ID S WiSS

What does Swiss culture mean today? Using their personal histories as a starting point, seven young filmmakers examine in episodes the idea of a homeland, adding a healthy dose of irony.

As the son of Italian immigrants, Fulvio Bernasconi doesn’t know his nationality at heart. During a soccer match between the Swiss and Italian national team, he hopes to find an answer. Nadia Fares grew up in Berne and didn’t meet her father’s family in Cairo until she was 18. Troubled by the civil war in Yugoslavia, Thomas Thümena wonders about the often cited conflict between French- and German-speaking Swiss. He asks young military recruits from both regions whether a civil war is also imginable in Switzerland. Kamal Musale, who’s father emigrated from India, ponders upon food. How does this mixture of spicy flavours and melted cheese affect the Swiss palate?

The Making of a Jew

The Making of a Jew is the name of Stina Werenfels’ episode. She talks about growing up as a Protestant until one day she discovered her Jewish roots. Since then, she has been asking herself whether she herself is also Jewish. And if so, how often and for how long?

Credits
Year: 1999
Country: CH
Running time: 90 Min.
Director: diverse Regisseure
Authors: diverse
Producer: SRG SSR
Executive Producer: Grischa Duncker
Co-Producer: Filmcooperative Verleih Schweiz, FAZ v. SRG, Dschoint Ventschr
Camera: diverse
Editor: Kathrin Plüss, diverse
Music: Peter Bräker, Balz Bachmann, Charles-Henri Huser
Production Manager: Grischa Duncker

More Episodes

Raclette Curry: Kamal Musale was born in Vevey to an Indian father and a Vaudois mother. An essay about the romantic fusion of two cultures over a curry raclette dinner.

What belongs when and where: Wageh George grew up 100% in Cairo and only love brought him to Helvetia. On the verge of becoming a Swiss citizen, he is grappling with the question of what it takes to become a «real» Swiss.

Home alone: Christian Davi lived for four years in a retirement home run by his mother. He documents the generation conflict as well as the view of foreign workers on their elderly clientele.

Hopp Schwyz: Fulvio Bernasconi grew up in Ticino as the son of Italian emigrants. On the basis of a soccer game between Switzerland and Italy, he describes his own inner conflict: into which goal should the ball fly?

Mixed up: Nadia Fares is the daughter of an Egyptian and a Bernese, she herself lives today in Lausanne, New York and Cairo. A search for roots between the Alps and the Nile.

Train fantôme: Thomas Thümena, a native of Zurich, studied for six years in Welschland. His film examines the dimensions of the Röstigraben using the example of a recruit school.

The seminar paper on the relationship between the present and the past in Daniel Ganzfried’s novel «Der Absender» (The Sender), Kerstin Biller, 2004, suits the topic.
> Read online (german)

Awards
Nominierung Kategorie Dokfilme, Schweizer Filmpreis, 2000
Dokumentarfilmpreis des Landes Oberösterreich, 2000

Festivals
Filmfestival Magdeburg, 2001
Archepelago Rom, 2003
22nd Moscow Int. Film Festival 2000
Clermont Ferrand, 22e Festival int. du court métrage 2000
Max Ophüls Preis Saarbrücken, 2000
International Doc/Short Film Festival Krakow, 2000
23. Göteborg Film Festival 2000
Carthage Film Festival, 2000
35. Solothurner Filmtage 2000
Duisburger Filmwoche, 1999
Tout Ecran Gevève, 1999
Augsburg 13. Tage des unabhängigen Films, 1999
Filmtage Tübingen, 1999
Golden Horse Film Festival Taipei, 1999
Premiers Plans Angers, 2000
Locarno, 52. Festival internazionale del film, 1999