BLÖSCH
He gets hired at a slaughterhouse. It is there, that he gets to know a country, that is in danger of losing its soul in the course of modernization.
During the 1960s, the young guest worker Ambrosio migrates from Spain to Switzerland. He finds work on a farm in the Bernese canton. When the village community turns against him, the farmer has to dismiss Ambrosio.
Basic Information
Feature Film / Switzerland, Germany and Spain /
~100 min
Filmcrew
Director – Markus Imboden
Producer – Simon Hesse
Scriptwriter – Jan Poldervaart
Based on the novel «Blösch» by Beat Sterchi
Diogenes Verlag Zürich
status
In financing. confirmed: SRF, ARTE, BR
Principal shooting: Fall 2023
Distribution
Swiss distribution: Ascot Elite
Production information
A Hesse Film production
In co-production with:
Zum Goldenen Lamm Filmproduktion (GER)
Alhena Production (ES) & Contrast Film Bern (CH)
POTENTIAL & EVALUATION
BLÖSCH tells a timeless story on topics like the industrialized agricultural production, but also of the eternal yearning for a home and for a carefree life in harmony with nature. Ambrosio embodies the economic migration of the 1960s, which has brought enormous wealth to the respective countries, but rarely to the workers themselves.
In times of the increasing walling-off of Europe, xenophobia, the kind of which Ambrosio has to face, is an ageless topic. At the same time, the viewer is reflected in our protagonist, who confronts a society in constant change first with joyful confidence and at last with an act of violent revolt.
The film, with its close look at a historical chapter of the economic recovery in Europe, will surely find interest outside of Switzerland. Furthermore, the topic of the fully industrialized meat production – a virtual war of man against creature - is as up-to-date as universally understandable in any first world country. We expect the world premiere of BLÖSCH to be at an A-Festival.