»Sternstunden« – TV Portrait of Austrian Star Astrologer Gerda Rogers

The Astrologer Gerda Rogers – A Film Portrait from Vienna for Deutsche Welle

A subject like astrology confronts every film production with a clear choice: either you make an uncritical portrait of a colourful personality – or you ask the more interesting question behind it: why do so many people believe in the stars, especially in uncertain times? We chose the second option.

For this Deutsche Welle euromaxx feature, we deliberately structured the dramaturgy in two voices. Gerda Rogers – Austria's best-known astrologer for 30 years, a radio presence for 25 years, and a bestselling author with each new annual horoscope book – is one voice. Berlin-based media psychologist Jo Groebel is the other: he explains why the phenomenon of astrology works, without dismissing Rogers. This tension between fascination and explanation carries the entire feature.

Three Protagonists, Two Cities, One Broadcast Format

The feature was produced across two shoot days in Berlin and Vienna. In Berlin we conducted the interview with Jo Groebel; in Vienna we accompanied Gerda Rogers over two days: at her consulting practice in Baden near Vienna, where she creates a live astrological chart on her computer for a client, during street interviews about the public's fascination with horoscopes – and at the centrepiece of the shoot: the live radio broadcast »Sternstunden« on Ö3, where Rogers advises callers on astrology every Sunday. A cult programme whose atmosphere and natural energy we were able to capture unplanned and unstaged.

The timing was no coincidence, but a deliberate dramaturgical decision: we produced the feature right at the turn of the year – precisely when the question »What will the new year bring?« is most strongly in the air and Gerda Rogers is at her most visible in the media. The broadcast date was 2 January 2015. From commission to broadcast-ready delivery: just under four weeks.