“The Nickname” with Iris Berben: “I’m pretty fearless”

After “The First Name” and “The Last Name,” the Böttchers, Wittmanns, Bergers and Königs are back on the big screen. “The Nickname” (cinema release: December 19th) is the name of the latest coup from German director Sönke Wortmann and once again promises pure entertainment. But the trilogy doesn’t just invite you to laugh – no, it also makes you think. Because nicely packaged, topics that affect us all come to the table. Above all: gender-appropriate language. BUNTE.de spoke to Iris Berben (74), who brilliantly embodies free spirit Dorothea, about this.

“The Nickname” in cinemas from December 19th

“I’m a skeptic. I don’t want a film trip to become a sure-fire success just because of the money. The motto is: ‘The film went well, now we’re going to add it,'” Iris Berben explains right at the beginning of our conversation. “But the script was convincing this time too. Socially relevant topics come to the table and I got two very special grandchildren.”

In addition to Iris Berben, Christoph Maria Herbst (58), Florian David Fitz (50), Caroline Peters (53), Justus von Dohnányi (64) and Janina Uhse (35), Kya-Celina Barucki (20) and Jonas Volkmann (19) can be seen – and the youngest ones bring a lot of fire into the group. Or rather, hustle and bustle in the wedding preparations. Because while Anna (Janina Uhse) is longing for her wedding in the South Tyrolean Alps, there is only one issue for Antigone (Kya-Celina Barucki): the correct use of gender-sensitive language, including gender-neutral pronouns. While her parents can only roll their eyes at this, one of them understands it. Of all people, Grandma Dorothea.

Iris Berben took to the streets as a young woman

“We actors don’t like being compared to our roles.” Iris Berben laughs, but admits to BUNTE.de: “In this case there is actually a lot of overlap. Above all, it’s age and everything that comes with it.” The actress was born in 1950 and joined the ’68 movement as a teenager. “I grew up in the time that Dorothea is talking about. The conversation with my granddaughter about attitude seemed familiar to me. I try to live the free spirit in my life’s melody.”

She explains: “I come from a generation that stood up strongly for itself. We took to the streets for a lot of things: for the right to abortion, for women’s self-determination, for the abolition of paragraph 175, which legitimized, to prosecute gay and bisexual men.” As a logical consequence, she would also understand why gender is so important. “It is very clear and important that language changes. It always has and it will continue to do so. Not only language changes, but with it attitudes.”

“I had to learn that today this is a form of aggression”

Iris Berben would also have had to learn over time to formulate certain things differently – or not to address them at all. BUNTE.de gives an example. “It was completely normal for me, when I started talking to someone on the street or in a taxi and noticed that this person came from a different culture, to ask: ‘Where are you from? What do you do? How do you take Are you here?'” For her, these questions would not have been considered invasive. On the contrary. “They should convey the feeling that I am seriously interested in the person I’m talking to. I had to learn that this is now a form of aggression because it implies that someone doesn’t belong. That was my learning process. And that’s a good thing. “

“Cancel culture” – and what danger it poses

And yet Iris Berben also criticizes. “I see that we need to be sensitized. At the same time, I see an enormous danger in this so-called ‘cancel culture’ https://www.bunte.de/stars/star-life/.” The term comes from the English-speaking world, was first used in the mid-2010s by black Twitter users who criticized problematic celebrity behavior and, most importantly, demanded that this behavior no longer be tolerated.

“Cancel culture” is a form of boycott. People who allegedly make incorrect statements about issues of social justice, sexism, racism and homophobia should be “cancelled”. In other words: They should no longer be allowed to appear on stages, disappear from TV programs, lose their jobs, etc. “‘Cancel’, i.e. delete or censor, is one of the saddest words there is for me,” states Iris Berben. “Because it means exactly the opposite of what we actually want: to bring us people closer together.”

Iris Berben appeals: “Have more patience with your guillotine”

“We don’t have to reach the people who don’t gender correctly, but rather those who don’t understand the content. The people for whom it is not self-evident that every way of life and every color and every religion represents a society. We have to convince them of this that we all belong together.” Therefore, Iris Berben’s appeal on the subject of gender is: “Have more patience with your guillotine. We first have to get the people who haven’t understood the big picture.”

When the “old, white uncle” is annoying at Christmas

Easier said than done. Especially when different perspectives collide at Christmas parties in the office or even in your own living room. “We have to listen more,” Iris Berben tells us in the BUNTE.de interview. “Also the ‘old, white uncle’ at Christmas. Listen and then confront him with targeted questions. ‘What exactly is bothering you? How is your life being affected? What is the gay person, the colored person, etc. doing to you in particular?’ And when they provide their answers, you have to explain to them what the reality is.

Do you always have the courage to address such topics, Ms. Berben? “Yeah, I’m pretty fearless.” The answer comes without hesitation. “I don’t believe that someone is right because of their office or position. They have to convince me of that first. Being free of fear is a very good state. But you can’t impose that.”