"Of course, with a running time of just over three hours, a movie like this might have been as interesting as watching paint dry," quips Deschanel, whose credits include Being There (1979), The Right Stuff (1983), The Natural (1984) and The Passion Of The Christ (2004). "But when Florian explained the story and his vision for the movie over breakfast one morning in Santa Monica, I committed to doing it right away. Florian is so insightful and dedicated and I loved his absorbing narrative about an incredible life.

"Although I had never shot a long form feature in Germany before, and I hardly speak any German, by the time we came to shoot I knew the emotional trajectory of the script so well that not speaking German made me more attuned to the actors and the nuances of their expressions and actions."

Along with artworks by Richter, and a catalogue of contemporary still photographs from the period, Deschanel also watched a number of 'Rubble Films', shot in bombed-out Berlin and Munich after the second world war, revealing the desolation that Germany endured during and after the conflict.

"I love to immerse myself in a period of time with the idea of capturing its mysteries and evoking a rich and rewarding experience for the audience," he notes.

Due to the closure of film labs in Germany and Austria, the production necessarily became digital. Deschanel elected to shoot the production using ARRI Alexa XT Plus and Alexa Mini cameras, framing in 1.85:1 aspect ratio, using Zeiss Master Prime Lenses.

"This was an intimate story, the eyelines and points-of-view were critical," he explains. "What I look for in a lens these days is a sense of dimensional depth, especially when shooting faces. We tested a bunch of lenses and I preferred the Master Primes, especially the wide-angle ones and their bokeh in the out-of-focus area of the image. As we would be shooting a lot of interiors and paintings, I felt it would be forcing it to try to fit this into a wider aspect ratio."