http://www.datonet.at/kanonmedia/sascha_subclip13.mov

We know that a lot of money is in the building business - housing and building business. We have been fighting for ages to get a percentage of money from this business of construction to the arts. We have not received it. We have been discussing this for fifteen or twenty years. No move really was achievable - in Vienna. In one of the provinces we reached but not in Vienna.

http://www.datonet.at/kanonmedia/sascha_subclip12.mov

I also have to say that i think Austria is very famous for a very good public funding situation. I know artists or everybody who applies for funding would always say that it is not enough. This is very logical and natural. To be fair, i have to say we had a very good funding situation for decades. We had a socialist government which was very strong and kind of generous supporting in a very liberal way the arts … they wanted to make sure that the arts can stay free and let them not become dependent from commercial goals they have to fulfil to receive money from corporates or medium companies who are the sponsors, usually. These times have changed now. … Not only in Austria - as far as i hear - but also now in Vienna [meaning: on the level of national and city funding, respectively] - we are having a bit of trouble now. We …[have had] a conservative government which … [was] giving a lot of money to the provinces running art festivals in regions or supporting more and more tourist events although there is a lot of money for tourism and culture in the country anyways. So we do not understand at all why should more money go to this segment rather than the other way around. We know a lot of money is there.

http://www.datonet.at/kanonmedia/sascha_subclip11.mov

Money from corporates … they are interested if you do something that gives them a good image. So, they are rather interested in the event business where they can put up banners and logos and place their image. And of course, they are interested in big audience. So, the more experimental you work the less chance you have to get money from corporates. We [have] know[n] for decades - in Austria - if you receive three to five percent [of your production volume ] of private sponsorship you are already good. So, you cannot rely on it.

http://www.datonet.at/kanonmedia/sascha_subclip10.mov

[When thinking of the costs you can cover by funding means receivable for experimental arts in Austria,] do not include the preparation times, do not include the marketing times, exclude all of this, really.

http://www.datonet.at/kanonmedia/sascha_subclip9.mov

So, this is why you usually are applying in different kinds of programs. EC programs are quite interesting because they give you more money. New media funds are quite interesting as they let you approach things on this multimedia level. And as we live in a digital age: if i am good with my films i am a film or i am a multimedia peace. So, i have these doors open. It is quite hard, though, because you have to be known. I mean you can get low money - if you are lucky you get in with … i don’t know … 2,000 Euro, 5,000 Euro. If i receive 5 i cannot pay for everything but i can make a nice documentary with it.

http://www.datonet.at/kanonmedia/sascha_subclip8.mov

They [The EC film funding institutions] want you to make profitable films. You will not get funding that much any more, especially on the EC level. You get something else: you get a kind of a credit and when you make profit with the film you have to pay back your credit, if you do not make profit it turned out to be a funding system. On the national scale, [in Austria] you cannot receive funds but you have to work as a film company. I could not walk up there as a single filmer and say: could i get some money from you - i have to be a fílm company and also, i have to proove that i shot five films already, three to five already.

http://www.datonet.at/kanonmedia/sascha_subclip7.mov

I think i am not a typical documentary filmer. I am more an experimental art filmer. So, i think if i would talk to classical documentary specialists they would probably deny my films as being documentary because i also experiment a lot with VJing methods. I like layers, i like blends a lot and i like fast rhythms and the interchange of slow rhythms with fast rhythms. So, VJing is interesting for me as a formal method but i am interested in the narrative also. So, i have an experimental way of editing, i think. I use layers a lot and i am playing at the edge between pure documentary and visual interpretation although i try to pay full respect to - you know - what people tell me and not interpret them as … the way i look at it. I am trying to keep out of this. But i am trying to create some visual landscape for them enhancing what they have given to me. So, this is quite an experimental way of editing, i think. And it could mean that for seconds or minutes you will not see an interview but you see layers of visual worlds.