There are some stories that stay with you long after you first encounter them. For Julia Schonstadt, Claudia’s story has remained with her for more than a decade.
Around 11 years ago, while working on a documentary photography project inside German prisons, Schonstadt met Claudia, whose experiences with addiction, incarceration and domestic violence would eventually inspire her short film Poppy. What initially appeared to be a familiar story quickly became something much more complicated.
Rather than reducing Claudia to the circumstances of her life, Schonstadt was struck by her eloquence, self-reflection and emotional intelligence. Years later, after Claudia had left prison and rebuilt her life, that initial impression remained with her.
Based on a short story written by Claudia herself, Poppy explores addiction through the unexpected framework of a love story. With its metaphor only fully revealing itself as the film progresses, Schonstadt has carefully planted clues throughout, rewarding audiences who look a little closer.
I spoke with Julia Schonstadt about the origins of Poppy, collaborating with the real Claudia, finding the character through Carrie’s performance, and why, ultimately, the film is a story about hope.
What first captured your attention about Claudia’s story?
I don’t know how much you know about the backstory, but it was about 11 years ago that I was working on a documentary photography project in German prisons. I think it was a plethora of things, to be honest.
On the one hand, Claudia’s story on paper could make you think, “Oh, you’ve heard those biographies many times before.” There’s a storyline of addiction, incarceration and domestic violence. You think you know how the story goes, and you know who this person is without really knowing anything about them.
When I actually met her, I was just so put in my place by how that was not the case. She was so eloquent, so self-reflected, so well-spoken and emotionally intelligent. I just didn’t expect that. I felt ashamed about my own prejudice.
That was one thing. She just fascinated me as a person.
Then, when I read the short story that Poppy is based on, it was kind of the second side of that same coin. I just loved the story. I loved the metaphor she was using, and I loved the language, which was so blunt, raw and honest. At first read, I knew I wanted to turn this into a short film.
Now, 11 years later, she’s out of prison and everything has stayed true in a sense to the impression that I had of her. She really stands out from all the other people who I interviewed at the time because most of them either went back to prison or are dead now.
She really managed to turn her life around and use that experience that she’s had for good and to make her life work. I find that super fascinating and impressive. The strength of that is very inspiring for other people who struggle with the same situation.
What was the writing process like, and how involved was Claudia?
She was involved in the sense that she was always there for questions, and I had so many questions.
She wasn’t actively involved in the writing as such because all I was working off at first was the short story that she had written. But in order to really flesh out a character, understand their motivations and understand where this character is coming from, I felt like I needed to ask so many questions.
I wanted it to be as truthful as possible to her and do her life and her story justice. In that sense, she was always open to all questions, which was just incredible. She was like an open book.
I feel like it was a real collaboration in getting to the truth of her character.
The same was true later, once the actor was on board. Claudia was involved with helping the actor as well with questions.
“Sometimes, the things we feel drawn to are not always good for us.”
Did Carrie Bunyan Agent get the chance to meet Claudia?
They didn’t meet because Claudia is in Germany and the production was happening here, but they sent each other voice notes.
Claudia doesn’t speak amazing English, so she speaks German mostly, and the actress doesn’t speak German. I was trying to help them communicate.
I had sent the actress voice notes of Claudia speaking in German, but Carrie felt it would be really helpful to also hear her speak in English. So I requested Claudia to send some notes in English.
From what Carrie says, that was really transformative for her performance as well.
What was most important to you about the acting process?
Because it’s based on a real person, for Carrie specifically, it was very important to me to find something authentic.
We did quite a lot of rehearsals, probably more than many short films might do, because I wanted to really give both of them the chance to dig deep into the character work.
In the beginning, I enjoyed what I was seeing, but I felt that I was still seeing Carrie. I felt like I was seeing Carrie going through the journey of Claudia.
I took her to the side and said to her, “I think you can do more. I think there’s more in there for you to unpack. Who is your Claudia? I want to see more Claudia. I want to see less Carrie.”
For her, at first, that almost was a little bit of a sting. But afterwards, she went back to the drawing board. She went back to the voice notes, the short stories and everything that I had shared with her.
The next rehearsal we had, she was transformed. Absolutely transformed.
All the little mannerisms and small things, even a bit of a cough that we see in some of the scenes, hinting at years and years of drug abuse, really transformed the performance.
Suddenly, I didn’t see any of Carrie in this anymore.
It wasn’t important to me that she was a copy of Claudia. It wasn’t supposed to be slapstick. I wanted her to find something specific about who Claudia is, and how everything that this person has gone through manifests physically in the performance.
In the end, I loved what she found in that.
Why did you decide to introduce the film through the idea of love and relationships before revealing its darker theme of abuse?
We spoke about this a lot in prep, and I always said to the actors, “At the heart of the story, it is a love story for me.”
Even though, of course, we’re talking about addiction, the original short story was written in the form of a letter. Claudia basically wrote a love letter to the love of her life.
For her, it was important to say, “Yes, this addiction has cost me a lot. It has taken a lot from me in my life. However, it’s also given me a lot.”
It had been with her in many moments of pain, and that was her release too. In those moments, that was the only way she could make herself feel better.
That’s why the whole film ends on the line, “What I wanted, she gave me. I cannot even hold it against her.”
The film isn’t advocating for anyone to go into drugs, of course. But it’s also saying that she went into it with her eyes wide open, and she got what she kind of asked for. For her, that was an important part of her life.
In a way, I wanted to stay true to that sentiment of her own story. At the end of the day, for her, it was this wild love story, this wild love affair that has absolutely cost her almost her life.
Why was it important to include the statistic that 34% of female murder victims are killed by intimate partners?
The number isn’t actually the important thing. What the line means to me in this context is more the idea that people say love is this amazing thing.
But for her, since the film is told through the vehicle of a love story, her experience of love has not been that at all.
The love of her life almost killed her. It almost destroyed her. That’s also why the film opens with this metaphor of her lover almost killing her.
There’s also that element of domestic violence in the statistic. It kind of loops back when we get to know that her ex-husband, or husband at the time, was also violent towards her.
So even if we don’t look at love in her life only through the eyes of this metaphor, her real relationship, her real partner who died, was also violent towards her.
It’s picking up on her experience of love in a way.
What did you want audiences to understand about Claudia’s experience?
It goes back to what I mentioned earlier: the strength.
I’d like people to maybe have a similar experience to what I did 11 years ago, to keep an open mind about people who go through addiction.
Not to just brush everyone with the same brush, but to really take the time to see underneath that layer and recognise or acknowledge her for the strength that she has.
I think that is the much more interesting and important characteristic than the element of addiction alone, and that she has come out the other side.
At the end of the day, essentially, it’s a story of hope for me, much more than it is about addiction.
What do you hope audiences question about their own understanding of love after watching Poppy?
I think what this story might show, although of course we’re talking about metaphorical love here, is that there is a real parallel between addiction and love.
You can understand a lot of relationships in that same way: something or someone you love can also destroy you in some ways. It can also be toxic and destructive.
Sometimes, the things we feel drawn to are not always good for us.
I think that can be true for substances as well as people. Relationships can ultimately be just as toxic and addictive, and they can have the same repercussions sometimes.
Interestingly, I’ve found that a lot of heroin addicts have described the high of being on heroin, that initial rush when it hits you, as comparable to an orgasm during sex.
That’s why I’ve intercut those scenes together. I find that quite interesting and telling as well. Even in that completely disconnected sense, there’s this comparison there.
“I feel so endlessly inspired by Claudia having rebuilt her life.”
The film’s metaphor is gradually revealed. How important were those details to you?
I know this is a big ask for short films, but we’re working with this metaphor that only reveals itself halfway through the film.
There are so many little Easter eggs planted in the first half of the film that I think only truly come to life once one understands the metaphor.
I just hope that these Easter eggs find their way to some people.
Even small things, like when she unwraps the wrapper of the sweet where the drug is actually in, it has the same colour as Poppy’s coat when she comes to the jacket.
There are small little things like that that I hope, on a second take, people will find.
There’s just a lot of detail that went into planting the metaphor out. Even in the dialogue, a lot of that happens.
If anyone does have the energy to invest in a second take, I think it’ll be more rewarding than the first watch.
How did you come up with the name Poppy?
Poppy is based on the poppy flower because the poppy flower is what heroin is essentially harvested from.
That’s where it all comes from.
It’s also why it was important to me that the character of Poppy is played by a Middle Eastern actress because, at the time in the ’90s, which is roughly when the film is set, the main source and roots of heroin production came from Afghanistan.
Even those little things all have a specific reason.
If you listen really closely, when Poppy first arrives in the living room scene, there’s a radio playing very subtly in the background, with a news presenter speaking about the war in Afghanistan around the drugs.
There are just little things everywhere pointing towards it.
So yes, Poppy because of the poppy flower.
If the audience really listens and pays attention to the details, they can have the answer from the beginning in a way.
If audiences take away one thing from the film, what do you want it to be?
The element of hope for me.
I feel so endlessly inspired by Claudia having rebuilt her life.
That, again, is about giving people a chance and not seeing people who are going through addiction as someone to write off. They have the ability and the chance to rebuild their life.
That, to me, has probably been the seed of greatest inspiration for this film.
And I hope it can be for other people too.
What can we expect from you next?
I’m just in the process of writing my second short film right now, so it’s in the writing stage.
Hopefully, maybe next year, I’ll be able to go into production again.
Another short film for now. Probably my goal is to do three short films and then hopefully something bigger than that.
Can you tell us anything about the next film without giving too much away?
I personally feel drawn to characters who carry some real societal burden in a way, and who have to fight against certain ideas of stigma.
This one is going to be a story about the LGBTQ+ community.
That’s as much as I can say at the moment.
