German fashion designer Bina Daigler has been nominated for an Academy Award with Disney’s “Mulan”
eIn an entertaining conversation about film projects and cinematic careers with photographers and screenwriters in a bar in Madrid, Bina Daigeler finished 1993 with a beautiful sentence: “I am going home now and making space on the shelf for the Oscars.” Humor and steadfast will is a fashion designer born in Munich who has lived in Madrid for more than 30 years.
The fact that she was nominated for an Academy Award only makes sense: the hard work harvested in so many countries, with commercial productions and author films, catwalk series, and sometimes budgets not even close to the size of “Mulan,” Disney – a great production about a Chinese heroine. For a year, she worked on the film with director Nikki Caro in her native New Zealand and China. Digler and her team of 126 had to monitor 4,000 more items. She has now been nominated for this job.
Costume designer Bina Daigler at the Los Angeles premiere of “Mulan” in March 2020
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Bild: Portrait of the Alliance
Bina Daigeler has made a name for herself in Spain with films such as “Airbag” (1997) and the Almodóvar productions “All About My Mother” (1999) and “Volver – Returning” (2006). It is nominated four times for the Goya Film Awards. Multilingual German, despite her Spanish husband and two children, did not find it easy to prove herself in the Spanish film industry even after decades in Madrid. Their name is pronunciation in French: Degelé.
She equipped Tilda Swinton and Cate Blanchett
International productions with directors such as Steven Soderbergh, Jim Jarmusch, Oliver Stone and John Malkovich achieved their success. Designed by Tilda Swinton for Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive” (2013), Cate Blanchett for Mrs. America “(2020). Directed by Canadian Dahve Waller. In 2018 she won the German Film Award in Berlin for the installation of Julian Roosevelt’s” Manifesto “in the category” Best Costume Design “: Cate Blanchett in 13 different roles. In September 2020, she was nominated This year she was nominated for a Costume Design Guild (CDGA) award in two categories and also won “Mulan” as best costume in the “Fantasy Movie” category.
Working with stars like Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Benito del Toro, Robert de Niro, Daniel Brühl or Bruce Willis requires sympathy. “My outfits should help the actors identify with the role. The direction in which this role is taking is also due to my interpretation and the understanding that develops between the stylist and the actors.” It is for this reason that good mood, humor and warmth are attached to it, and not only documentation and knowledge, knowledge of materials and patterns. “Handicraft alone is not enough,” she says. “You have to have a psychological feeling. You cannot learn that. If you have it, it can of course be expanded through experience.”
Luxurious equipment: Jet Li as Emperor in “Mulan”
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Bild: AP
Currently working with Netflix
The fashion and makeup images are still underestimated as “the content and air support of the movie,” she said. Many producers believe that they can financially neglect these areas. “big mistake!” In this context, it also calls for equal pay. “Equal pay for equal work is an unmet requirement in our industry, where women are primarily employed.” She is happy that efforts to increase the presence of women in cinema are bearing fruit. Surprisingly, Disney entrusted director Nikki Caro with a great production like “Mulan”. Unfortunately, nothing came of the big theatrical release. Digler had to cancel his ad tour halfway around the world in March 2020 when the coronavirus paralyzed everything.
Currently, she is working in Berlin on the Netflix series “1899” by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese. Digler also worked during the pandemic. This is tricky because there is no direct connection: “Zoom in / out fitting is boring and long. Travel is a problem because quarantine obligations make planning difficult.” A trip to Los Angeles to attend the Oscars has been canceled. “Corona and working in Berlin makes it impossible for me to be, although I really want to be there. But the academy prepared something for me in Berlin.” The fifty-six-year-old has little hopes of shelving the Oscar. “The competition is fierce and very good.” Her job is not only about humor and strong will, but also with a strong sense of reality.
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