Swiss film ‘Familientreffen’ at the Fanatika Theatre Film Festival

Pro Helvetia New Delhi in collaboration with Alliance Française d’Ahmedabad present the Swiss documentary Familientreffen (Family Reunion) at the 1st Fanatika Theatre Documentary Film Festival. [dated February 2012]

Pro Helvetia New Delhi in collaboration with Alliance Française d’Ahmedabad present the Swiss documentary film Familientreffen (Family Reunion) at the 1st Fanatika Theatre Documentary Film Festival. The festival has been organised by the Fanatika Theatre Club which is the confluence of Alliance Francaise and Gujarati Sahitya Parishad. 

The Film : FAMILY REUNION 
Swiss documentary ‘Familientreffen’ 
at the Fanatika Theatre Documentary Film Festival, Ahmedabad 
Language: German with English subtitles
Festival dates: 3-5 February 2012 
Venue: Gujarati Sahitya Parishad, Ahmedabad 
Date: Saturday 4 February at 7:00 pm 
Entry: Open to public 

Documentary, Switzerland 2009 / 60 minutes / 52 minutes, digital video, colour. 

As carpets are rolled and furniture covered, a grand hotel in the Swiss alps ushers in the off season. Melancholy song floods the empty halls as director Christoph Marthaler and his theatrical family rob the hotel of its sleep with endless choir practices – for six long weeks, right up until opening night. But one person is missing from the rehearsals: Jürg Kienberger, scion of the hotel family and veteran musician-member of Marthaler’s ensemble, is recovering from an operation on his knees, killing time with a one-man show at the rehab clinic. Aloof from the goings-on, Kienberger reflects with subtle irony on the evolution of a Marthaler production, airing the secret of the cult phenomenon without giving it away. Meanwhile, the troupe are raising ghosts from 100 years of the hotel’s history. Both jovial and saturnine, the quirky loners are united when they sing. The film escorts its viewers to a feast of music and poetry, and invites them to join a theatrical family. 

Credits 
Writer and director: Sarah Derendinger 
Cinematography: Matthias Kälin, Sarah Derendinger 
Producers Stella Händler, Claudia Frei 
Director: Christoph Marthaler 
Narrator: Jürg Kienberger 
Actors and Musicians: Claudia Carigiet, Raphael Clamer, Jan Czajkowski, Bendix Dethleffsen, Olivia Grigolli, Rosemary Hardy, Christoph Homberger, Ueli Jäggi, Josef Ostendorf, Sasha Rau, Nic Rosat, Bettina Stucky, Graham Valentine. 

Director’s statement 
In Family Reunion I go in search of Marthaler’s secret. At the same time, however, I am careful not to explain that secret, but simply to display it, and to let the viewers get as close as possible to his process - to let them become members of the «Marthaler family». When I heard that Christoph Marthaler and his theatre troupe were working on a performance at the Hotel Waldhaus in Sils Maria during the off season, I was seized by the urge to capture their rehearsals on film. I also learned that Jürg Kienberger, a key member of the Marthaler family as well as a scion of the hotel dynasty, was unable to take part in the preparations, which allowed me to use him, from his position at a remove from events, as a narrator in my film. The biggest hurdle, I believed, would be getting Christoph Marthaler on board, because he had famously never before permitted an outsider to attend his rehearsals. So I was amazed when the celebrated director immediately and enthusiastic agreed to my request! His sole condition was that I film the rehearsals as camerawoman myself; and since I actually do have the requisite experience, I was able to agree to this stipulation, not with reluctance, but in anticipation of a welcome challenge. 

In Family Reunion, spectators sense the spirit of complete openness in which the Marthaler family enters the blank space of the creative process. It’s wonderfully exciting to observe the evolution of a new Marthaler theatrical production – despite the glacial pace at which it proceeds – and to notice the way the many songs they use help the members to bear the emptiness out of which a finished work is born. I am delighted to be able to take all those who watch my film on a timeless musical journey into the splendid isolation of Sils Maria.

Organiser and Partner: Alliance Française d’Ahmedabad