GEORGES SCHWIZGEBEL
FILMOGRAPHY /
THE FLIGHT OF ICARUS - 1974
35mm, colour, 3’ without dialogue 4/3
Gouache on cell.
A pointillist musical illustration
Music : François Couperin,
Les folies musicales, extract
Harpyschord : Guy Waschmuth
Grant from OFC,
awarded in Zagreb and Soleure festivals.
PERSPECTIVES - 1975
35mm, colour, 1’30 without dialogue 4/3
Gouache on cell.
People and perspectives in movement
Music : Johann-Sebastian Bach, Prelude VI,
Well-tempered Clavier
Piano : Annemarie Haeberli
Grant from OFC, awarded in Soleure festival.
OFF-SIDE - 1977
35mm, colour, 6’ without dialogue 4/3
Acrylic on cell.
A description of a game between two teams
where one of the teams change the rules
Music : Guy Boulanger
Awarded in Bucuramanga (Colombia) festival.
THE RAVISHING OF FRANK N. STEIN - 1982
35mm, colour, 9’30 without dialogue 4/3
Gouache and Stabilo pen on cell.
The slow construction of an image, to the rhythm
of steps, ends when the monster meets his bride
Music : Michael Horowitz, Rainer Boesch
Grant from OFC, awarded in Soleure, Berlin,
Zagreb, Chicago and Athens (Ohio) festivals.
78 R.P.M. - 1985
35mm, colour 4’ without dialogue 4/3
Acrylic on cell.
A subjective camera view and a fixed frames
alternates on a waltz played by an accordion
triggering a short story that evokes
the passing of time.
Music : Alessandro Morelli
Accordion : Patrick Mamie
Grant from OFC, awarded in Soleure, Bonn
and Los Angeles festivals
Golden Ear in Valladolid festival
Grand prize in Stuttgart and Treviso festival.
NAKOUNINE - 1986
16mm, b/w and colour 6’ without dialogue 4/3
Photos and live shot with added animation
A bicycle ride through the streets of Shanghai
between winter and summer 1984,
from the suburbs to the center of the city
Music : Michael Horowitz
Coproduction : TSR
THE RIDE TO THE ABYSS - 1992
35mm, colour, 4’30 without dialogue 4/3
Acrylic on cell
Using a six second cycle an animated painting
illustrates an extract of an opera
Music : Hector Berlioz
Boston Symphony Orchestra, dir. Charles Munch
Grant from OFC, awarded in Zagreb, Hiroshima,
Espinho, Soleure, Oberhausen,
Vila do Conde, Montecatini and Krok festivals
THE SUBJECT OF THE PICTURE - 1989
35mm, colour, 6’10 without dialogue 4/3
Acrylic on cell, paper cut and oil painting
With the complicity of a painter, an elderly man
recorvers youth and manages to wander
through paintings
Music : Jacques Robellaz
Grant from OFC, awarded in Annecy, Varna,
Espinho, Soleure, Shanghai and
Bourg-en-Bresse festivals
ZIG ZAG - 1996
35mm, colour, 0’36 without dialogue 4/3
Dry pastel on glass paper
A brief homage to Rodolphe Töppfer
in a zigzag travelling
Music : Beethoven, Bagatelle Op.119 No.9
Piano : Louis Schwizgebel-Wang
Production : Galerie Papiers Gras
Awarded in Utrecht festival
THE YEAR OF THE DEER - 1995
35mm, colour, 5’15 without dialogue 4/3
Acrylic on cell and dry pastel on glass paper
The story of a young deer deceived by appearances,
based on a Tale from Liu Zongyuan (773-819)
Music : Philippe Koller
Quatuor Ortys, sound effects : Nicolas Becker
Coproduction : TSR, La Sept Arte
First prize in Zagreb and Grand prize in Espinho
festivals
FUGUE - 1998
35mm, colour, 7’12 without dialogue 4/3
Acrylic on cell and dry pastel on glass paper
A man races down a flight of stairs. He takes
refuge in a hotel room and begins to dream
Music : Michèle Bokanowski
Coproduction : TSR
Grant from OFC, awarded in Krok, Espinho,
Zagreb and Ottawa festivals.
Nominated for best Swiss short film prize 2000
THE YOUNG GIRL AND THE CLOUDS - 2000
35mm, colour, 4’30 without dialogue 4/3
Acrylic on cell and dry pastel on glass paper
The adventures of Cinderella told in several scenes
and cloud images.
Music : Félix Mendelsshon, Fugue Op.35 No.5
Sound effects : Pete Ehrnrooth
Piano : Louis Schwizgebel-Wang
Coproduction : TSR, Arte France
Grant from OFC, awarded in Krok, St-Hilaire,
Espinho, Zagreb and Hiroshima
festivals. Best Swiss short film prize 2002
THE MAN WITHOUT A SHADOW - 2004
35mm, colour, 9’35 without dialogue 4/3
Acrylic and oil paint on cell
A man trades his shadow for wealth but,
disappointed by the result, he has to resign
himself with some seven league boots to help
him find his way
Music : Judith Gruber-Stitzer
Sound design : Olivier Calvert
Coproduction : NFB, TSR
Awarded in Cannes, Zagreb, Hiroshima, Namur,
Valladolid, Geneva, Espinho, Utrecht, Bilbao,
Teheran Boulder, Paris, Yorkstone, Seoul, Krok
and Rome festivals, Nominated for best Swiss
animated short film prize and for best Canadian
animated short film prize 2005
PLAY - 2006
35mm, colour, 3’50 without dialogue 4/3
Acrylic and oil paint on cell
A visual and musical game which builds and destroys
itself on the speed rhythm of Serge Prokofiev’s
Scherzo to Piano Concerto No.2
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, dir. Philippe Béran
Soloist : Louis Schwizgebel-Wang
Sound design : Olivier Calvert
Coproduction : NFB, TSR
Grand Prize at the Animateka Festival in Ljubjana.
Awarded in Hiroshima, Ottawa, Leipzig, Utrecht,
Winterthur, Castelli Animatti, Vancouver, Vila do Conde,
London, Sapporo, Krok, Espinho, Badalona Festivals
Nominated for the Best Swiss and Canadian
Animated short film prize 2007
RETOUCHES - 2008
35mm, colour, 5’35 without dialogue 1:1,66
Acrylic and oil pastel on cell
Between a wave’s rhythm and the breath of a
young woman in her sleep, some animated
paintings go on modifying each other
Music: Normand Roger, sound mix: Serge Boivin
Coproduction: NFB, TSR, ARTE France
Awarded in Ann Arbour, Zagreb 25FPS, Meknes
and Fantoche Film Festival
Nominated for the Best Swiss animated
short film prize
ROMANCE - 2011
35mm, 7’10, colour, 5.1 without dialogue 1.1,66
Acrylic on cell and crayon, dry pastel on paper
A casual meeting on a plane and watching
a movie turns into a virtual romance
Music : Serge Rachmaninov, scherzo of sonata Op.19
Cello. Tina Schwizgebel, Piano : Louis Schwizgebel
Coproduction : NFB, RTS
Best Canadian Animated short film Genie Award 2011
Awarded at Athens, Baden, Brusels, Changzhou,
Geneva, Lisbon, New York, Recife,
Shenzhen and Zagreb festivals
ALONG THE WAY - 2012
DCP 2K, 3’50, colour, 5.1 without dialogue 16/9
Acrylic and oil pastel on cell
I can only think while walking : as soon as I stop,
I can think no longer ; my brain can only move
with my feet. J.-J. Rousseau, Les confessions, livre IX
Music : Jacques Robellaz
Coproduction : Ritaproductions
Awarded at Baden, Espinho and Granada Festivals
ERLKING - 2015
DCP 2K, 5’30, colour, 5.1 without dialogue 1 :1,89
Acrylic and oil pastel on cell
A father rides with his son through the forest.
The sick child thinks he sees the Erlking, who both
charms and frightens him. Based on Goethe’s poem
Erlkönig and the eponymous music of Schubert/Liszt
Piano : Louis Schwizgebel
Coproduction : RTS
Grand Prize at the Leipzig, Krakow, Cyprus and Varna
festivals. Awarded at 10 other festivals.
Swiss Film Award 2016
THE BATTLE OF SAN ROMANO - 2017
DCP 2K, 2’25, colour, 5.1 without dialogue 1 :1,89
Acrylic on cell
A movement within a painting, which begins
with the savagery of a battle and comes to a halt
in a rendition of a masterpiece of the 15th Century;
The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello
Music : Judith Gruber-Stitzer
Production : studio GDS
Awarded in Baden, Paris, St Petersburg
and Pergola festivals
DARWIN’S NOTEBOOK - 2020
DCP 2K, 9’21, b/w and colour, 5.1
without dialogue 1 :1,89
Acrylic on cell and crayon on paper
The return of three Anglicizied natives people
to their county or the beginning of a meeting
with the modern world that will destroy them.
Music : Judith Gruber-Stitzer . Coproduction : RTS
Swiss cinema award 2021, Rimbaud Award
in Martigues and Audiance Award in Yogyakarta festivals.
Grand Prix of Hiroshima Animation Season 2022.
Category and Audience Award.
FROM ONE PAINTING… TO ANOTHER - 2023
DCP 2K, 3’10, colour, 5.1
without dialogue 1:1,89
Acrylic on cell
An immersion in art through two paintings on the same subject
created half a century apart.
Music: Atahualpa Yupanqui, guitare: Roberto Aussel
Production: Studio GDS, coproduction: RTS, MIYU
