Swiss Directors Debate English Shift at Venice Panel — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Tim Fehlbaum revealed his next project is a historical film set in Berlin, to be shot in both German and English with an 'American perspective' element, noting that a single non-German-speaking character can tip a film's language balance and financing prospects.
- Ursula Meier is producing 'Quiet Land,' an English-language film starring Bill Murray and Léa Seydoux, set in Montana but shot in Alberta, with plans to shoot next year; she wrote the script in French and had it translated.
- Michael Koch's 'Erosion,' starring Peter Sarsgaard alongside non-professional Swiss mountain actors, was financed more easily thanks to the American lead—Koch compared the financing to a 'Ferrari,' saying it 'went quite fast'.
- Fehlbaum shared that he shot his debut feature 'Hell' in German against producer pressure to go English, but forced his follow-up 'The Colony' into English against the script's grain—the lukewarm response confirming his thesis that English only works when it serves the story diegetically, as it clearly did with American-broadcaster 'September 5.'
- Fehlbaum explicitly pushed back on the panel's framing, saying he does not believe English is the 'new language' of Swiss cinema but rather 'a part of it,' with Switzerland's four official languages already positioning English as just another tool in the filmmaker's kit.
- Fehlbaum warned against using AI to translate scripts, praising his 'September 5' human linguist who didn't just translate but brought a 'much more American' perspective to the dialogue.
- All three directors flagged the on-set challenge of directing in a second language under pressure, though Koch offered a counterpoint: limited verbal communication actually prompted actors to participate more actively in the interpretive process.
Why it matters: For Swiss directors, shooting in English unlocks bigger budgets and international stars—Koch's Peter Sarsgaard casting moved 'Erosion' financing along 'quite fast,' while Meier landed Bill Murray and Léa Seydoux for 'Quiet Land.' But Fehlbaum's own track record is the cautionary tale: debut 'Hell' succeeded in German against producer demands, while forcing 'The Colony' into English tanked. The panel's underlying signal is that English is a creative lever, not an industry-wide mandate—and filmmakers who deploy it without diegetic justification pay for it.
Ask SkimNews
