In January 1978, just before shooting began on THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN, German film scholar Peter W. Jansen brought a 16 mm film crew to Rainer Werner Fassbinder's house in Paris. The result, LIFE STORIES: A CONVERSATION WITH R.W. FASSBINDER, is the longest interview with the director ever recorded on film. The candor with which Fassbinder addresses the subjects—his youth, his working methods, his personality as an artist and as a human being—is a testimony to his trust in Jansen, who four years earlier had co-edited the first book on the director. The interview was first aired on German television on March 18, 1978.