Simon Baumann
Switzerland | 2013 | 90 min
World premiere
Language : Swiss German
Subtitles : English, French
If the world is a village, then Suberg on the Swiss plateau can conversely serve as an example for the world - a sleepy village that has hardly any public life. Filmmaker Simon Baumann goes in search of some semblance of community in his hometown. This attempt at integration, narrated in the first person, develops into a subtle parody of a ‘Heimatfilm’ 1st lauréate « documentaire-CH », Pour-cent culturel Migros/SSR.
If the world is a village, then conversely Suberg on the Swiss plateau can represent the world: a place that has become a sleeping village. a place that has become a sleeping village. Simon Baumann, director and protagonist of the film, has been living in Suberg since his birth 32 years ago and had successfully ignored village life before now. His ancestors had helped to form the community, yet his father, as a green politician, had become an enemy figure. As Baumann now ventures out hopefully in search of a village community, his father's opponents slam their doors in his face, quite unlike the male-voice choir, in dire need of new blood, who view him sceptically at first, but then welcome him with open arms. Baumann reflects on the various encounters offscreen. In his attempt at integration, he seeks a fitting attitude between rapprochement and dissociation, overcoming the temptation to be conservative especially through irony. The co-director of the much-discussed Image Problem (2012) has succeeded, in this subtle parody of a Heimatfilm, paint a disconcerting portrait of a world of withdrawal.
Jenny Billeter
+41795348166
