website made
possible with generous supportSwiss film maker (writer/director)
Visiting professor California State University Long Beach, 2001, 2003, 2005.
Visiting lecturer "Deutsche Sommerschule" of the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 2005.
Lecturer Hochschule für Kunst und Gestaltung, Luzern, Switzerland, since 1999.
Visiting lecturer Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen, HFF, Potsdam/Berlin, 2006.
Walo Deuber was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, 1947. After a childhood in Zurich, he studied at the University of Zurich and the University of Berlin (FU) and received a Ph. D. in German literature and history in 1978. Dr. Deuber combines careers in journalism with film making and regular faculty appointments. After the remarkable success of his award-winning full-length documentary "Fading Traces" (1998), Walo Deuber brought his third full-length feature film to the big screen ("Remembering Anna", 2005). In 2001, Dr. Deuber was invited as a visiting professor to the California State University Long Beach (CSULB) where he taught courses in literature and film. In addition to regular faculty assignments at the California State University Long Beach (2001, 2003, 2005, prospective 2007), Dr. Deuber teaches regularly at the Lucerne College of Arts (Hochschule für Kunst und Gestaltung, Luzern, HGKL). In 2006, he will teach a seminar on dramaturgy at the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen, HFF, in Potsdam.
Der schwarze Tanner (The black Tanner)
Written by Walo Deuber and Xavier Koller, directed by Xavier Koller
1986, Swiss (Muotathal) German, Engl. subt., DVD, VHS, 35 mm, 112 min. color, Drama
Based on a novel by Meinrad Inglin, this movie has become a classic about the role of Switzerland in WW2. The drama of the resistance of farmers in the Alps against all plans of the Swiss government concerning food resources for the isolated nation is set into pictures of beautiful landscape. It is told along the touching family story of Kaspar Tanner, the "black" Tanner who sells its products on the black market. A drama of individuality and community against the backdrop of difficult political circumstances, the movie remains timeless. Wonderfully performed, it is a truthful account from the heartland of Switzerland. "Der schwarze Tanner" works well in lectures and seminars on Swiss history, Swiss culture, Swiss films. Insights in the making of the movie can be added.
Klassezämekunft (Class Reunion)
Written and directed by Walo Deuber and Peter Stierlin
1988, Swiss German, Engl. subt., DVD, VHS, 35 mm, 97 min. color, Black Comedy
The story, told with the finest actors of Swiss cinema including Ursula Andress, centers on a murder at the Rhinefall in 1938. Fifty years later, the class of 1938 is invited to a castle, the home of one of the classmates. Step by step the old story is revealed - with deadly consequences. "Klassezämekunft" is purely fictional although it focuses on political opportunism in Switzerland during the Nazi period in Germany. The black comedy starring Anne-Marie Blanc, Ruedi Walter, Paul Hubschmid and others was a great success in Swiss cinemas in 1989 and played well on Swiss TV.
Spuren verschwinden – Nachträge ins Europäische Gedächtnis / Fading Traces – Postscrips from a Landscape of Memory
Written and directed by Walo Deuber
1998, German / English, Germ. / Engl. subt., VHS, DigiBeta, 35 mm, 79 min. color, documentary.
Memory is the theme, memories are the subject of this documentary about the Shoa, made 1997 in the Western Ukraine, former area of the worldwide largest Jewish community in Eastern Europe. Set in a beautiful landscape, where the birth of the Hassidic faith can still be felt in the abundant nature, the movie combines literary statements by German writing Jewish authors from the era with accounts of survivors of the Shoa. The Award winning documentary not only preserves the account of the last generation of witnesses of the Shoa, but also depicts the traces of a once vivid Jewish culture. Accounts are in Yiddish, Russian and German (with subtitles), the original German version provides the literature in original German, the English version presents it in authorized translation (Joseph Roth, Manes Sperber, Alfred Döblin, Paul Celan, Rose Ausländer, Bruno Schulz). The screening of the documentary suits many kinds of courses in history, literature, language, religion, Shoa-related etc.
Ricordare Anna (Remembering Anna)
Written an directed by Walo Deuber
2005, German, Engl. subt., DVD, 35 mm, 97 min., color, Drama
Told from the point of view of a father (Mathias Gnädinger), the movie tells the drama of a young Swiss woman, her Sicilian husband and their children. Based on the true story of one of the first Aids cases in Switzerland in the late 80ies, the movie travels from Zurich to Sicily and back. Besides being a touching love story on several levels, the movie combines the theme of memory with questions of guilt, redemption and, ultimately, of love. Set in Zurich of the 1980s with its youth riots, the film is suitable for Swiss cultural studies. Still in selected Art-house-release in Switzerland and Germany.
Videopoly oder Duponts Verschwinden (Videopoly or the disappearing of Mr Dupont)
Written and directed by Walo Deuber and Peter Stierlin
1985, in German only, Digital Beta, VHS, Pal, 89 min. color, Comedy
This made-for-TV movie tells a SciFi-story about a banker who disappears into a video-game. He is freed by his hacker-son and returns to his family only after a long fight within the empire of a big video-game-company and its mogul-owner. The then advanced SciFi comedy was screened successfully by Swiss Television (SRG) and German TV ARD (NDR) in 1986. There is no special relation to Switzerland, the cast being mainly German. Of nostalgic value with old hardware but pertinent reflections on media (kind of a "Geheimtipp" for Cyber-freaks).
Videos made for teaching purposes
Der Einkehrer – Peter Bichsel in Solothurn
Directed by Walo Deuber
2001, German, VHS, color, 50 min. Portrait (Special for GERM 511 CSULB 2001, "Heimat und Fremde")
A 30-minute interview with author Peter Bichsel is combined with impressions of his hometown of Solothurn and the reading of one of his "Kindergeschichten", "Jodok". The famous author, whose work has been translated into many languages, talks about his way of writing and his personal problems with it. The video has been used successfully in many classes in the US and in Europe.
Der Abkehrer – Jürg Federspiel in Basel (Melancolia Americana)
Directed by Walo Deuber
2001, German, VHS, color, 40 min. Portrait (Special for GERM 511 CSULB 2001, "Heimat und Fremde")
The original made-for-CSULB program has been redone as a TV program for 3sat TV. With his most famous book "Museum des Hasses" ("Museum of Hate") set in New York, Jürg Federspiel established a long relationship with the US in the 1960s. In the interview he talks about his way of getting to his stories ("Typhoid Mary"). Impressions of his hometown Basel are added to the interview. Federspiel reads from "Museum des Hasses" and "Typhoid Mary".
Der Heimkehrer – Hugo Loetscher in Zürich
Directed by Walo Deuber
2001, German, VHS, color, 40 min. Portrait (Special for GERM 511 CSULB 2001, "Heimat und Fremde")
Set in his homebase Zurich, the video portrays the global traveler Hugo Loetscher with an interview about Heimat
Bilder zur Architektur der Wiederholung – Regisseur Richard Dindo zur "Montauk"-Verfilmung
Directed by Walo Deuber
2003, German, VHS, color, 25 min. Interview (Special for GERM 511 CSULB 2003, "Literature and Film")
In a long interview, the director of "Max Frisch: Journal I-III" explains his approach to the adaptation of Frisch's novel "Montauk". The video addresses a full range of questions in the context of adapting fiction to the screen. Richard Dindo is one of the best-known and experienced Swiss documentary film-makers and has done movies on Genet, Rimbaud and Kafka.
Menschen, die sich in Bildern bewegen – Regisseur Thomas Koerfer zur "Gehülfen"-Verfilmung
Directed by Walo Deuber
2003, German, VHS, color, 25 min. Interview (Special for GERM 511 CSULB 2003, "Literature and Film")
In an extended interview, Thomas Koerfer talks about his approach to the adaptation of Robert Walsers "Der Gehülfe". His 1976-version of the novel is an interpretation of Walser’s story as well as one of his writing-style. An acclaimed film maker, who made a controversial movie of Gottfried Kellers "Der grüne Heinrich", Koerfer gives insight into his relationship to Robert Walser.
Heimat und Fremde oder Was können die Schriftsteller für unsere Schweiz?
in German, 2 hrs and more.
First presented at the Swiss Embassy, Washington D.C. 2001
How do authors bear responsibility for their country? The lecture summarizes the GERM 498 seminar 2001 at CSULB "Heimat und Fremde". It works with texts by Peter Bichsel, Hugo Loetscher and Jürg Federspiel. My own documentary videos especially made for the course about these contemporary Swiss authors ("Der Einkehrer – Peter Bichsel" 50 min., "Der Heimkehrer – Hugo Loetscher", 40 min., "Der Abkehrer – Jürg Federspiel", 40 min.) can be screened with the lecture.
Heimat und Fremde – Sprache und Film: Frischs "Homo Faber" als "Voyager"
in German, 4 hrs and more.
First presented at the "Goethe Institute", Toronto, 2001
How much do the needs of film change a literary novel? The lecture combines an introduction to Max Frisch's literary relationship with the US and the presentation of the 'Hollywood' "Homo Faber" movie-adaptation "Voyager", directed by the German Volker Schlöndorff starring Sam Shepard and Julie Delpy. It is based on the GERM 498 seminar "Heimat und Fremde" at CSULB 2001. The lecture can be extended with additional material from my GERM 498 seminar "Literature and Film" at CSULB 2003, where I presented the Frisch novel "Montauk" together with its cinematographic adaptation "Max Frisch: Journal I-III" by Richard Dindo and an especially made-for-the course video-interview with the Swiss film author. (More documentaries about Max Frisch as well as more adaptations are available.)
Spuren verschwinden - Fading Traces
in German or English, 4 hrs and more
First presented at the University of Arizona, Tucson, 2000
How important is memory? How different is literary memory from 'ordinary' memory? The lecture is drawn from the experience of many worldwide special screenings of my movie "Fading Traces – Postscripts from a Landscape of Memory" (Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Holocaust Memorial Museum Washington, Sarajevo, CSULB etc.). The documentary (79 min.) combines German literature and with the words of survivors of the Shoa in the Western Ukraine. The lecture includes the account of the making of the movie about the former Jewish Eastern universe and its annihilation in WWII. It also addresses questions such as the relationship between literature and history or the question about truth and reality in literary and oral history. Important German literary witnesses involved are Joseph Roth, Paul Celan, Alfred Döblin, Rose Ausländer. Paul Celans famous "Deathfugue" is approached in a special way. "Fading Traces" can be screened in its fully English version or in its German original: "Spuren verschwinden – Nachträge ins Europäische Gedächtnis". In both versions the interviews with survivors are in original language with subtitles (Yiddish, German, Russian). Any lecture would include the screening of the movie. The lecture could be adapted to the needs of any institution with a variety of foci: Shoa, Jewish literature in German, aspects of documentary work in film etc.
Adaptation of (Swiss German) Literature into Film
in English or German, 6 hrs and more
First presented at CSULB, 2003
How does an adaptation relate to its source? Drawn from my GERM 511 seminar and GERM 480 course at CSULB in 2003, lectures may focus on different examples of adaptations from literature to film. The presentations of the following two examples have shown to be especially fruitful for discussions in class: Based on Friedrich Dürrenmatts "The pledge" ("Das Versprechen") the lecture presents two different adaptations: "The Pledge", directed by Sean Penn, starring Jack Nicholson (2001) and "Es geschah am hellichten Tag", directed by Ladislao Vajda, starring Heinz Rühmann (1958). Based on Friedrich Dürrenmatts play "Der Besuch der alten Dame" the lecture presents the adaptations "The Visit", directed by Bernhard Wicki, starring Ingrid Bergman (1964) and "Hyènes", an African version directed by Djibril Diop Mambéty (1992).
Alfred Döblins Berlin Alexanderplatz - expressionism in literature and film
in English or German, 6 hrs and more
First presented at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque (Deutsche Sommerschule), 2005
Which media transcends what content by which means? The lecture gives an introduction to the famous novel of the Twenties by Alfred Döblin and brings it into the perspective of the Rainer Werner Fassbinder adaptation for TV – a 13 hrs marathon which, in the 1980s, became almost as famous as the novel. The discussion, combined with partial screenings of the Fassbinder version, leads to an introduction to the expressionist urban novel in Germany and parallels it with aspects of aesthetics in cinema. The presentation at UNM was based on the GERM 511 seminars at CSULB 2003 and 2005.
Die Handkamera des Robert Walser – The hand-held camera of Robert Walser
in German or English, 2 hrs and more
in preparation
How parallels the search for expression by an author of the early 20th century the quest for expression of the rising new media film? The presentation and discussion of special writing forms of Robert Walser (1878-1956) is based on a combination of teaching GERM 511 seminars about the famous Swiss author at CSULB in 2003 and 2005, and personal experiences with the making of a literary documentary for TV "Er, der Hut, sitzt auf ihm, dem Kopf" with short texts by Walser. The TV-movie will be ready for airing in Swiss TV by the end of 2006. An essay will follow. The lecture could be extended with screenings of other Walser adaptations ("Institute Benjamenta" and "Der Gehülfe") and my special video interview with the director of the movie "Der Gehülfe", Thomas Koerfer. Also available is a documentary about Robert Walser by Ernst Buchmüller (Swiss TV, 2003).
History of Swiss Film
in English or German, 4 hrs and more
First presented at CSULB 2001 (renewed 2005)
What makes a "Swiss film" a "Swiss film"? From blockbusters to art films, from the very beginning of film making in Switzerland to the latest releases by Swiss directors: Based on material from the Swiss Films Institute a wide range of Swiss films can be presented and brought into the perspective of Swiss film history. The program could include the Friedrich Glauser adaptations ("Wachtmeister Studer" and others), the Gotthelf adaptations ("Ueli der Knecht" etc.), the early art film "Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe", two films on Swiss history in WW2: "Das Boot ist voll" and "Der schwarze Tanner". As scriptwriter of the latter, there is additional insight into the making of that movie to be offered. Aspects of film history would touch the difference in development of the Swiss industry in its German and French parts. Award winning films such as "Journey of Hope", Academy Award 1992 Best Foreign Language Film" and "Last Chance", Golden Globe Award 1946. etc., could be presented as a program in itself. More recent film presentations might include "Ricordare Anna", my last movie, starring Mathias Gnädinger (2005). The lecture is based on my GERM 480 course at CSULB 2001/2003/2005. A combination with German film history is possible (as done at CSULB).
Kulturlandschaft Schweiz (Cultural Landscape Switzerland)
in German or English, 4 hrs and more
First presented at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque (Deutsche Sommerschule), 2005
Paradise or paradox - How much do the happy few of Switzerland live in a paradox? To present Switzerland means to begin with its demography consisting of four different parts speaking four different languages. And to end it with the question mark: Why does this century-old community of will play a role as an outsider and pure bystander of the formation of another unity of will around it with the European Union, EU? New material from "Presence Switzerland" will be presented as well as new works by Swiss authors in literature and film. Subjects are the Swiss way of democracy, immigration and the role of artists and media in present Switzerland.
Dr. Walo Deuber
Schulhausstrasse 40
CH-8703 Erlenbach
e: wdeuber@smile.ch
Tel. +41 44 911 09 81 / +41 79 340 15 76 (cell)