based on a specific case?

Anna Schudt: No, the screenplay is a bundling of stories. But that is not so relevant, because more than half of all local politicians have already had such experiences with threats or violence. The stylistic devices of this threat are always similar. The mayor of Tröglitz in Saxony-Anhalt wrote a book about it. He resigned in 2015 because he felt threatened by the NPD.

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teleschau: Have you read the book?

Anna Schudt: Yes, I read it. As I said, it wasn’t a direct template for the film. It is a very personal description, which is of course also highly political in the end. The book helped me to put myself in the emotional world of the mayor.

“We now have a problem with community itself”
teleschau: How could it happen that we in Germany no longer talk to each other or argue fairly, but public figures are threatened so often?

Anna Schudt: I think we now have a problem with community itself. Local politics reflects how our society works or should work in smaller groups. Everyone should contribute a little to the community and an elected representative or committee determines. That is the idea of ​​democracy. What we find today, however, is thinking in terms of “they” and “we”. Then it doesn’t work anymore.

teleschau: What can you do about it?

Anna Schudt: We always have to talk to each other directly on site. There is no point in launching general calls or condemning violence. That’s true, but it’s of little use. The dialogue is always the most important. It’s about communication and working together. Man is capable of this, we are capable of this as a society – we have already proven all that. We just have to start having compassion for others again. At the moment that’s not enough. It looks a bit bleak at the moment, I can’t put it any other way. But I’m not a person who feels comfortable as a naysayer.

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teleschau: In the film, the social media clearly contribute to the hate speech against the mayor. What came first: hatred in society or social media?

Anna Schudt: I would say that the so-called social media behave like a megaphone. They amplify and spread hate signals, but they are not the source of that feeling.

teleschau: The film doesn’t stop at virtual threats. There is a “walk” to the mayor’s private house, which is reminiscent of the torch march to the house of the Saxon Minister of Health as part of the Corona measures protests…

Anna Schudt: Yes, you can see in the film and in reality how virtual space and direct confrontation reinforce each other. The result is personal tragedy. For the mayor, her family, democracy. Who wants to get involved in the community when such a life is the result? I think what the film shows well is that there are always individual fates behind these stories. It’s the same with the refugees, hardly anyone sees that. We like to discuss the big picture and forget how these things feel for the individual.

“This is how society breaks down”
teleschau: You talk about communication and compassion. The rights in the film but do not want any exchange. Their aim is to destroy the dialogue…

“2022 is therefore a year of transition for me”
teleschau: Another topic: your exit from the Dortmund “crime scene” shocked many people. Above all, of course, because nobody in the film expected your character to die. Are you enjoying your freedom now? Was that what you wished for?

Anna Schudt: I never felt unfree or restricted by the “crime scene”. That sounds too much like imprisonment (laughs). I loved doing these films for ten years and it was always a voluntary, personal choice. It was the same with the exit. In fact, it surprised me how much I was identified with the “Tatort” inspector. 2022 is therefore a year of transition for me. I’m looking forward to being “just” an actress again from now on. One that does very different things.

teleschau: You speak of a year of change. In what ways do you need to reinvent yourself?

Anna Schudt: It’s a continuity that’s gone. I lost a film family. It was a great cohesion of people who created many films together. This is a very emotional matter in our industry. In this respect, a phase of life comes to an end. I only see my people at the Dortmund “crime scene” privately or in other professional contexts. That’s very different. It feels like giving up a permanent job and exposing yourself to freelancing (laughs).

teleschau: The next “crime scene” in Dortmund is the screenplay debut of your long-term partner Jörg Hartmann, with whom you shared a tender but great love story in the role. Will you watch the film beforehand – or do you have to watch it like every other normal on TV?

Anna Schudt: I do believe that my contacts are still sufficient for me to be able to see the film beforehand. In any case, I’m very excited to see how things will continue without me. I’ll probably watch it all the time waiting for myself to come around the corner (laughs).