German filmmaker Nicolaas Schmidt has insisted “banality” is the most interesting thing he can include in his movies. The director’s debut, titled September Afternoon, is to premiere in the Filmmakers of the Present Competition during the Locarno Film Festival on August 10. “And I was sadly disappointed that I didn’t film or didn’t have a friend with a hand camera there to film.” When it came to actually shooting the movie, Schmidt had intended to make the wind “seem stronger than it was”. He mused: “My experience so far has shown that it’s good for the films when some things turn out differently than anticipated.