Why and how do singers find ’emotion’ in their voices. This question, once posed by Roland Barthes, became the Leitmotiv for Schroeter’s latest film. Schroeter’s film oeuvre is characterised by a fascination for theatrical drama, literature and opera. Five years after Malina – in the meantime, Schroeter has mainly concentrated on directing operas – Poussières d’amour (‘waste products of love’) was made. In other words, Schroeter sees the phenomenon of song as a kind of byproduct of love. To illustrate this he invites several singers, male and female, who had previously worked with him. He added three opera greats, Martha Mödl, Rita Gorr and Anita Cerquetti, the actresses Carole Bouquet and Isabelle Huppert, and the ‘one-woman orchestra’ of Elisabeth Cooper, who transposed all the opera scores and performed them on piano and organ. The camera was wielded by the famous camerawoman/director Elfi Mikesch.The film has not been based on any pre-arranged scenario. There were precise restrictions: the set (the abbey at Royaumont), the city (Düsseldorf) and the chosen participants. Each singer was on the set for two days, accompanied by a person they chose (friend, lover, child etc.), and worked on an aria chosen by the film-maker. This yielded a spontaneous, light-hearted and unique homage to singing.
