Harald Naegeli – The Zurich Sprayer

DE/CH 2021

Documentary97 min.

Director’s statement:
Harald Naegeli is an emancipated old men. This impresses me. I am fascinated by the political aspects of his work. He is a rebel, just like his mother, for whom he has such immense respect. In the film I pursue this idea further. I am rebellious in the film’s language. The typography, the hard cuts, the voice-overs… It gives me so much to think about and angers me that someone can be sent to a high-security prison for his art, and what’s more, in Switzerland – this is something I try to subtly convey to the viewers.

He says: »Without resistance, without opposition art would be inconsequential. it would be just another affirmative consumer experience, not a spiritual debate with life itself.«

Great sentence I will say  and I would subscribe to that. In 1979 Naegeli’s art was avantgarde, out of sync with its time. Outside artistic circles no one understood what these stick figures were about. »Criminal damage«: it’s always the same term. Today his art is still controversial but now it is increasingly acknowledged. 40 years resistance – and it still continues. The film is driven by the artist’s concept. Its political impetus grows from Naegeli’s statements. In itself the film is a rebel. There will be people who don’t understand the film. But there are people who will grasp this rebellious existence. We are currently living in a period of turmoil. Art offers the best remedy. As Naegeli says about Covid-19 in the film: »My Dances of Death  heralds the global catastrophe that is waiting to happen. The evils we know can be named. Those that are yet to come are unknown. We have to rein in the barbarian that keeps raising its head! In this, art is the best remedy!«

Written & Directed by: Nathalie David
Featuring: Harald Naegeli
Original Score: Andrina Bollinger

Song: Die Ballade vom Sprayer by Sophie Hunger

Voice Over Artists:
English: Anna-Katharina Müller
German: Andrina Bollinger
French: Perle Palombe

Cinematography: Adrian Stähli & Nathalie David
Sound Recording: Jean-Pierre Gerth, Julian Joseph, Kurt Human
Sound Design & Mix: Julian Joseph, Kurt Human
Animation & Title Design: Mieke Ulfig
Editor: Nathalie David
Supervising Editor: Andrew Bird
Production Manager: Kirsten Herfel
Producers: Peter Spoerri, Nathalie David
Post Production: Andromeda Film AG
Translation & Subtitles: Subs Hamburg, Andrew Bird, Anne Portugal

Distributors:
Swiss: Filmcoopi Zürich (www.filmcoopi.ch)
German: missingFILMs (www.missingfilms.de)

Funding:
MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein / Bundesamt für Kultur (BAK), Sektion Film / Zürcher Filmstiftung / Migros-Kulturprozent / Ernst Göhner Stiftung / Alexis Victor Thalberg Stiftung / Volkart Stiftung

Co-Production: SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, RSI, 3sat Schweiz

© 2021 PITCHOUNPRODUCTION – PS FILMS

Awards & Nominations

2024: Grand Prix du Jury “Le fayard d’or”, Lambert Cinéarts Film Festival
2022: Nominated for the German Documentary Film Award
2021: Nominated for the Sichtwechsel Prize, Hamburg Film Festival

Screenings & Festivals

2024: Festival Cinéarts Lambert, France
2023: Master of Arts Film Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria
2022: BAFF – Beirut Art Film Festival
2022: Rhodope International Film Festival, Bulgaria
2021:
– Chiayi International Art Documentary Film Festival, Taipei, Taiwan
– KINO Mostra de Cinema de Expressão Alemã, Lisbon
– Kasseler Dokfest
– Zurich Film Festival (World Premiere)
– Hamburg Filmfest (German Premiere)

Museum

2023: Kunsthaus Zürich, Le Corbusier Residence
2022: Schnuetgen Museum, Cologne; Hamburger Kunsthalle