Fabian Oswald

He has always had a passion for drawing and inventing stories. By the age of 13, Fabian Oswald, born in Gießen, Germany, had already realised five of his own animated films and won the German Newcomers' Film Award 2005.

Fabian lived with his parents on Ivory Coast for several years, spent two years in Kenya and also lived for a number of years in Landau in Germany. Today, the 16-year-old lives in Lima, Peru, attends the German school there and will graduate this year.

Fabian, you started to make animated films at a very early age. What gave you the idea or was it just a sudden impulse?

I have always drawn and created stories. When I was eleven, my art teacher in Landau encouraged me to make an animated film from a comic I had drawn during lessons. The new thing for me was the recording and cutting part. I learned how to do that in an extra-curricular club at school, and this is where I also made all my earlier animated films. When I moved to Lima, I unfortunately neglected the films somewhat because the motivation provided by the school club was lost. To start doing more in this area again, I set up a film club together with a friend at the school in Lima, where we teach basic filming techniques and produce short films with other students.

Drawing, inventing stories and making films are all creative processes. Can you describe your approach to your creative work?

When making films, and also when I'm drawing and writing, the idea for the story develops together with the character. The character and story belong together. Only one story matches every character and vice versa. Mostly I have several ideas one after the other. I sit down and start thinking them through and expanding them. It's only when I start writing down my thoughts that I know this will be a story I will go through with. Normally I write every day and I spend almost my entire spare time writing and drawing. It's just fun. I am always glad if I can finish a project and I'm happy with the result. And if a project is successful like the films, this doubles my motivation.

Your stories are quite twisted and bizarre. Where do you get the ideas for the stories? What is your inspiration?

Mostly, I just come across ideas. Maybe something triggers them. I think of something normal, think the thought through and that's how stories develop. It's like a chain reaction, something triggers a certain situation or scene and I derive another situation from it (and so on) until I arrive at the actual idea. The books I read definitely have great influence on my stories. I read quite a lot and my ideas change, depending on what I'm currently reading. The stories influence my thoughts and it all blends in with my ideas.

What are your stories about?

It depends. The films are mostly short and funny stories (also absurd). Generally speaking, the topics I write about are darker and crazier. All in all, my stories don't have a lot in common with reality.

Do you have any role models for your drawing and writing?

No, not really. If I admire persons, they are mostly writers that I enjoy reading (for example Vonnegut, Kafka or Poe). But I don't really have any role models. I like to have freedom when I'm writing. I write because I want to. The writers whose stories I read have an influence on me but I don't want to base my work on anyone.

Where do you think does your passion for telling stories and drawing come from?

I probably got my talent for drawing from my mother's side of the family, but it has always been there – I never really thought about that. It's fun and I'm quite good at it, so I just do it. Making films came much later because it was also nice to be able see the ideas and how they took place in my head as films. If I make up stories, I see the story as a film. It's okay to write them down but to produce them as films is just great.

You and your family moved from Germany to Peru. How did the move influence your work?

Very positively in some areas. Latin American culture is extremely different from European culture. I also know a lot more people here of my age who are active in the same areas as me. I have been able to learn a lot from them. Most of my friends are interested in arts (literature, painting, films or theatre). Lima is a large city where almost half of Peru's population lives and people are crazier than in Germany. I really only started with my bizarre stories here.

You are going to graduate this year. Have you already made plans for the future after school?

I considered making films as an option for a long time, but I can no longer imagine this as a profession. However, I would definitely like to continue making films as a hobby. At the moment I don't know what I would like to study or what kind of career I want. In any case, the less it has to do with numbers, the better. My dream would be to become a writer, but I cannot imagine that I could make a living just from that. I have just finished a longer story and sent the manuscript to several publishers. Let's see what happens there.

What is really important to you?

The most important thing at the moment is that my manuscript is accepted by a publisher. That would be a great step forward for me that would make things easier for future projects. It is also important that I do not rest on my laurels, that ideas develop and vary, that I can always continue and that nothing keeps me from doing so.

Short story by Fabian Oswald "Kurze Erzählung einer verwechselten Existenz" ("A short tale of mistaken identity")