The film is about a Swiss filmmaker (S.) who is working on a documentary film on the theme of loneliness in New York. It mixes documentary and fiction in an entertaining way, showing all the flourishing industry that is aimed at lonely people, the numerous organisations that offer their services for singles and those seeking partners.
S. explores it all with journalist thoroughness. Initially distanced, but as time goes by he finds himself more and more involved personally. He cannot get a woman, he saw on the flight to New York, out of his mind. All that he knows is her name, Michéle, and that she studies music in Boston.
His telephone quest does not bring anything and he decides to go to Boston. There he visits all the music schools and puts up posters in the streets. Finally Michéle gets in touch.
S. falls in love. The film story meets finally his personal situation. Distance is no longer possible.
CH 1985
Feature Film
35mm (Transfer from 1 inch video)
82 min., colour
Location: New York, Boston (USA)
Language: English, Swiss German
Subtitles: German, French, English
Credits
Director: Steff Gruber
Script: Steff Gruber
Photographer: Rainer Klausmann
Editor: Beni Müller and Steff Gruber
Music: William Steffen
With
Michèle Rusconi, Marcy Boucher, Lea Lerman, Rip Wilson, Peter Schelling, Steff Gruber and the participation of Joel Meyerowitz.
Producer: Steff Gruber
Co-Producer: Cyrille Kazis
Production: ALIVE Media
Distribution: Filmcoopi Zurich
World Sales: KINO.NET
Rainer Klausmann DOP, Steff Gruber
Swiss film maker Steff Gruber and his cameraman Rainer Klausmann are working on a documentary film project in New York. The team is researching the subject of loneliness. There are twelve million people living in New York City; seven and a half million of them are singles. An impressive backdrop for the project.
A whole sector of industry exists here by doing business with loneliness. Countless firms and organisations offer services to singles and people seeking a partner. The film team takes part in specialist courses and events, carries on research at parties and in single bars, investigates the print media, telephone services and even erotic services aimed at the lonely.
With journalistic thoroughness, Gruber follows up these leads and captures it all on camera. To begin with he is just a spectator observing it from a distance. But he finds he is increasingly unable to distance himself from his own emotions.
There was a woman he noticed on the flight out, and he can’t get her out of her head. He only knows her first name, Michèle, and that she is studying music in Boston…
In his own way, Gruber now tries to apply the skills he has acquired in the contact courses he has attended. He decides to go to Boston. There he does the rounds of all the music colleges, and puts up posters enquiring for her.
Finally Michèle contacts him.
The couple fall in love. The story of the film has now got thoroughly involved with Gruber’s own life. Distance is no longer an option.
A few weeks later, Michèle visits him in New York. They talk about their love for one another, and their fears of commitment. It becomes clear that there is no shared future for them to look forward to.
A film by Steff Gruber
With
Michèle
MICHÈLE RUSCONI
Steff
STEFF GRUBER
Marcy
MARCY BOUCHER
Lea
LEA LERMAN
Peter
PETER SCHILLING
Rip
RIP WILSON
Telephone Voice
JÜRG ALTHERR
Director of Photography
RAINER KLAUSMANN
Travelling
BILL ROSE
Production Coordinator (USA)
WENDY L. YELLIN
Film Research
KATIE MEISTER
Lighting Equipment
Times Square Corp., New York
Additional Equipment
Cine 60 Inc.
Stage Lighting Corp.
Spectra, Videomart Inc., New York
Transportation
Capitol Air, Hertz, Aamcar
Travel Coordination
MAX LAUBE, Kingtravel Ltd., Zurich
Printing (USA)
Gallery Printing, New York
Additional Second unit photography
SIGI MEIER
Camera Assistant
DANIEL KOCH
Make-Up
GLYNIS A. GREEN
Video Technician
CHRIS THURNHERR
BETACAM System
SONY
Betacam Engineer
WILLI GSELL
Additional Scene shot at AV-Studio
GANZ Ltd., Zurich
Special thanks to
HANS ARBER
Still Photography
LEONARD ZUBLER
Production Secretaries
DANIELA HUBER
REGULA WALKER
Transscript
JULIE NERO
BARBARA BRÄNDLI
Edited by
BENI MÜLLER
Videotape edited by
PHIL HAINES
Assistant Videotape Editor
TODD McEVILY
Master Editing
VIDEOPIX Ltd., Zurich
Off-Line Editing
ALIVE Film & Video Productions, Zurich
Sound Processing and Remix
STUDIETTO Ltd., Zurich
Music Recording
MSM Studios Ltd., Zurich
Recording Engineer
WALTER ROHRBACH
Entire Soundtrack processed with
APHEX AURAL EXITER
Public Relations
RENE GROSSENBACHER
Main Titles
STEFF GRUBER
Title
HEADLINE Ltd., Zurich
Title Generator
PERDIAG Ltd., Zurich
Graphic Design
HANS-PETER KUSTER
PIT GÜNTER
Printing
MÜLLER-WERDER, Zurich
Director, Producer
STEFF GRUBER
Assistant to Steff Gruber
MAURO LANDO
Commissioning Editors
MARTIN SCHMASSMANN
PIA HORLACHER, Schweizer Fernsehen DRS
Original Music written and performed by
WILLIAM STEFFEN
Video-to-Film-Transfer
ARACO Ltd., Lichtenstein
Moviecam-Operator
WERNER ZUBER
Equipment
CINERENT Ltd., VIDEOPIX. Ltd.
Negative Editing
ELLA WALLSTRÖM
Color Timing
JOHANNES ANDERS
Film Projection
KURT HÄBERLI
Entire Film shot and post-produced with
SONY Video Equipment
Produced by
ALIVE Film & Video Productions Ltd., Zurich, Switzerland
With special thanks to
Katie Meister / Bill Rose / Rip Wilson / Scott Wilson / Serina Wilson / Lea Lerman / Marcy Boucher / Mitchell/Reus Design / Virgil Moorfield / Wendy L. Yellin
Camille and the Ladies at PANDORA’S BOX
Sparkle Image Studio / Intercontinental Televideo Inc. / SONY America / CTL Electronics Inc./ M&H Auto Body Expert, Boston / Terrace Motel, Boston / The Danceteria, New York / Dean Rollston / Joel Meyerowitz / Karin Limmroth / Ron Rosenbaum / Jürg Altherr / Jinjee / Nancy Fisher / Victoria and Mary Perillo from Red Planet Productions and all other collaborative Redheads!
Robert Katz / Ed Lachman / Werner Herzog
Erich Langjahr / Urs Amann / Mauro Lando / Tobias Wyss / Xavier Koller / Hans Liechti / Alfons Sinniger / Walo Deuber / Glynis A. Green / Gitta Malek-Nasrie / Renato Faccinetto / Pat Kustenaar / Beat Müller / Paul Hoyningen / Paul Fischli / Vivian Scheifele / Ines Diemer, Beat Stünzi / Peter Hauser / René Grossenbacher / This Brunner / Rolf Dinkelmann / Martine Grosjean
Financial Supporting
Eidgenössisches Department des Innern / Schweizer Filmzentrum / Migros Genossenschaftsbund / Schweizer Fernsehen DRS / SONY (Switzerland) Inc. / 3M (Switzerland) Inc. / Druckerei Müller-Werder, Zurich / Capitol Air Inc. (Switzerland) / AV-Studio Ganz, Zurich / Präsidialabteilung der Stadt Zürich / Erziehungsdirektion des Kanton Zürich
Shot on location 1983-84 in New York City, Boston and Zurich, Switzerland
CH 1985
Feature Film
35mm (Transfer from 1 inch video)
82 min., colour
Language: English, Swiss German
Subtitles: German, French, English
New York shooting (Rainer Klausmann), Mauro Lando, Steff Gruber
Last scene… crew in Zurich
«Steff Gruber ist unter den Schweizer Filmemachern eine Ausnahmeerscheinung. Sowohl ‚Moon in Taurus’, sein erster Spielfilm, als nun auch ‚Fetish & Dreams’ widersetzen sich Sehgewohnheiten, die auf eher konventionelle Dramaturgien bei Spielfilmen eingestimmt sind.
‚Fetish & Dreams’ führt fort, was ‚Moon in Taurus’ (1978-80) begonnen hatte: aus dokumentarischem Material, das zum Zwecke eben dieser Arbeit aufgenommen wurde, eine Fiktion herausfiltern; aus ihm also einen Spielfilm herstellen, der andererseits aber auch ein Dokumentarfilm ist, indem die Fiktion sich ihrerseits umstülpt in einen soziologischen Exkurs über die Relationen von Menschen untereinander, von Männern und Frauen in einer bestimmten gesellschaftlichen Situation.
Das Vorgehen Steff Grubers ist, sowohl bei den Aufnahmen zu einem Film als auch bei der Bearbeitung des so gewonnenen Materials, also ausserhalb der Norm. Was dabei entsteht, ist ästhetisch etwas Genuines, ein Stück künstlerischer Welt, wie sie in den Filmtheorien bisher nicht gedanklich vorweggenommen war.»
Martin Schaub, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 27. September 1985
Basler Zeitung
19. August 1985
(PDF – 224.3 kb)
Solothurner Zeitung
19.August 1985
(PDF – 432.2 kb)
Le Monde
20. Août 1985
(PDF – 270.9 kb)
NZZ
27. September 1985
(PDF – 374.9 kb)
