Summaries

Croatia, 7th of January 1992: In the middle of the war a young journalists' body is being found dressed with an uniform of the international mercenary group. 19 years later, his cousin Anja Kofmel detects his story.

Christian "Chris" Würtenberg was a young Swiss reporter/journalist attracted by war activities. So he had joined an army training in Namibia before taking an interest in the Balkan war, joining the PIV, a paramilitary group of activists which was in the end integrated into the Croatian army who were fighting the Serbs. He was not really a soldier type of man, became an outsider and ended tragically before he could actually write the book he intended to publish about the war atrocities. He was called Chris or "the Swiss" by the fighters. His cousin, Anja Kofmel, is the director of the film which has archive footing, live interviews, and animation parts. She traveled to the war sites 25 years after the actual events and interviewed people who had known Chris. Haunting animation scenes really show the horrors of war for the civilians and also the soldiers. There is no good or bad side, both sides are involved in war crimes. Chris investigated perhaps naively about the reasons people had to act the way they did. The hybrid film technique is mastered to perfection by director Anja Kofmel.—Rudolf Weiler

Details

Keywords
  • 1990s
  • voice over
  • little girl
  • black and white scene
  • part animated
Genres
  • Drama
  • Animation
  • War
  • Biography
  • Documentary
Release date Jan 30, 2019
Countries of origin Germany Finland Switzerland Croatia
Language English German Spanish French
Filming locations Ticino, Switzerland
Production companies Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion AG IV Films Ma.Ja.De Filmproduktion

Box office

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 30m
Color Black and White
Sound mix Dolby Atmos
Aspect ratio

Synopsis

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