“Flavio Paolucci. From Guelmim to Biasca” by Villi Hermann

2024 · color · CH · FR, DE, ITA / EN · 65’

A German museum (Donaueschingen) had scheduled an exhibition of Flavio Paolucci’s work for 2022 and had reserved a 3.5 x 6.5 m white wall on which the painter-sculptor was to create a work in acrylic paint.

Everything was ready, but the pandemic prevented the 88-year-old artist from travelling to Germany. So, he had the idea of creating the work in his studio in Biasca, Switzerland, and then destroying it.

This creation will only exist in our film and only film viewers will see the work. This ephemeral artistic gesture was a very stimulating factor in my film project on the Swiss artist, a native of the Blenio Valley. It is a sketchy biography, made up of moments, such as his trip to Morocco at the age of 23, May ’68 and the 1970s, and from conversations while working.

THE DIRECTOR

Villi Hermann (1941) studies fine Arts in Lucerne and Paris. He later attended the London School of Filmtechnique (LSFT), where he graduates in 1969.

He comes back in Switzerland (first in Zurich then in Ticino), where he starts working as an independent Filmmaker. From 1976 he work with the “Filmkollektiv” in Zurich.

In 1977 Hermann directs “San Gottardo” for which he wins the Silver Pardo at the International Film Festival of Locarno. He lives in the Malcantone.

In 1980, filmmaker Villi Hermann founded his own independent production company Imagofilm Lugano. He is a member of the Association of Swiss Film Makers (ARF/FDS) and of Swiss Film Producer GARP and AFAT.

He got the Ticino Award at Locarno Film Festival 2018.

For over half a century, Imagofilm Lugano has left its mark on the Swiss film scene, producing films by Villi Hermann, by young filmmakers from Italian-speaking Switzerland Niccolò Castelli, Francesco Rizzi, Alberto Meroni and Erik Bernasconi and co-producing with Italy, France, Belgium and Algeria.

For the first time in Switzerland, in January 2021, the 56. Solothurn Film Festival dedicated the “Rencontre” retrospective to the complete works of filmmaker Villi Hermann, making his films accessible in digital format.

CAST AND CREW

Film director: Villi Hermann

Testimonials: Alice Pauli, Lausanne (CH), Margit Biedermann, Donaueschingen (D)

Production: Imagofilm Lugano, Switzerland

Coproduction: RSI Swiss Italian television – Silvana Bezzola Rigolini

Producer: Villi Hermann

Written by: Villi Hermann, Eve Martin