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Scene from the movie. Skeptics in the crown display the constitution and listen to the national anthem. image: filmstill
The movie Corona is a success, but the director is not really comfortable with it
The movie “Unheard of” was viewed more than 400,000 times in three weeks. There are no more performances.
The movie “Unheard of” is seen. Reto Brennwald’s documentation has been viewed around 436,000 times since it was posted three weeks ago on the Vimeo video platform.
How can this success be explained? The film is a haunting critique of the government and media handling of the first corona wave. The virus is presented as harmless and the countermeasures, especially blocking, are worse than previously thought. The media is blamed for the alleged lack of voices from skeptical doctors and experts. The film thus reached a loyal fan base. It was celebrated in the relevant forums of the crown skeptics. But 400,000 visits cannot be explained by this niche audience alone.
Reto Brennwald during the round table on October 23. Image: keystone
Crown skeptics and the Brennwald factor
Says Brennwald: “400,000 views show me that obviously there is great interest in a critical view that goes well beyond the so-called skeptics of the crown.” In fact, it is likely that sender Brennwald made sure the film reached some of its previous audience as well. In the 1990s, the man with the distinctive face was a front man on Swiss television.
He initially worked for the “Rundschau” and, since 2007, for the “Arena”. With his deep voice, which had once helped him make a career out of “Radio 24,” he later attracted the viewer in travel reports or introduced strange personalities in documentaries. He left his position as moderator of “Arena” after criticism emerged that he preferred the senior vice president. “Teleblocher am Leutschenbach” wrote the “NZZ”. This accusation also makes Brennwald popular with that part of the audience for whom Swiss television is too left-wing.
Stefan Theiler, a candidate for the Bern municipal council and a skeptic of Corona, is being taken away by the police in Bern. Image: keystone
Today he still moderates the niche program “Sunday Newspaper Points of View”. Now he is self-employed. Brennwald was not available for a detailed discussion of reactions to his film and his assessment of the current situation. He would prefer a factual debate on “how can we get out of the crisis now” and not on his person, who has recently been “too much at the center”. There is one thing in particular that Brennwald does not want to talk about.
It is about Friday, October 23. At that time, the film premiered in an event hall in Dübendorf. This was followed by a discussion with Daniel Koch, the crown-skeptical family doctor Christoph Schmidli, the director of the trade association Hans-Ulrich Bigler and the comedian Stefan Büsser, who belongs to the risk group due to lung disease.
The nasty whistles against Daniel Koch
New Brennwald fans arrived in droves. And some of them did not want to be told when and how loud they could speak, nor did they meet the mask requirement. Daniel Koch was booed over and over again and comedian Büsser was interrupted by boos. Brennwald was clearly uncomfortable with that. “Not like that!” He once said to the audience, and when one of his guests was again interrupted: “I’d like to hear it.”
After the discussion in Dübendorf, Brennwald stayed away from the interrupters. He had little fear of contact beforehand, even with provocative characters. On his YouTube channel, for example, he had a conversation with a blogger demanding that the Federal Council be jailed. Brennwald distanced himself from the extreme individual attitudes of the man in the conversation, but posted the video under the morbid title “Does the Federal Council belong to jail?” On September 19, he enjoyed applause at a coronavirus demonstration at Zurich’s Turbinenplatz and solicited donations for his film.
Police officers keep an eye on crown skeptics at Bundesplatz. Image: keystone
The estrangement of his fans has become evident. Because even before the release of the movie “Unheard of”, Brennwald began to back down. Thus he distanced himself from Marco Rima in a preliminary talk with journalists to whom he showed the film before the premiere. The comedian has a prominent appearance in the film. Brennwald emphasized that the interview with Rima had been recorded on a radio broadcast with Roger Schawinski before Rima made his comments. In the case of Schawinski, Rima opposed the use of a mask and relativized the deaths by corona with reference to the excess birth rate. When asked what he would do differently today, Brennwald replied that he would interview Rima in more detail and more critically. Brennwald also did not want to criticize the blocking measures that the cantons of Geneva and Valais had taken shortly before the premiere.
Today he refrains from making more screenings of his film, even if this were possible on a small scale. “Right now, we are encouraged to social distancing, and I maintain it,” Brennwald writes by email. In any case, only a few more demonstrations were planned.
Is it opportunism or is there something else?
One could dismiss Brennwald’s din as opportunism: When he still needed donations and attention for his film, he took a cuddle course with crown skeptics. The thing about the box and the donations in the account, distances itself. But this explanation is probably too simple. Anyone arguing with Brennwald recognizes the skeptic in him. According to his own statements, he was one of the first to wear a mask when shopping at the store. But he soon questioned such measures. When he expressed his doubts on Facebook, he was attacked there, prompting him to make the film even more.
Before the movie came out, the wind changed. There were fewer protective measures and more infections. The position of the film, according to which absolutely another blockade must be avoided, is now doctrine of the Federal Council. Instead of rejection, Brennwald comes out in favor. It is very possible that the journalist had doubts again. (aargauerzeitung.ch)
