Il piacere del fare - Discussions with Villi Hermann, by the Solothurn Film Festival

An overview in 8 conversations and 26 quotes by the Solothurn Film Festival. 

On the Solothurn Film Festival website you can access the French and German versions of the article.

In January 2021, the Solothurn Film Festival paid tribute to Villi Hermann, a tireless performer, formal free spirit and integral figure in Italian-language cinema. This year in May the director and producer will be 80 years old. It's time to look back at the meetings and conversations with Villi Hermann during the 56th Solothurn Film Festival. What is the poetics of this filmmaker, this master of the film industry, this personality who is both combative and discreet?

(1) Cinema di frontiera –Immagine dell'altro

Video from Friday 15.1.21. Four Ticino-based culture and media professionals discussed their experiences over the border: Lorenzo Buccella, RSI correspondent in Rome, Nelly Valsangiacomo (historian at the University of Lausanne), Alberto Meroni (cameraman and director, among others "Frontaliers Desaster") and Villi Hermann.

" Villi Hermann not only overcomes boundaries, he also emphasises them on purpose. He does this to show who the "other" is." (Nelly Valsangiacomo, historian)

"I wanted to become a painter, then I suddenly realised that the canvas constricted me."  (Villi Hermann on the limits of his education in fine arts)

"I'm not interested in a upraised fist. I want to give a voice to those who don't have one". (Villi Hermann on his interest in Italian-Swiss border crossers)

"He does not allow himself to be drawn into the events of an era. He is a participant. This gives him the ability to notice what is actually happening." (Nelly Valsangiacomo's explanation of why Villi Hermann's films transcend temporal boundaries and become timeless)

"Maybe we'll get back to a more modest film, a film we made with our imagination." (Villi Hermann on the limits of dispersal)

(2) Film Brunch con Villi Hermann: Musica da film (Italian)

Video from Saturday 23.1.21. Villi Hermann, film musician Zeno Gabaglio and journalist Sara Groisman met at the Uferbau cinema in Solothurn. The practical aspects of the collaboration were discussed with film clips.

"Music should never be enough on its own, however beautiful it may be".

(Zeno Gabaglio on Villi Hermann's dialectical position on the 'beauty' of music in a film).

"I try to transcend reality.... in the direction of poetry. Cinema vérité has never interested me.

(Response from Villi Hermann: a film should be inadequate to reality).

(3) Il produttore Villi Hermann

Video of Saturday 23.1.21. Michela Pini (producer), Niccolò Castelli (director) and Villi Hermann discuss the latter's double role as director and producer

"It's not a secret, it's a belief. And that is: invest where you find it important. Think about where you can save to invest properly. Use your imagination to do that."

(Villi Hermann when asked what the secret of his success as a producer was).

"It also fights you as a director to make the film you want."

(Niccolò Castelli on Villi Hermann's culture of argument)

"I work with people who want to try something they have never done before".

(Villi Hermann on risk-taking; his own and those of his directors)

"Here we can afford to be a big little family. Still, I don't think many people would agree if there was only one production company in Ticino".

(Michela Pini on the situation of film producers in Ticino)

"I just change my hat.

(Villi Hermann on the question of how he juggles his dual role as director and producer)

(4) "TAMARO. Pietre e angeli. Mario Botta Enzo Cucchi"

Video from Friday, 22.1.2021. Villi Hermann, the architect Mario Botta and Giuseppe di Salvatore (film critic) discussed architecture and film.

"Villi Hermann is as much a craftsman of the art of filmmaking as I am a craftsman of architecture'.

(Mario Botta)

"The film was about exchanging something".

(Villi Hermann on the challenge of give and take in the film "Tamaro. Pietre e angeli. Mario Botta Enzo Cucchi")

"We are lost sheep".

(Mario Botta on the existence of craftsmen in an economised society)

(5) "Per un raggio di gloria"

Video from Thursday, 21.1.21. Villi Hermann and cinematographer Felix von Muralt discussed their jointly realised film "Per un raggio di gloria" and the technical work in the film.

"One should allow oneself to improvise, to tinker '.

(Felix von Muralt on the importance of spontaneity in film).

"'I’m in favour of a certain territoriality'

(Villi Hermann on his preference for Swiss and especially Ticino film technicians)

(6) "Innocenza" 

Video from Monday, 25.1.21. Antonio Mariotti (journalist) and Villi Hermann met to talk about the film "Innocenza".

“I like a certain aggressiveness - culturally and visually".

(Villi Hermann on the provocative character of a teacher who seduces her students).

"I have always made films that have to do with me, indirectly, vaguely".

(Villi Hermann on the question of what the action in the 1950s has to do with his own youth).

"Make believe is more believable than reality".

(Villi Hermann on the criticism of the film's constructed decor).

(7) Zum Beispiel Bavaud - Villi Hermann, Niklaus Meienberg und der Film als poetische Intervention

Video from Saturday, 23.1.21. Stefan Keller (historian), Paul Rechsteiner (Member of the Council of States) and Villi Hermann discussed the film "Es ist kalt in Brandenburg - Hitler töten".

"This documentary film left its mark on the entire last century. It was the trigger for the political reappraisal of the Maurice Bavaud case and addresses one of the rare situations in which Swiss history and world history intertwine. Had Bavaud or Elser succeeded, it would have changed world history'.

(Paul Rechsteiner)

"We frequently argued. Today you would say they were constructive discussions. He had a gift for giving people confidence.

(Villi Hermann on Niklaus Meienberg)

"The method of the research process and making this process transparent was revolutionary".

(Paul Rechsteiner on film investigation)

(8)  "CHoisir à vingt ans"

Video from Wednesday, 27.1.21.Silvana Bezzola Rigolini (producer and historian) and Villi Hermann met for a discussion about the film "Choisir à vingt ans". Anita Hugi (Director of the Solothurn Film Festival) asked closing questions about the "Rencontre".

"He has an exceptional ability to deal with archive material. He can put it at the right time and in the right place and make it speak."

(Silvana Bezzola Rigolini)

"I need someone to argue with. I also need angry answers".

(Villi Hermann on long-time business and life partner Eve Martin)

" The most beautiful thing would be to combine music and comedy. It should be a musical".

(Villi Hermann on his dream as a filmmaker)

You can access all the conversations on the Solothurn Film Festival YouTube channel.