Douglas Sirk - Hope as in Despair

by Roman Hüben

An enquiry-style portrait of the master of melodrama, Douglas Sirk.

Documentaries

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* Supported by
Ticino Film Commission

DATA SHEET

Orginal title:

Douglas Sirk - Hope as in Despair

Year:

2022

Length (min.):

76'

Original language:

German, English, French

Subtitles:

English, Italian

International Title:

Douglas Sirk - Hope as in Despair

Production:

Pic-Film

Co-Producers:

Berlin Producers Media (Germany), Acqua Alta (France), La Bête (France), SRG SSR, RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera, ZDF / ARTE, Ciné+

Worlds sales:

Pic-Film

Distributors:

With the support of:

Ufficio federale della cultura (UFC), Cinéforom e Loterie Romande, Repubblica e Cantone Ticino, Fondo FilmPlus della Svizzera italianaTicino Film Commission, Suissimage, Centre National du Cinéma ed de l’Image animée, Procirep - Angoa

Festivals
(selection):

75. Locarno Film Festival / Retrospective: Homage

Official website:

Restoration / digitization:

CONTACT

Pic-Film

Suglio Business Center - Lato ovest
via Cantonale 18
6928 Manno - Switzerland

Phone +41 / 91 / 966 38 71
Fax +41 / 91 / 966 38 72
info@picfilm.ch

SYNOPSIS

An enquiry-style portrait of the master of melodrama, Douglas Sirk. His life was the ultimate melodrama, from which all of his films took inspiration. Through the testimonies of those close to him and previously unheard stories from his wife’s journal, we get closer to this man shrouded in mystery.

LOCATION

Lugano and surroundings

CAST & CREW

Direction:

Roman Hüben

Film script:

Roman Hüben

Cast:

Todd Haynes, Jon Halliday, Bernard Eisenshitz, Denis Rossano, Hanna Schygulla

Director of photography:

Mathieu Gaudet

Sound:

Camille Bonard, Timothée Zurbuchen

Editing:

Marylou Vergez

Sound editing:

Alessandra Modugno, Riccardo Studer

Music:

Martin Perret

Producers:

Nicola Genni, Stefan Pannen, Fabrizio Polpettini, Christophe Gougeon

More:

Conformation / color grading: Antoine Baumann

Creative producer: Dag Freyer

Production manager: Mattia De Marco

Assistant director: Nikita Merlini

Documentalist: Emanuelle Koenig

HIGHLIGHTS

Roman Hüben's documentary pays tribute to the giant of classic American cinema Douglas Sirk, who lived for many years in Lugano, where he is buried and where the memories that form the skeleton of this film are kept. In the early 1960s, in fact, Sirk decided to give up directing and moved to Castagnola (Lugano), where he lived for nearly two decades. Retreat chosen for the last years of his life, marked by incessant and little-known creative and intellectual activity. Today Sirk is buried with his wife in Lugano.

Interview with director Roman Hüben on the occasion of the premiere at the 75th Locarno Film Festival, 10.08.2022 (Italian):

Gallery

EXTRA AND DOWNLOAD

Press Kit

Related news

DOUGLAS SIRK - HOPE AS IN DESPAIR di Roman Hüben sarà presentato in anteprima mondiale nell'ambito della retrospettiva del 75° Festival di Locarno