Chris the Swiss
Anja Kofmel, Switzerland, 2018o
Anja Kofmel already admired her cousin Chris as a little girl. His mysterious death in the middle of the Yugoslav wars in 1992 still occupies her as an adult woman and filmmaker, because at the time of his death the young Swiss journalist was wearing the uniform of an international mercenary group. Anja retells the story of Chris. She combines the means of classic documentary research with animated scenes for those moments about which no certainty can be gained.
The uncertainty at the end of this film takes getting used to, and that's what makes it so strong: For once, the comforting certainty that we know and like too well about cinema doesn't set in. Anja Kofmel came up against limits with her research on her cousin who disappeared in the Yugoslavian war. She cannot conclusively prove whether this idol of her youth became a murderer, fell victim to his idealism or just to his naivety. But how she does that: Nostalgia meets disturbing figures and facts, grief and horror permeate each other, and where documentary research reaches a limit, because one can only speculate about the events, animated film spins on the thread of the story. Bold and amazingly stringent in content and form.
Andreas FurlerEin Film voller Trauer und Zuneigung. Aber das hartnäckige Wissenwollen musste die Möglichkeit aushalten, dass der Ermordete vielleicht auch ein Mörder gewesen ist. Und so wurde es ein präziser, kunstvoller Nachruf, in dem über einen Toten nicht nur Gutes gesagt werden konnte.
Christoph SchneiderReporter, aventurier, voire agent secret, personnage équivoque engagé dans une milice internationale pro-croate d’extrême droite, ou bien héros de l’info infiltré ? Qui était vraiment Chris ? De troubles vérités se révèlent, qu’Anja Kofmel ose frotter à son deuil et à son imaginaire, comblant les vides et déployant ses émotions grâce à de splendides cauchemars animés en noir et blanc.
Cécile MuryGalleryo
