The first of Schlöndorff's two documentaries on Austrian-born director Billy Wilder was "Billy Wilder, How Did You Do It?", in which he and German critic Hellmut Karasek interviewed Wilder about his career over the course of two weeks in 1988. It was aired on German TV in 1992, and shown on TCM in the USA under the title "Billy Wilder Speaks" in 2006. Schlöndorff had been a great admirer of Wilder for many years and sought his advice during the making of "The Tin Drum".