- Director: Alain Tanner
- Screenplay: Alain Tanner
- Cinematography: Acacio de Almeida
- Editing: Laurent Uhler
- Cast: Francisco Baião, José Carvalho, Bruno Ganz, Teresa Madruga, Julia Vonderlinn
- Producer: Paolo Branco
- Production: Filmograph SA, Metro Films Lisbon
- Distributor: CAB Productions
- Contact: Gérard Ruey,
- Festivals: Zürich Film Festival, Cinequest San Jose, Solothurner Filmtage
In the white city
Vacation? No, there's things to do during vacation. Naval engineer Paul (Bruno Ganz) goes off-board, moves into a room in Lisbon and takes time off. Okay, he sends some Super-8-tapes to his girlfriend. He gets intimate with chamber maid Rosa (Teresa Madruga). And he drifts aimlessly through the city. But all of a sudden something happens, which hurts a lot.
Shot in 1983, this film by French-Swiss director Alain Tanner was an arthouse hit in its time. Looking back on it now, we still see three layers of filmic seduction: an ode to Lisbon, to love and to the joy of being alone.
Film journalist Jan Schulz-Ojala will give an introduction to the film and to Tanner's general filmography.
Alain Tanner
Having said his spirited farewell to filmmaking 14 years ago with PAUL S’EN VA, his name still resonates among French-speaking Swiss directors: Alain Tanner. Born in 1929, he spent his early years in the merchant navy, before working for the Swiss television. He gained international fame with the feature LA SALAMANDRE - the wonderfully chaotic triangle of self-assured jobber Rosemonde, journalist Pierre and writer Paul. In 1976 he directed JONAH WHO WILL BE 25 IN THE YEAR 2000: between conformation and anarchy, eight people explore the suitability of the concepts of life that the 1968-generation have passed on to them. The tone of Tanner's films changed around this time; movies that sprang from one idea and relied on often grotesque humour gave way to poetic, melancholic and more intimate works. With a certain increasingly radical progression, his characters started to oscillate between wanting to belong and a quest of freedom.