Editing Studio

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Rental

Editing Studio – Schnittplatz:
Avid Media Composer
DaVinci Resolve Studio

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What

→ iMac (Retina 5K, 27”, 1 TB SSD, 2020)
Processor: 3.6 GHz 10-Core Intel Core i9
RAM: 64 GB 2667 MHz DDR4
Graphics: AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT 16 GB
System  software: macOS Sonoma
2 x Eizo Monitors 4K, 27-inch
2 x Fostex Speakers with Mixer (Stereo)

Editing Studio – go between films – Tellstrasse 3

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The editing studio can be completely darkened with window shutters

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→ Connections
3 x Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbits)
1 x USB (10 Gbits)
8 x USB (5 Gbits)

→ Software
Avid Media Composer (2023.12)
DaVinci Resolve Studio (18.5)
Compressor 4.6.5
Shutter Encoder
Quicktime Pro 7

→ Keyboard & Trackpad
Apple Magic Keyboard
Apple Magic Trackpad & Mouse
Logitec Mouse MX Anywhere 2

→ Silicon Keyboard Covers:
Avid Media Composer
DaVinci Resolve Studio

→ “click” on images for larger view

Monitors – 27-inch

Connections – Audio – Keyboard

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Specifications & Connections

Connections iMac 27-inch (2020)

Connections – CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Dock

OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub

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Additional workstation: MacPro

→ macOS High Sierra
→ with Quicktime Pro 7

Workstation 2 – MacPro – Quicktime 7

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Where

go between films gmbh
Tellstrasse 3
8004 Zurich
10 minutes from the main railway station Zurich HB to Kanonengasse (Bus 32)
Contact → email

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How much

Prices according to agreement
between CHF 500 and CHF 700 per week
(they depend on the project and the duration)

As a rough grid:
– 1 to 3 weeks: CHF 700
– 4 to 6 weeks: CHF 600
– 7+ weeks: CHF 500

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And…

Air cooling in the editing room, Epson printer, kitchen with coffee maker, refrigerator

→ “click” on image for larger view

Küche – refrigerator – coffee machine

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→ home
→ films
→ contact

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→ Data Protection Statement

Oct 26, 2021 | editing studio rental | Comments Off on Editing Studio

A Long Way Home · 2018

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Documentary

A Long Way Home

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Luc Schaedler | go between films
CH 2018 | 73 | DE, EN, FR, Chin
→ Video On Demand

The documentary « A Long Way Home» centers around five of the most significant representatives of contemporary Chinese counterculture: the visual artists the Gao Brothers, the choreographer and dancer Wen Hui, the animation artist Pi San and the poet Ye Fu.

With bravery and subversive wit, they each shed light on the social problems in their country from their unique perspective. What they share is a struggle to come to terms with their respective pasts, all scarred by violence and oppression. Their vision is of a democratic, supportive and humane civil society.

A Long Way Home takes us on a fascinating journey into both the grim days of recent Chinese history and the dazzling cultural scene in present-day China. In doing so, the film poses universal questions that ultimately concern us all: which values determine our cultural identity and in what kind of world do we want to live? A Long Way Home is an entertaining and moving plea for human solidarity.

«The beginning of my engagement with China is now more than 25 years ago. Since the brutal suppression of the democracy movement in 1989, I have repeatedly travelled through China. I have followed China’s economic development and the associated political and social upheaval with both amazement and irritation: What do external events, ruptures and changes trigger in people’s lives, and what does this mean for them in their everyday lives?»
Luc Schaedler

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→ INTERVIEW with Luc Schaedler (04:30)
→ Statement director (alwh)
→ The protagonists (alwh)
→ Background (alwh)
→ Downloads (alwh)
(Photos & Presskit)

→ «A Long Way Home» & Visual Anthropology

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Video On Demand

A Long Way Home · 2018
de, en, fr, chin

→ click here

→ Available in Switzerland

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For international sales
of «A Long Way Home» → click here:

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FESTIVALS

– Solothurner Filmtage (Switzerland)
Nomination Prix de Soleure
Nomination for Swiss Film Award
– Montréal, Festival des films du monde (Canada)
– Dharamshala Intl. Filmfestival (India)
– Cracking the Frame (The Netherlands)
– International Filmfestival Innsbruck (Austria)
– Fünf Seen Filmfestival, Starnberg (Germany)
– EPOS Intl. Art Filmfestival (2020), Tel Aviv (Israel)

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LINKS to «A Long Way Home»

→ Nomination Swiss Film Award
→ Swiss Films 
→ IMDb.com 
→ Facebook – 
→ The Movie Database

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PLAYLIST (10 Clips):

Gao Brothers, Wen Hui, Pi San, Ye Fu, original Kuang Kuang Clip etc.

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→ contact

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→ Data Protection Statement

Luc Schaedler with the Gao Brothers in Beijing 2015

Feb 10, 2019 | films | Comments Off on A Long Way Home · 2018

Watermarks · 2013

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Documentary

Watermarks – Three Letters from China

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Luc Schaedler | go between films gmbh
CH 2013 | 80 | EN, DE, FR, Chin
→ Video On Demand

Based on three different places, «Watermarks» portrays the infractions to which people living in modern day China are subjected due to rapid developments.

We learn of the deceptively idyllic Jiuxiancun in the rainy south; of the apocalyptic coal mining site of Minqin and Wusutu in the parched north; and of Chongqing, the megacity on the Yangtze River.

The protagonists give their moving accounts of an unresolved past, an uncertain present and their tentative steps into the future. The film thus paints a complex image of the mental state of the people in this complicated country. “Watermarks” is a subjective snapshot in time that takes a poetic look at the changing everyday life in China.

«Since the crushing of the democracy movement in 1989, I have followed the upheaval in China with equal parts amazement and irritation: the country looks like a huge construction site and seems to be involved in a precipitous search for itself. In this unstable present the protagonists are taking tentative but courageous steps into the future.»
Luc Schaedler

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→ Statement director (wama)
→ Locations China (wama)
→ Downloads (wama) 
(photos & presskit)

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Video On Demand

Watermarks (2013)
en, de, fr

→ click here  

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→ FESTIVALS (selection):

– Locarno, Semaine de la critique (Competition)
– Warszawa, Planete + Doc (Competition)
– Istanbul, TRT Awards (Best Documentary)
– Dublin, Silk Road Film Festival (Best Documentary)
– München DOK.fest competition
– San Francisco, Golden Gate Awards
– Solothurner Filmtage official selection

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LINKS to «Watermarks»:

→ The Funeral (Video Clip)
→ Swiss Films 
→ IMDb.com
→ Facebook
→ Cinema of the World
→ The Movie Database

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PLAYLIST (10 Clips):

Unpublished scenes from Watermarks · 2013

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   —  

 

→ home
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→ contact

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→ Data Protection Statement

Luc Schaedler while shooting in Inner Mongolia, 2011

Feb 09, 2019 | films | Comments Off on Watermarks · 2013

Angry Monk · 2005

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Documentary

Angry Monk – Reflections on Tibet

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Luc Schaedler | go between films
CH 2005 | 97  | EN, DE, FR, Tib
→ Video On Demand

→ Statement Director (am)
→ Interview Director (am)
→ Bio of Gendun Choephel (am)
→ Texts of Gendun Choephel (am)
→ Downloads (am)
(Photos & Presskit)

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Video On Demand

Angry Monk (2005)
en, de, fr, tib

→ click here  

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Playlist (9 Clips):

Unpublished scenes · 2005

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Interview with Luc Schaedler about his film «Angry Monk» and its making on YouTube (part 1 – 4):

(German with English subtitles)

⋅ About «Angry Monk» 1 (7:12)

⋅ About «Angry Monk» 2 (7:31) → watch on YouTube

⋅ The making 1 (7:46) → watch on YouTube

⋅ The making 2 (5:48) → watch on YouTube

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→ FESTIVALS (selection)

– Sundance, Nomination Grand Jury Award
→ Talk on «Sundance TV» with Luc Schaedler (YouTube)
– Busan (competition)
– Vancouver (competition)
– Montréal, Festival Nouveau Cinema (competition)
– München DOK.fest (competition)
– Melbourne (competition)
– Auckland (competition)
– Solothurner Filmtage Official Selection

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ARTICLES on «Angry Monk»:
→ History & Anthropology (2008) 
→ Visual Anthropology (2008) 
→ American Anthropologist (2010)
→ IIAS Newsletter (2008) – Rebel with a cause
→ AEMS Review (2008) – A review 
→ Himal Southasian (2006) – The new reasoning

LINKS to «Angry Monk»:
→ Swiss Films 
→ IMDb.com 
→ The Movie Database 
→ More on Gendun Choephel
 → Gendun Choephel (Wiki)
(Wiki)

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Luc Schaedler while shooting in Tibet, 2002

Feb 08, 2019 | films | Comments Off on Angry Monk · 2005

Made in Hong Kong · 1997

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Documentary

Made in Hong Kong

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Luc Schaedler | go between films
CH 1997 | 75 | 4:3 Letterbox | EN, DE, FR
→ Video On Demand

The documentary allows glimpses on a Hong Kong shortly before the handover to China in 1997…

But rather than attempting to paint the portrait of a «city in panic», it takes an in-depth look based on interviews with a broad spectrum of inhabitants.

These include Peter – a British civil servant in the former colony, Nicole – a South African journalist, Eric Lye – a Chinese architect, Guo – a Chinese musician, Afzal – a Pakistani actor and Mohan – an Indian businessman. Their stories reveal the different stages of migration to this Asian metropolis, and are blended with images that capture Hong Kong’s many contrasting architectural faces.

There are poetic moments, when the camera lingers in the labyrinthine passages of the legendary Chungking Mansions. Other essayistic images explore the multi-layered daily life and give the viewer the feeling of what it must be like to live in such a vast city, seen through the eyes of illegal immigrants, typical HK TV ads and other imag

The restrictions of physical space, the architectural chaos, its celebrated booming economy, its untarnished attraction to immigrants, and the political and social uncertainties that stretch beyond 1997, all these are revealed in this very personal interpretation of Hong Kong today.

Article «Filmbulletin»: Made in Hong Kong (1997)

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Video On Demand

Made in Hong Kong (1997)
en, de, fr

→ click here 

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→ FESTIVALS (selection)

– Dok Leipzig (competition)
– Busan Intl. Filmfestival (Wide Angle competition)
– Vancouver International Filmfestival (competition)
– Solothurner Filmtage official selection

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LINKS:

→ Swiss Films – Made in Hong Kong
→ IMDb.com – Made in Hong Kong
→ Facebook – go between films
→ The Movie Database – Made in Hong Kong

The documentary «Made in Hong Kong» was also the main part of my Master Thesis in Visual Anthropology at the University of Zurich

→ Master Thesis: Arbeitsbericht zur Entstehung von «Made in Hong Kong» (German only)

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PLAYLIST (5 Clips):

Unpublished scenes from Made in Hong Kong · 1997

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Director Luc Schaedler in 1997

Feb 07, 2019 | films | Comments Off on Made in Hong Kong · 1997

Loba Loba · 2021

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A filmic hymn

Loba Loba (praise)

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A filmic hymn of praise resounds in a modern concrete sculpture in the Grisons Alps.

In the experimental short documentary LOBA LOBA (2021) the singer Corin Curschellas respectfully brings the old mountain tradition of alpine blessing into the present day. Her funnel call resounds in Matias Spesha’s modern concrete sculpture OGNA, which in its rawness fits provocatively into the Grisons landscape. The song resounds as an echo on an alp in Vals, becomes a hymn of praise, a contemporary evocation of nature.

→ Chiayi Intl. Art Doc Film Festival, Taiwan (March 2022)
Section: Swiss Arts At Heights

→ Videoex – Experimental Film & Video Festival, Zurich (May 2022)
Section: Swiss Fokus Anka Schmid

→ Forthcoming:
Filmfest Malans 2022, Switzerland (August 2022)

Statement Anka Schmid (director)

«In Curschellas’ funnel call I sense a strong archaic power and at the same time a current urgency. Especially today, when tens of thousands of young people take to the streets and fight for a resource-saving future, this praise is very topical. It is important to me to locate the call of nature locally and to give it a modern face.

In this respect, my filmic translation is neither an ethnographic documentation nor is it folk kitsch, but an independent audio-visual work, which wants to transfer the urgency of this “natural evocation” to the audience and encourages them to think and participate.»

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→ IMDb – Loba Loba
→ Swiss Films – Loba Loba
→ Corin Curschellas – Song
→ Anka Schmid – Director

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Loba Loba – Trailer

Release: Spring | Summer 2021

French Trailer → click here

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Loba Loba · 2021 – Filmstills
↓ download

→ Click on image
→ Image opens in browser
→ Choose «Save as»
→ Select download location
→ Save

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LOBA Poster (Peter Volkart)

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© Anka Schmid, 2021

Apr 15, 2018 | films | Comments Off on Loba Loba · 2021

Video On Demand

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Streaming

go between films

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→ Link to the Video On Demand Website where the documentaries and videos of «go between films» can be bought or rented in different language versions.

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· A Long Way Home (2018)
→ Available in Switzerland

Rent from USD 5 | CHF 5 | € 4.50
Buy from USD 12 | CHF 12 | € 11
→ Credit Card or PayPal

A Long Way Home (2018)
en, de, fr

→ click here (Switzerland)  

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→ For international sales
of «A Long Way Home»:

→ click here

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VIMEO ON DEMAND

Available worldwide 

Watermarks (2013)
en, de, fr

→ click here  

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Angry Monk (2005)
en, de, fr

→ click here  

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Made in Hong Kong (1997)
en, de, fr

→ click here 

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

→ click here 

The documentaries of «go between films» (Luc Schaedler) can also be bought as DVD in different language versions.

Each DVD: USD 25 + USD 5 (shipping)
Total: USD 30 | CHF 30 | € 25
• Credit Card or PayPal needed

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→ Data Protection Statement

Mar 15, 2018 | streaming+dvd | Comments Off on Video On Demand

DVD – Selection

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

A selection of documentaries and videos of «go between films» can be bought in different language versions for all territories.

Each DVD:

USD 25.00 + USD 5.00 (shipping)
Total: USD 30.00 | CHF 30.00)

Buy DVD with Credit Card or PayPal

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A Long Way Home (2018)

→ Switzerland (de,fr,en,chin)

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→ International Sales of «A Long Way Home»

→ Hier klicken

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Available worldwide

Watermarks (2013)

→ de,en,fr,chin | 60 mins. bonus

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Angry Monk (2005)

→ de,en,fr,chin,tib | 60 mins. bonus

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Made in Hong Kong (1997)

→ de, fr, en
→ Specify desired language

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Video On Demand

Link to the Vimeo On Demand Page of «go between films» where the documentaries and videos can be bought and rented in different language versions.

Rent:
USD 5.00 | CHF 5.00

Buy:
USD 12.00 | CHF 12.00

With Credit Card or PayPal

→ home
→ films
→ contact

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→ Data Protection Statement

Mar 13, 2018 | streaming+dvd | Comments Off on DVD – Selection

go between films

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Film Production

go-be•tween | gō biˈtwēn |
to mediate, to intervene

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go between films

A Swiss film production company, engaged in making documentaries for cinematic and TV release. The company’s topics have an historical, social and political background with a strong focus on cross-cultural dialogue. It aims to produce both artistically and intellectually challenging films.

Luc Schaedler of «go between films» also defines himself at the interface of film and science. In addition to mentoring students in documentary filmmaking, he is engaged in research projects in the field of visual anthropology.

go between films was founded by Luc Schaedler in 2009. In 2010 he was joined by scriptwriter and script consultant Josy Meier.
→ Video On Demand

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In October 2023, Luc Schaedler has retreated from the company «go between films GmbH». The new owner is now Josy Meier.

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→ Editing Studio Rental

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FILMOGRAPHY – go between films

2021 • LOBA LOBA
Release: Spring 2021
Producer
Director: Anka Schmid
Music: Corin Curschellas
Short Documentary, 5 mins.

2018 • A LONG WAY HOME
Producer, writer, director, camera
Documentary, 75 mins.
Nomination for Swiss Film Award 2018

2013 • WATERMARKS
Producer, writer, director, camera
Documentary, 80 mins.
Invitation to Semaine de la critique (Locarno)

2005 • ANGRY MONK
Producer, writer, director
Documentary, 97 mins.
Invitation to Sundance (competition), nomination for the “Grand Jury Prize”.

1997 • MADE IN HONG KONG
Producer, writer, director, camera
Documentary, 75 mins.
Invitation to Leipzig (competition), Study Award 1997 (BAK)

2011 · NAGA IDENTITIES (draft)
Director, Camera
Ethno-Documentary, 60 mins.

2007 · BURIAL RITES
Producer
TV-Documentary, Sternstunde, 30 mins.
Directors: Mehdi Sahebi, Aya Domenig

Film Still of LOBA LOBA, 2020

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LINKS to «go between films»:

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go between films – contact

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→ Data Protection Statement

Mar 12, 2018 | company | Comments Off on go between films

Josy Meier

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Screenwriter

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In October 2023, Josy Meier has taken over the company «go between films GmbH» and is now the sole owner.

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Director

1991 Der Kunde ist König

Script 

2012 Nebelgrind by Barbara Kulcsar
2008 Heldin der Lüfte by Mike Huber
2006 Flanke ins All by Marie-Louise Bless
2005 Ricordare Anna by Walo Deuber
2004 Lilo & Fredi by Gitta Gsell
2002 Dilemma by Tobias Ineichen

Producer with Luc Schaedler

2021 Loba Loba by Anka Schmid
2018 A Long Way Home by Luc Schaedler
2013 Watermarks by Luc Schaedler
2005 Angry Monk by Luc Schaedler

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→ Swiss Films

→ Nebelgrind (2012) – Wikipedia

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→ Contact Josy Meier

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Mar 11, 2018 | company | Comments Off on Josy Meier

Burial Rites · 2007

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TV Documentary

Burial Rites in change

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CH 2007 | 32 | TV doc | German only
Writers & directors: Mehdi Sahebi, Aya Domenig
Camera: Mehdi Sahebi 
Editing: Aya Domenig
Production: go between films | Luc Schaedler

Are cemeteries outdated? Are new burial rites needed?

Certainly the demand for rectangular graves in straight lines is declining. To slowly decompose in the ground has a growing negative connotation.

More and more people seem to ask for communal graves or wish their ashes to be scattered in special places.

The city of Zurich had these tendencies investigated in a scientific study and made the results accessible in a touching TV documentary film.

With surprising openness both young and old people discuss their attitude towards dying and how they would want to be buried – and thus develop new burial rites.

«On the level of grave forms, a strong tendency towards community graves can be observed. Rational, aesthetic and ideological considerations play a role in the individual decision for a community grave. Changing family structures and the increasing mobility of society have meant that family members often live far apart. This makes grave visits difficult in many cases.

In this context, the community graves offers a simpler and less individual solution than a traditional row grave: the relatives can visit the community grave, but do not have to, and they always know that the buried family member is not alone».
Aya Domenig (Director)

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Burial Rites – Trailer
German only

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Sep 04, 2017 | films | Comments Off on Burial Rites · 2007

Naga Identities · 2009

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Ethno documentary

Naga Identities

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Camera, director: Luc Schaedler
Production: go between films
CH 2009 | raw footage | not completed

The village of Zanghkam in the Nagaland region of the Northeastern frontier in India certainly has a great potential for a long documentary film. But not as a remote mountain village untouched by civilisation with an intact indigenous culture. Rather the opposite: Zanghkam is a tragic example of being suspended between a lost tradition, a confusing and sad present and an unpromising future. The documentary Naga Identities tries to grasp this dilemma and make it comprehensible.

A mythical song from Nagaland · 2009

«The existing twelve hours of raw footage for this Ethno documentary were shot in March 2009 as part of a large research project on Nagaculture in India’s Northeastern border regions. Other products of the same research were the exhibtion “Naga: Ornaments and Ashes”, as well as the publication “Naga Identities: Changing Local Cultures in the Northeast of India”. It contains a collection of articles by various authors spanning an enlightening ark from the warring past, to an equally problematic present, to a very uncertain future.»
Luc Schaedler

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Sep 03, 2017 | films | Comments Off on Naga Identities · 2009

A LONG WAY HOME – materials

Additional documents

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In the section «A Long Way Home – materials» you will find additional information about this documentary of Luc Schaedler.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

→ Buy/rent on Vimeo On Demand

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

→ Statement Director

→ Protagonists

→ Background

→ Downloads

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The documentary « A Long Way Home» centers around five of the most significant representatives of contemporary Chinese counterculture: the visual artists the Gao Brothers, the choreographer and dancer Wen Hui, the animation artist Pi San and the poet Ye Fu.

With bravery and subversive wit, they each shed light on the social problems in their country from their unique perspective. What they share is a struggle to come to terms with their respective pasts, all scarred by violence and oppression. Their vision is of a democratic, supportive and humane civil society.

A Long Way Home takes us on a fascinating journey into both the grim days of recent Chinese history and the dazzling cultural scene in present-day China. In doing so, the film poses universal questions that ultimately concern us all: which values determine our cultural identity and in what kind of world do we want to live? A Long Way Home is an entertaining and moving plea for human solidarity.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

   —  

→ home
→ films
→ contact

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

→ Data Protection Statement

Oct 24, 2016 | materials | Comments Off on A LONG WAY HOME – materials

· Statement Director – alwh

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A Long Way Home

Statement Director –
Luc Schaedler

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«My exploration of China and Chinese culture goes back more than 25 years now. Since the brutal suppression of the Democracy Movement in 1989, I’ve traveled through China several times. I have followed its economic development and subsequent political and social upheaval with both amazement and bewilderment.»

«The deeper I delved into the country the more I learned about its grim history, the effects of which can still be felt in China today. Along the way one question has arisen time and time again: What do external events, ruptures and changes trigger in people, and how does it impact their daily lives?»

«China also always inspired me to think about my own world. Taking a close look at another culture can cause you to see your own in a new light. This was a view also held by French ethnologist and philosopher Claude Lévi-Strauss who felt both encounters and confrontations with a foreign culture give us an opportunity, or stronger yet, a responsibility to look at and question one’s own society.»

«In «A Long Way Home»  I ask myself from the perspective of a Swiss filmmaker, where the protagonists find the courage to expose themselves. How would I behave in their situation? How are we each shaped by our past? And finally: How is it possible that the essence of many of the existential problems they are confronted with seem surprisingly familiar to me, despite our vast cultural differences?» Statement director – Luc Schaedler

Interview with Luc Schaedler in Dharamshala, India

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© go between films – Luc Schaedler filming the Gao Brothers in their home in Beijing, 2016

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Filmtalk with Luc Schaedler in «Landbote» (by Irene Genhart)

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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Oct 24, 2016 | materials | Comments Off on · Statement Director – alwh

· Protagonists – alwh

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

A Long Way Home

Protagonists

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In A Long Way Home (alwh), the connecting element and main theme of the artistic works of  the protagonists Wen Hui, Pi San, Ye Fu and the Gao Brothers is a demand for the reconstruction of humanity throughout Chinese society. Looking back at their personal family histories, and thus recent Chinese history, takes on greater significance within the backdrop of their unease toward present-day Chinese society. Actively remembering is an important part of their work as they try to fathom the roots of present-day problems. Like researchers, they explore the possibilities of collective healing in their work. Luc Schaedler

WEN HUI – choreographer | dancer

In China, Wen Hui is considered the mother of modern dance. For years she has explored the topic of memory. In her current piece «Red», based on the propagandist ballet of the same name from the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), she processes the physical impact of this traumatic era.

PI SAN – animation artist

Pi San is known to millions in China for his subversive animated film series, which have caused a sensation on the Internet. Through his mischievous cartoon character «Kuang Kuang» he exposes the injustices and absurdities of everyday life in China. In doing so he must constantly gauge how far he can go with his criticism.

YE FU – writer | poet

The former police officer, who resigned in 1989 in protest against the suppression of the Democracy Movement, has made a name for himself in recent years with his autobiographical essays and blog articles which loudly demand political change.

GAO BROTHERS – visual artists | painters

Gao Zhen and Gao Qiang, known internationally as the Gao Brothers, have been around since the birth of the modern Chinese art scene in 1985. They belong to the group of critical avant-garde artists whose work reflects the complexity of recent Chinese history and the «human condition» in a globalised world.

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Aug 24, 2016 | materials | Comments Off on · Protagonists – alwh

· Background – alwh

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A Long Way Home

Historical Background

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The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.
Milan Kundera

The Heart of Darkness

The historical background of A Long Way Home is made up of two defining phases in recent Chinese history: the Democracy Movement of 1989 and the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976. Beginning with present-day China, «A Long Way Home» moves deeper into the «heart of darkness» of Chinese history. The focus is on how people handle historical and biographical ruptures and how they process traumatic experiences.

Cultural Revolution

During the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), systematic violence was employed to eliminate everything private and to destroy social relationships. Mao Zedong and the Party relied on betrayal, public humiliation, self-incrimination, and re-education in everyday life. Mistrust and deep insecurity continue to shape relationships among people in China today.

Top Party officials are denounced during rally in Red Guard Square, Harbin 1966

Tiananmen, 1989

In the film, the Democracy Movement of 1989 stands in direct opposition to the Cultural Revolution. What began as a student protest in Beijing soon grew into a sweeping movement uniting people of diverse social backgrounds. The first spontaneous mass movement outside party structures, it showed initial signs of a possible civil society that would not be able to germinate until after Mao’s death.

© Gao Brothers, Beijing: The Tankman, 1989 

Outlook

The violent suppression by the People’s Army was a clear sign from the regime that the protest was not welcome and that public criticism of the Party would not be tolerated – a condition that continues to this day.

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Jan 31, 2016 | materials | Comments Off on · Background – alwh

· Downloads – alwh

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A Long Way Home

Downloads – Promotion

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The press kit in three languages (de, en, fr) and the film stills from «A Long Way Home» can be downloaded here.

↓ Presskit (english)
↓ Dossier de presse (français)
↓ Presseheft (deutsch)

↓ Filmstills

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Gao Brothers – artists

Pi San – animation artist

Wen Hui – dancer

Ye Fu – writer

Gao Zhen – cooks

Gao Zhen – Interview

Gao Zhen

Gao Brothers – Hitler

Pi San – models

Wen Hui

Wen Hui – screen

Wen Hui – Interview

Ye Fu – lakeside

Ye Fu – Interview

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↓ ARTIKEL: Ethik im Dokumentarfilm (deutsch)
Kaleo La Belle (Fell in Love with a Girl) und Luc Schaedler (A Long Way Home) discuss the question of ethics and responsability in documentary filmmaking with Till Brockmann.

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Jan 06, 2016 | materials | Comments Off on · Downloads – alwh

WATERMARKS – materials

Additional documents

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In the section «Watermarks – materials» you will find additional information about this documentary of Luc Schaedler (go between films).

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→ Rent/buy on Vimeo On Demand

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→ Statements Director

→ Shooting Locations

→ Downloads

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Based on three different places, «Watermarks» portrays the infractions to which people living in modern day China are subjected due to rapid developments.

We learn of the deceptively idyllic Jiuxiancun in the rainy south; of the apocalyptic coal mining site of Minqin and Wusutu in the parched north; and of Chongqing, the megacity on the Yangtze River.

The protagonists give their moving accounts of an unresolved past, an uncertain present and their tentative steps into the future. The film thus paints a complex image of the mental state of the people in this complicated country. “Watermarks” is a subjective snapshot in time that takes a poetic look at the changing everyday life in China.

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LINKS to «Watermarks»:

→ The Funeral (Video Clip)

→ Swiss Films 
→ IMDb.com
→ Facebook
→ Cinema of the World
→ The Movie Database

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Jul 20, 2013 | materials | Comments Off on WATERMARKS – materials

· Statement Director – wama

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Watermarks

Some thoughts

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«Since the crushing of the democracy movement in 1989, I have followed the upheaval in China with equal parts amazement and irritation: the country looks like a huge construction site and seems to be involved in a precipitous search for itself. In this unstable present the protagonists are taking tentative but courageous steps into the future.»
Luc Schaedler

Statement director

During the research for «Watermarks» and the subsequent filming in China I kept returning to a topic that had preoccupied me in my earlier films: namely, how people respond to external events, ruptures and life changes, and what this means to them in their daily lives. I took this question to heart in my new film and continued my search for answers. After Made in Hong Kong (1997) and Angry Monk (2005), the current film Watermarks · 2013 also marks the end of my Asian Trilogy.

My relationship to China

My relationship with China began over 20 years ago. Since the crushing of the democracy movement in 1989, I have travelled repeatedly through China. I have followed China’s economic development and the associated political and social upheavals with equal parts amazement and irritation.

The social changes triggered by fast-paced economic development unsettled the people. They registered the growing pollution of the environment and water with concern. Entire landscapes as well as a part of their own family history and the cultural history of China were punctiliously ‘flooded’ by progress. My love-hate relationship with China is reflected in the ambivalence of many Chinese, who are simultaneously proud of and disconcerted by developments in their country. These are the contradictory feelings that I have attempted to capture in my film.

The collaboration with Markus Schiesser

In the project Markus Schiesser was responsible for the interviews with the protagonists as well as sound. To complete the research (2009/2010) and filming (2011), we travelled together for months through China and shared in the everyday lives of the protagonists. Markus and I made a good team. His relationship to the people grew out of his quiet ease and the fact that he speaks fluent Chinese. This brought him a great deal of respect. He was simultaneously an insider and an outsider. I was the stranger, as well as being more extroverted and louder. I had to build my relationship with the people through non-verbal means, by gestures and looks.

In a cultural and political situation which treats the spoken word with caution and relegates most things to the deeper level of trust, we complemented each other ideally. Markus Schiesser studied Sinology and ethnology in Zurich and China. For over 12 years he has lived and worked in Beijing and Shanghai. He is married to a Chinese woman. We have been friends since the Zurich youth riots of the early 1980s.

Our working method

Water is the visually binding element in the film. Like a river, it flows through the individual scenes, stories and interviews. In China it makes sense to comport oneself like water. Wherever it flows, one lets it go, and wherever it is dammed, one gives way to it and finds another route. In this sense, time and patience are very important factors. What appears to be obvious whenever one works with people in a film turns out to be doubly important in China, for cultural and political reasons.

In China, if you want to get close to the people, you have to give yourself a lot of time. It is a complicated but not unpleasant ritual, during which you spend weeks building up trust, step by step: a first conversation, a second one, drinking tea, smoking, chatting, eating together, slowly getting to the point and always coming back to another toast. The first contact, and how you behave at that point, is crucial.

Statements director – Luc Schaedler

Markus Schiesser, Chongqing

Luc Schaedler, Wusutu

→ Facebook.com/watermarksthefilm

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Jul 20, 2013 | materials | Comments Off on · Statement Director – wama

· Shooting Locations – wama

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Watermarks

Shooting Locations

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Minqin (Gansu Province)
Wusutu (Inner Mongolia)

Both cities feature in Watermarks. They lie in the gigantic coal and industry belt that stretches for over 1000 kilometres west to east across northern China. In addition to the destructive exploitation of the landscape this region suffers from severe pollution and water scarcity. Despite all that – or because of it – both places were one of the most fascinating shooting locations I have ever worked at.

Jiuxiancun (Guangxi Province)

A small rice-growing village that dates back to the time of the Qing Dynasty (1616-1912). It is situated in the south of China, not far from the tourist-centre of Yangshuo, where rain is plentiful. The region is known for its iconographic landscape, consisting of innumerable karst hills rising above the rice fields. In no other province did the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) rage with such devastating force as in Guangxi.

Chongqing (independent administrative unit)

A booming mega-city on the Yangtze, the largest river in China. With over 30 million inhabitants, it is currently one of the most populous cities in the world. In recent years, it has grown with greater intensity and the city is in a constant state of upheaval.

→ Watermarks · 2013

→ Facebook.com/watermarksthefilm

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Jul 20, 2013 | materials | Comments Off on · Shooting Locations – wama

· Downloads – wama

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Watermarks

Downloads – Promotion

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The press kit in three languages (de, en, fr) and the film stills from «Watermarks» can be downloaded here.

↓ Presskit (english)
↓ Dossier de Presse (français)
↓ Presseheft (deutsch)

↓ Filmstills

→ Click on image
→ Image opens in browser
→ Choose «Save as»
→ Select downloads location
→ Save

→ Watermarks · 2013

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Jul 20, 2013 | materials | Comments Off on · Downloads – wama

ANGRY MONK – materials

Additional Materials

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In the section «Angry Monk – Material» you can find additional information about this documentary by Luc Schaedler (go between films).

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→ Buy/rent on Vimeo On Demand 

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→ Statement Director

→ Interview Director

→ Bio Gendun Choephel

→ Poems of Gendun Choephel

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Interview with Luc Schaedler about his film «Angry Monk» and its making on YouTube (part 1 – 4):

(German with English subtitles)

⋅ About «Angry Monk» 1 (7:12)

→ About «Angry Monk» 2 (7:31) 

→ The making 1 (7:46) 

→ The making 2 (5:48) 

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Tibet, the mysterious roof of the world, the seat of enlightened monks – only one of them is against it: Gendun Choephel is the name of the pugnacious monk who turned his back on monastic life in 1934 and set out for the modern age.

He is a rebel who heats up the minds of the Tibetan authorities. A reincarnated lama who also loves women and alcohol. A free spirit who is far ahead of his time and today has become a beacon of hope for a free Tibet.

This cinematic journey through time takes the life story of this unorthodox monk as an opportunity to uncover an image of Tibet that runs counter to common clichés. Numerous astonishing and rare historical photographs are made accessible to the general public here for the first time.

Elegantly and surprisingly, the film interweaves then and now: archival images of magnificent caravans and monasteries alternate with scenes of discos and images of multi-lane expressways in Lhasa, where pilgrims prostrate themselves to walk around their shrine. “Angry Monk” provides a timely and fascinating glimpse into a country whose fateful past is reflected in today’s everyday life – diverse and contradictory.

The documentary “Angry Monk” tells the story of a man who travels extensively in search of something that might release ancient Tibet from its torpor. The lateral thinker Gendun Choephel always remains open to the new. He is a stranger in his homeland and homeless in a foreign land — a wanderer between worlds.

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Dec 29, 2011 | materials | Comments Off on ANGRY MONK – materials

· Statement Director – am

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Angry Monk

Luc Schaedler

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Why Gendun Choephel

«The idea for the film «Angry Monk» originated during several trips to China, Tibet and India between 1988 and 1999. Without being aware of it, I travelled to the same places that the protagonist of the movie visited 50 years before. Since 1988 I have been studying the country of Tibet and how the western world perceives it. And I repeatedly came across the name of Gendun Choephel.»

A wanderer between worlds

«Gendun Choephel (1903-51) was a wanderer between worlds — at once a dreamer, a rebel and a researcher. He lived in a time that was decisive for the future of his country, between the British colonial invasion of 1903 and the occupation by the Chinese army in 1951. At that time Tibet wasn’t the inaccessible Shangri-La that people often claim, but a torn country on the verge of big changes. Tibet’s attempts to introduce a new social structure and to find its own way into the twentieth century failed because of the resistance of the conservative nobility and the monasteries.»

Breaking the isolation

«As Tibet moved towards isolation, Gendun Choephel was open to new experiences. We can trace his path through his writings, articles, pictures and sketches. He looked at his own society in a critical way, was interested in political issues and tried to apply them to everyday life; he was, therefore, the initiator of critical and intellectual thought within Tibetan society.»

Becoming a role model

«During his last years, Gendun Choephel became a role model for many young Tibetans in Chinese-occupied Tibet and also for those in exile in India. While their parents lost Tibet, the younger generation looked for role models that would allow a critical view of their own society. But the western world only slowly became aware of Choephel because his life story doesn’t mesh with our rigid image of Tibet, which prefers to portray Tibetans as victims rather than the makers of their own history.»
Luc Schaedler

→ Article: Buddhism and Film (German only)
(Luc Schaedler)

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Luc Schaedler, 2018

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Dec 29, 2011 | materials | Comments Off on · Statement Director – am

· Interview Director – am

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Angry Monk

Luc Schaedler

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Interview director by Till Brockmann, 2005

Why did you chose the title «Angry Monk»?

A monk is not supposed to be angry. The title is thus contradictory and provocative and that’s intentional; this contradiction is part of what the movie is about. The way the West sees Tibet has more to do with our own projections than with reality. Interestingly, in German and English there is a note of irony in the title which gets completely lost in the Tibetan translation. I found out that the title cannot really be translated into Tibetan. Apparently the combination of «angry» and «monk» is not planned…

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Interview with Luc Schaedler about his film «Angry Monk» and its making on YouTube (part 1 – 4):

(German with English subtitles)

⋅ About «Angry Monk» 1 (7:12)

⋅ About «Angry Monk» 2 (7:31) → watch on YouTube

⋅ The making 1 (7:46) → watch on YouTube

⋅ The making 2 (5:48) → watch on YouTube

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Why a film about Tibet?

I travelled a lot in Asia and I often passed through Tibet. I first went to Tibet in 1989, shortly after the Tiananmen massacre in Bejing – during the time of the Lhasa uprisings. I also worked on Tibetan issues during my anthropology studies at university. A part of me is always on the road, seeking an encounter with all things foreign. My film is surely also the result of this personal interest, a way to give it a shape. But it also has purpose to actively participate in a specific discourse, the discussion that the West had long been having about Tibet.

Why a road movie?

It was the idea from the beginning. Somehow that’s the point of the whole story. Because in a broader sense the whole life of Gendun Choephel, the central figure, was a journey. A journey from the border provinces to the city of Lhasa. From there he went abroad and came back again. Apart from this outer journey, there was the inner journey of a man who, agile-minded as he was, always remained «on the road».

And furthermore, as already mentioned, the film is structured like that because I got to know Tibet as a traveller, too. Finally, a last aspect, the film is a dialogue with the past which is also a kind of travelling, time-travelling so to speak: the film moves back and forth between present and past that mirror each other…

What about a permission to film?

I was aware from the beginning that the authorities would have informants and therefore always knew what was going on. Thus, shooting secretly and getting an official permit for a bigger project were out of question. For that reason I had the idea to work with a small and unobtrusive team; actually, just the cameraman Filip Zumbrunn and me. We behaved like tourists, like teachers who wanted to show the video material to their students back home.

Partly we were shooting the usual stuff: markets, monasteries, like all tourists do… (smiling), but we were really lucky, too; if we had been searched at some point and they would have found all the many videocassettes, who knows… But even if the film is critical of China, I clearly never meant to make a film against China. What I am interested in is the inner dynamics of Tibet and in this regard China is just one of the factors. After all I’m critical of Tibetan culture as well.

What do you mean by that?

First of all, I’m very critical of the one-sided way the West looks at Tibet: as a spiritual refuge, an inspiration for the mind… some managers even go to Buddhist monasteries to prepare for the next round of globalization debates. A lot of damage is done by reducing Tibet to a peace-loving pseudo-paradise, perceiving it as «Shangri-la» with all the Tibetans having a spiritual message ready for us. I believe this harms the struggle for Tibetan indepence. Furthermore, I find the romanticizing of the past rather problematic, though Tibet gets idealized not only in the West but by Tibetans as well.

For instance, hardly 5% of the people controlled the whole country and the mingling of religion and politics developed into an unholy alliance of the aristocracy and the monastic establishment. This prevented necessary reforms and a policy of openness. Such things are often forgotten. Gendun Choephel and many others as well, such as the predecessor of the present Dalai Lama, were open for change but they failed time and again with their ideas because of the opposition of conservative forces who of course defend their privileges.

Was your critical approach intentional?

Yes, of course. There are so many films full of admiration for the monasteries, for the lamaism and also for the nomadic society which has been celebrated as a remnant of an age-old, intact culture. Similarly, I dislike political reports that make us believe that Tibet is a destroyed culture and that any resistance against the Chinese is defeated or futile in the end.

But the situation is more complex and indeed a paradox: on the one hand so much has been destroyed since the invasion in 1950, especially during the cultural revolution it was done with meticulous precision. On the other hand, the Tibetans prove every day that there is a life under the Chinese. They have preserved their culture and language, they have kept alive more than one thinks. For instance, many of Gendun Choephel’s writings and paintings featured in my film, have been preserved in Tibet. In this sense Gendun Choephel becomes part of this «survival».

What I mean to say is that the Tibetans shouldn’t be perceived just as victims but as a people who have managed very cleverly to resist the Chinese and who will go on showing their subversive spirit. I never intended to make a purely biographical film on Gendun Choephel, but he serves as a key to the understanding of the history and the complex present of Tibet. Choephel was a man with many sides who had fought for change and at the same time remained a Buddhist all his life. He never turned his back to his own culture.

I deliberately chose to have only Tibetans speak about Gendun Choephel in my film: old people who knew him and other Tibetans of a later generation. At the end I cut out all the Western scholars and Tibet experts whom I had interviewed as well…

Why is the Dalai Lama missing?

I did this on purpose. Probably it would have been easy enough to get an interview with him. But I didn’t want his presence to dominate the film and the other interview partners to be pushed to the background. No matter what he would have said about Gendun Choephel, it would have been a confirmation for many that the film is justified. I didn’t want that, I didn’t want to have this «offical stamp». In my view it is very important that there is a parallel discussion on Tibet which doesn’t rely exclusively on the voice of the Dalai Lama.

Interview with Luc Schaedler

Luc Schaedler, shooting of «Angry Monk», 2001

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Oct 29, 2011 | materials | Comments Off on · Interview Director – am