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 | EN, DE, 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.
«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: What do external events, ruptures and changes trigger in people, and how does it impact their daily lives?»
Luc Schaedler
→ INTERVIEW with Luc Schaedler (04:30)
→ Statement director (alwh)
→ The protagonists (alwh)
→ Background (alwh)
→ Downloads (alwh)
(photos & presskit)
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Video On Demand
A Long Way Home (2018)
en, de, fr
→ 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 für Swiss Film Award
– Montréal, Festival des films du monde (Canada)
– Dharamshala Intl. Filmfestival (India)
– Cracking the Frame (Netherlands)
– International Filmfestival Innsbruck (Austria)
– Fünf Seen Filmfestival, Starnberg (Deutschland)
– EPOS Intl. Art Filmfestival (2020), Tel Aviv (Israel)
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LINKS
→ Wen Hui performing «Red» (Clip)
→ Nomination Swiss Film Award 2018
→ Swiss Films – A Long Way Home
→ IMDb.com – A Long Way Home
→ Facebook – A Long Way Home
→ The Movie Database – A Long Way Home
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PLAYLIST (10 Clips):
Gao Brothers, Wen Hui, Pi San, Ye Fu, original Kuang Kuang Clip etc.
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Watermarks · 2013
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Documentary
Watermarks
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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
→ 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:
→ The Funeral (Video Clip)
→ Swiss Films – Watermarks
→ IMDb.com – Watermarks
→ Facebook – Watermarks
→ Cinema of the World
→ The Movie Database – Watermarks
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PLAYLIST (10 Clips):
Unpublished scenes from Watermarks · 2013
Angry Monk · 2005
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Documentary
Angry Monk
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Luc Schaedler | go between films
CH 2005 | 97 | EN, DE, FR, Tib
→ Video On Demand
Tibet — the mystical roof of the world, peopled with enlightened monks? Only one of them wouldn’t toe the line: Gendun Choephel, the errant monk who left the monastic life in 1934 in search of a new challenge.
As a free spirit and multifaceted individual, he was far ahead of his time and has since become a seminal figure, a symbol of hope for a free Tibet. A rebel and voluble critic of the establishment, Gendun Choephel kindled the anger of the Tibetan authorities.
The cinematic journey through time portrays the life of this unorthodox monk, revealing a face of old Tibet that goes against popular clichés. The film makes an abundance of unique and rare historical footage available to the general public for the first time.
But it does not dwell on the past; rather it skilfully oscillates between tradition and modernity. Archival images of ancient caravans and monasteries give way to scenes of discos and multi-lane highways in Lhasa, where pilgrims pros- trate themselves as they circle the holy temple. ANGRY MONK offers a fascinating insight into a country whose eventful past is refracted in the multiplicity and contradictions of everyday life.
Ultimately, the documentary «Angry Monk» also tells the story of a man who left home to search for something that could have liberated traditional Tibet from its rigidity. An outsider who was always open to new things, he eventually became a stranger in his homeland and homeless in foreign lands — a wanderer between worlds.
(The documentary «Angry Monk» was also the main part of my Ph.D. in Visual Anthropology at the University of Zurich)
→ Ph.D.: ANGRY MONK: Literary, Historical, and Oral Sources for a Documentary Film (2007)
→ Gendun Choephel Conference at the Latse Library, New York
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→ 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
→ click here
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PLAYLIST (9 Clips):
Unpublished scenes from Angry Monk · 2005
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→ FESTIVALS (selection)
– Sundance, Nomination Grand Jury Award
– 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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LINKS:
→ Film Review – San Francisco Chronicle
→ Film Review – Indiewire
→ Film Review – Phayul
→ More on Gendun Choephel
→ Swiss Films – Angry Monk
→ IMDb.com – Angry Monk
→ The Movie Database – Angry Monk
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→ home
→ films
→ contact
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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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→ home
→ films
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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 are… ↓
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
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→ 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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→ home
→ films
→ contact
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DVDs – Selection
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DVDs
go between films
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A selection of documentaries and videos of «go between films» can be bought as DVDs in different language versions (all territories):
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
· A Long Way Home (2018)
→ Available in Switzerland
Each DVD: USD 25 + USD 5 (shipping)
Total: USD 30 (appr. € 25 | CHF 30)
→ Credit Card or PayPal needed
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
A Long Way Home (2018)
→ Available in Switzerland
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
→ For international sales
of «A Long Way Home»
→ click here
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DVDs
Available worldwide are… ↓
Watermarks (2013)
en, de, fr, chin
60 mins. Bonus
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Angry Monk (2005)
en, de, fr, tib
60 mins. Bonus
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Made in Hong Kong (1997)
→ French
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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 from USD 5 (approx. CHF 5 | € 5)
Buy from USD 12 (approx. CHF 12 | € 12)
• Credit Card or PayPal
→ home
→ films
→ contact
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Luc Schaedler
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Filmmaker &
Producer
Short Biography
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– Luc Schaedler | *1963 in Zurich, Switzerland
– Independent Swiss filmmaker and producer
– Founder of «go between films»
– Director and producer of «A Long Way Home» (2018); «Watermarks» (2013); «Angry Monk» (2005), «Made in Hong Kong» (1997) and «Loba Loba» (2021).
– Invitations to international film festivals (selection): Sundance; Busan; Leipzig; Montreal; Locarno; Munich; Tel Aviv
→ INTERVIEW with Luc Schaedler – 04:30
→ Video On Demand
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CURRICULUM
– 1985-2002 collaboration as program coordinator, film projectionist and barkeeper in the Off-Cinema Xenix in Zurich
– 1988-92 travelled and worked in Asia | Barkeeper in Hong Kong and Tokyo
– 1994-97 studied Visual Anthropology at the University of Zurich
– Graduated with two documentary features: «Made in Hong Kong» (Master thesis, 1998) and «Angry Monk» (Ph.D. thesis, 2005)
– 1998-2001 collaboration in setting up the children’s film club «Magic Lantern» in Zurich
– Since 2001 various teaching positions in Visual Anthropology and documentary filmmaking at the Universities in Zurich, Bern and Fribourg
– From 2006-08 head of the department of Visual Anthropology at the Anthropological Museum of Zurich University.
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→ FILMOGRAPHY of Luc Schaedler
→ Luc Schaedler’s thoughts on films about Tibet
(German only)
→ IMDb.com – Luc Schaedler
→ Facebook – go between films
→ Wikipedia – Luc Schaedler (german)
→ Wikipedia – Luc Schaedler (français)
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→ go between films – contact
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→ INTERVIEW with Luc Schaedler – 04:30
→ home
→ films
→ contact
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Smartphone Anthropology
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Visual Anthropology
University of Fribourg
Social Anthropology
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A practical seminar
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Description
Visual Anthropology deals with visual «representations» of cultural and social conditions in a reflective manner, both practically and theoretically. Historically, it has developed from the illustration of written travelogues into an independent research and knowledge tool.
Initially still analog, it has increasingly shifted to digital space, both in terms of production and «evaluation» (multimedia websites, blogs, YouTube, etc.). Today, Visual Anthropology goes far beyond mere representation and observation and is increasingly oriented towards participatory approaches (see an input lecture by Dr. Darcy Alexandra followed by a discussion).
The practical seminar «Smartphone Anthropology» is aimed at bachelor and master students who are interested in Visual Anthropology and would like to work visually as part of their studies. Debates will also be addressed and critically discussed, reflecting central questions within visual anthropology.
In this mainly practical seminar we will still read some theoretical texts, analyze documentary films and produce our own film contributions in group work. Through practical exercises, students will acquire rudimentary skills in using the smartphone as a research tool. Especially as a widespread everyday object, smartphones allow low-threshold access to the field and the “protagonists” involved.
Lecturer
Dr. Luc Schaedler: Studied ethnology at the University of Zurich. Graduated with two documentary films: Made in Hong Kong (Master, 1997) and Angry Monk (Ph.D., 2005). Independent filmmaker and producer since 2001.
→ Video On Demand

Anka Schmid working on a documentary with her smartphone, 2020
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