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Heated mood on Friday at the premiere of “Unerhört!”, The documentary by former “Arena” host and SRF editor Reto Brennwald (57). The 950 seats of the Samsung Hall in Zurich-Stettbach are sold out.
An estimated 80 percent of the audience are skeptical of the crown. The mood is correspondingly emotional, with applause and boos throughout the film. The use of a mask is mandatory, people in the hall are asked to do it again. Most wear respiratory protection, some groups remove masks. The audience is informed several times that the media are present, so afterwards it does not mean that no one has been warned.
The documentary is followed by a panel discussion with “Mr Corona” Daniel Koch (65), Hans-Ulrich Bigler (62), director of the Swiss Trade Association, comedian and moderator Stefan Büsser (35) and Christoph Schmidli, doctor.
The crown dialogue takes place mainly with Koch. All questions from the audience are directed to him. There are boos and whistles. There cannot be a question of dialogue. Koch barely manages to finish a sentence. Some people in the room stand up when Koch speaks, others leave the room.
Koch: A liberal society must also be able to “endure extreme minorities”
After the warm evening, BLICK talks to Daniel Koch, who “plays Corona,” as filmmaker Brennwald later says. Koch is understanding: “It is a film with a new point of view, more critical, much more critical than most documentaries so far, but that is also a point of view that is justified and that can be discussed.
He “doesn’t take the numerous insults personally,” says Koch. “My face represents the pandemic in Switzerland, which occurred in the first wave of pandemics.” He “understands that people don’t think that’s cool and prefer not to see my face.”
Koch: “These exchanges of opinions are necessary in a free society, you have to be able to bear that, even if some of them are extreme opinions, even if some of them are extreme minorities.”
The discussion has “its place,” says Koch. “As long as they treat each other decently and follow the rules that apply to everyone, that’s fine.” Corona’s many skeptics were also to be expected. He was asked to participate from the beginning: “And if I say A once, I will go to the end,” says Koch.
Büsser: “People who yell boo are not interested in a dialogue”
Stefan Büsser had “hoped,” he tells BLICK, that there would be no dialogue: “A monologue came from outside, the audience chatted relatively one-sided, but that was to be expected.”
He believes that it is “exciting to see the other side of what the general public does not perceive.” “It is always good to see both sides. But the movie was also unbalanced and did not answer any questions. It was an exciting idea. “
The fact that he was booed didn’t hurt “not for a second,” Büsser said. “People who shout boo are not interested in a dialogue, but have a prepared opinion, of which they always accuse the media.”
Brennwald doesn’t call himself a Corona skeptic, but a skeptic of the extent
Television journalist, filmmaker and presenter Brennwald, with whom BLICK conducted a detailed interview about the film beforehand, describes the evening as “emotional and informative.” “You can feel,” he told BLICK after the premiere, “that some of these people are primarily critical of official policy.” As a result, the reactions were “very focused on Daniel Koch.”
The tense atmosphere has shown that there are still “many open questions and controversial expert opinions.” Brennwald speaks of a “cacophony towards the public, who then does not know exactly what to do”.
Now it is necessary to take stock of “how the next dialogue should be put together so that it works well”: it has to be a dialogue and it is necessary to “follow a strategy that causes us the least damage in general”.
