VILLA FLORA | its collectors, its artists

DE 2015/2024

»Villa Flora is on its way to becoming a proper museum.« Félix Vallotton, in a letter to Hedy Hahnloser, February 1910.
The Villa Flora opened as a museum on July 7th, 1995. Between 1995 and April 2014, the Villa Flora showed 24 monographic and thematic exhibitions and published 26 academic publications.
During these almost 20 years, over 200,000 visitors came to the Villa Flora. After the fully unexpected withdrawal of public funding on August   29th, 2013, the museum faced an uncertain future.
In order to make best use of the time until a political decision was made in Winterthur, the collection was exhibited in various museums around Europe in 2015 and 2016. At the time of this film’s original release,over 6,000 people had signed a petition to preserve the Villa Flora as a museum. The campaign was continued nationally and internationally.
In 2018, the Villa Flora property was purchased by the Canton of Zurich and the building lease handed over to the City of Winterthur. Based on designs made by the architects jessenvollenweider, the building was converted into a contemporary museum.
On March 22nd, 2024, the Villa Flora was opened as the third exhibition space of the Winterthur Museum of Art.
The re-opening means that Hedy and Arthur Hahnloser’s renowned collection has now returned to its place of origin. 


Documentary74 min.

Featuring: The Hahnloser and Jäggli Family
Written & Directed by: Nathalie David
Research: Nathalie David, Daniel Koep, Angelika Affentranger-Kirchrath
Original Score: Vladyslav Sendecki
Cinematography: Nathalie David
Sound Recording: Hili Leimgruber, Jens Woernle
Voice Over: Stefan Kurt
Voice Recording:
Rupert Schellenberger (Ultramar Labs Berlin)
Matthias Brattig (Studio Loft Hamburg)

Sound Design & Mix: Clemens Endress
Title Design: Madeleine Dewald
Editor: Nathalie David
Production Manager: Daniel Koep
Producer: Nathalie David – PITCHOUNPRODUCTION
Post Production: Martin Heckmann
Subtitling: Andrea Kirchhartz
Translation: Aïsha Lethen Bird, Andrea Kirchhartz, Ghislaine Hoeborn
Texts Written by: Hans Robert Hahnloser
Extracts from: Rudolf Koella (ed.) Catalogue

Commissioned & Funded by: Hamburger Kunsthalle
Swiss Distributor: outside the box (www.outside-thebox.ch)

©Nathalie David – PITCHOUNPRODUCTION & Hamburger Kunsthalle 2015-24

Learn more: Villa Flora

Screenings & Festivals
2017: BAFF – Beirut Art Film Festival
2016: FIFA – Festival International du Film sur l’Art, Montreal

Museum
Hamburger Kunsthalle
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Museum Moritzburg, Halle
Kunstmuseum Bern

Broadcast
Swiss TV – Schweizer Fernsehen SFR Sternstunde Kunst