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Christian Frei

January 01, 1970

Christian Frei (born 1959 in Schönenwerd, Solothurn) is a Swiss filmmaker and film producer. He is mostly known for his films War Photographer (2001), The Giant Buddhas (2005) and Space Tourists (2009).[1]

Frei has been an associate lecturer on Reflection Competence at the University of St. Gallen from 2006 to 2023. From 2006 to 2009 he was president of the "Documentary Film Commission" for the film section of the Swiss Federal Office of Culture, and from 2010 to 2022 he had held the position of President of the Swiss Film Academy.[2]

Frei in 2012

Career edit

Frei follows his protagonists closely - always in search of authentic moments,[3] and always keeping the whole picture in mind. Peter-Matthias Gaede said that Frei made films that avoided "noise, pompous gestures, the rush of speed" and that he and his cameraman (Peter Indergand) made films that were subtle and "exude quiet persistance".[4] According to Kulturzeit, "What makes these films so extraordinary? They are authentic moments that endure. Christian Frei takes us along a perimeter that both divides and unites individuals and cultures: the tectonics of humanity."[4]

Frei studied television at the Department of Journalism and Communications of the University of Fribourg. In 1981 he directed his first documentary short film, Die Stellvertreterin.[5] After co-directing Fortfahren with Ivo Kummer in 1984, he became an independent filmmaker and producer. He made another short film, Der Radwechsel. Then he moved on to feature-length documentaries with Ricardo, Miriam y Fidel (1997).[5] The documentary was described as being "surprisingly revealing" by the Chicago Tribune, who went on to say that the "pain and disillusionment on both sides are in plain view". It portrays the rift between Miriam Martinez, who wants to leave Cuba for the US, and her father Ricardo Martinez - one of the founders of Fidel Castro's "Radio Rebelde". The Chicago Tribune goes on to say that the film "is equally sympathetic to Ricardo's revolutionary hopes and Miriam's hopelessness -- an amazing feat in a Cuban film."[6]

War Photographer (2001) received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary and numerous prizes worldwide. For this feature-length documentary, Frei spent two years accompanying war photographer James Nachtwey to different war zones around the world. The film shows his protagonist to be a shy and reserved man, far from the hothead image associated with his profession.[7] Frei intelligently plays with the role of the spectator, confronting him with the ambivalence of war photography and the role of the media. The documentary appeals to the spectators' sense for compassion and thematically approaches the theme of war itself.[8]

With The Giant Buddhas (2005), Frei once again deals with a subject of strong political and global interest: The film revolves around the destruction of the two giant Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan's remote Bamiyan Valley. It is an essay "on faith and fanaticism, tolerance and terrorism, identity and ignorance, the ephemeral and our feeble attempts to preserve it".[9] The film turned out to be a documentary that filled a necessary gap of knowledge far from the everyday media war reportage.[10]

At the Sundance Film Festival in 2010 Frei won the "World Cinema Directing Award" for his film Space Tourists (2009). The documentary juxtaposes the journeys of the extremely rich tourists traveling with the astronauts into space with the poor Kazakh metal collectors risking their lives in search for rocket waste fallen down into the planes once the space shuttle has left. As a result, the film turns out to be a humorous and poetic declaration of love for planet earth. Critics acclaimed this film for its breathtaking imagery and richness of insights.[11]

In 2014, Sleepless in New York premiered in competition at Visions du Réel, the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival. Frei dives into the frenzied nights of three newly rejected. Helen Fisher, an American biological anthropologist, reveals the astounding and profound processes that unfold in the brain of the lovesick.[12] Working again with DOP Peter Indergand, they developed a spherical mirror to capture the solitude of the broken-hearted.[13]

As producer, Frei released Raving Iran, the first feature-length documentary directed by Susanne Regina Meures.[14] She follows two Tehran DJs performing at illegal parties and planning to leave Iran. The film had its international premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival Toronto and won awards at numerous film festivals.[15]

The documentary Genesis 2.0 had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2018[16] and was awarded with the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematography.[17] Swiss cameraman Peter Intergand and the Russian filmmaker Maxim Arbugaev are responsible for the cinematography, Arbugaev also co-directed the film. Genesis 2.0 follows mammoth hunters on the remote New Siberian Islands and portrays clone researchers and synthetic biologists in South Korea, China and USA.[18]

Filmography edit

Awards edit

  • 2021 Honorary Doctorate PhD h.c. in Social Sciences University of St. Gallen [19]

Ricardo, Miriam y Fidel edit

  • Basic Trust International Human Rights Film Festival Ramallah-Tel Aviv 2000: audience award[20]

War Photographer edit

The Giant Buddhas edit

  • DOK Leipzig 2005: Silver Dove
  • Dokufest, Pizren Dokumentary and Short Film Festival 2006: winner ex aequo
  • Trento Film Festival 2006: Silver Gentian
  • Reno Tahoe International Film Festival 2006: Best of the Fest – Documentary[22]
  • Sundance Film Festival 2006: Nominated Grand Jury Prize feature-length documentaries
  • Swiss Film Award 2006: Nominated Best Documentary Film

Space Tourists edit

  • The Documentary Channel 2012: Jury prize "Best of Doc"
  • Cervino Cine Mountain International Mountain Film Festival 2011: Miglior Grand Prix dei Festival 2011
  • Beldocs Belgrad 2010: Best Photography Award
  • Berg- und Abenteuerfilmfestival Graz 2010: Grand Prix Documentary Feature
  • European Documentary Film Festival Oslo 2010: Eurodok Award[21]
  • Sundance Film Festival 2010: World Cinema Directing Award
  • EBS International Documentary Festival Seoul 2010: Special jury prize
  • Swiss Film Award 2010: Nominated Best Documentary

Genesis 2.0 edit

References edit

  1. ^ Tully, Andrew F. (26 March 2006). "Afghanistan: Film Revisits Destruction Of Bamiyan Buddhas". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  2. ^ "Die Schweizer Filmakademie | filmakademie.ch". filmakademie.ch.
  3. ^ . Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-05-28.
  4. ^ a b Gaede, Peter-Matthias (2007). The Tectonics of Humanity Booklet (PDF). Warner Home Video Switzerland. pp. 3–4.
  5. ^ a b "Christian Frei". swissfilms. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
  6. ^ "CHICAGO LATINO FILM FESTIVAL OPENS A WINDOW ONTO MANY WORLDS". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
  7. ^ A.O. Scott: Witnessing the Witness: Looking Over a Shoulder at War's Deprivation, in: New York Times, June 19, 2002.
  8. ^ "FILM CLIPS / Also opening today".
  9. ^ . Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-05-28.
  10. ^ David Courier: "The Giant Buddhas is a stirring example of the power of cinema to enlighten as it defies the boundaries of culture and time."Sundance Institute History, 2006
  11. ^ "Space Tourists".
  12. ^ Giorgia del Don: Sleepless in New York: A dive into the intimacy of three broken hearts, in: Cineuropa, April 22, 2014
  13. ^ John Anderson: Romance and Heartbreak Is Rarely As Moving As 'Sleepless In New York', in: Indiewire, May 5, 2014.
  14. ^ Siân Melton on Raving Iran in: Women And Hollywood, April 30, 2016.
  15. ^ "Raving Iran". swissfilms.
  16. ^ . Archived from the original on 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
  17. ^ Kilday, Gregg (January 27, 2018). "Sundance: 'The Miseducation of Cameron Post' Wins Dramatic Grand Jury Prize".
  18. ^ "Sloan Science & Film". scienceandfilm.org.
  19. ^ "Christian Frei", Wikipedia (in German), 2023-04-01, retrieved 2023-04-13
  20. ^ "Ricardo, Miriam y Fidel". ricardo.christian-frei.info.
  21. ^ a b "SWISS FILMS Cinéportrait, Update 2014 (see PDF p. 3)". Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  22. ^ "The Giant Buddhas". swissfilms.
  23. ^ "Award list Swiss Films". April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  24. ^ . June 8, 2018. Archived from the original on April 23, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  25. ^ "Lunenburg Doc Fest Twitter". September 18, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  26. ^ "Agha, Genesis 2.0 and Bribe awarded the best Arctic films at the International Film Festival Golden Raven (Cyrillic)". September 16, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  27. ^ "DocUtah 2018 Wrap-Up". November 9, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  28. ^ "Media Release". November 14, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  29. ^ "Awards". February 4, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  30. ^ "Nominations Swiss Film Award". January 31, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2019.

Further reading edit

  • The Tectonics of Humanity. GEO Edition Documentaries Christian Frei Collection, ed. by Warner Home Video Switzerland 2007.

External links edit

  • Norbert Creutz: Director’s Portrait Christian Frei, ed. by SwissFilms May 2006 2017-10-17 at the Wayback Machine

  Media related to Christian Frei at Wikimedia Commons

January 01, 1970
christian, frei, born, 1959, schönenwerd, solothurn, swiss, filmmaker, film, producer, mostly, known, films, photographer, 2001, giant, buddhas, 2005, space, tourists, 2009, frei, been, associate, lecturer, reflection, competence, university, gallen, from, 200. Christian Frei born 1959 in Schonenwerd Solothurn is a Swiss filmmaker and film producer He is mostly known for his films War Photographer 2001 The Giant Buddhas 2005 and Space Tourists 2009 1 Frei has been an associate lecturer on Reflection Competence at the University of St Gallen from 2006 to 2023 From 2006 to 2009 he was president of the Documentary Film Commission for the film section of the Swiss Federal Office of Culture and from 2010 to 2022 he had held the position of President of the Swiss Film Academy 2 Frei in 2012 Contents 1 Career 2 Filmography 3 Awards 3 1 Ricardo Miriam y Fidel 3 2 War Photographer 3 3 The Giant Buddhas 3 4 Space Tourists 3 5 Genesis 2 0 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksCareer editFrei follows his protagonists closely always in search of authentic moments 3 and always keeping the whole picture in mind Peter Matthias Gaede said that Frei made films that avoided noise pompous gestures the rush of speed and that he and his cameraman Peter Indergand made films that were subtle and exude quiet persistance 4 According to Kulturzeit What makes these films so extraordinary They are authentic moments that endure Christian Frei takes us along a perimeter that both divides and unites individuals and cultures the tectonics of humanity 4 Frei studied television at the Department of Journalism and Communications of the University of Fribourg In 1981 he directed his first documentary short film Die Stellvertreterin 5 After co directing Fortfahren with Ivo Kummer in 1984 he became an independent filmmaker and producer He made another short film Der Radwechsel Then he moved on to feature length documentaries with Ricardo Miriam y Fidel 1997 5 The documentary was described as being surprisingly revealing by the Chicago Tribune who went on to say that the pain and disillusionment on both sides are in plain view It portrays the rift between Miriam Martinez who wants to leave Cuba for the US and her father Ricardo Martinez one of the founders of Fidel Castro s Radio Rebelde The Chicago Tribune goes on to say that the film is equally sympathetic to Ricardo s revolutionary hopes and Miriam s hopelessness an amazing feat in a Cuban film 6 War Photographer 2001 received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary and numerous prizes worldwide For this feature length documentary Frei spent two years accompanying war photographer James Nachtwey to different war zones around the world The film shows his protagonist to be a shy and reserved man far from the hothead image associated with his profession 7 Frei intelligently plays with the role of the spectator confronting him with the ambivalence of war photography and the role of the media The documentary appeals to the spectators sense for compassion and thematically approaches the theme of war itself 8 With The Giant Buddhas 2005 Frei once again deals with a subject of strong political and global interest The film revolves around the destruction of the two giant Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan s remote Bamiyan Valley It is an essay on faith and fanaticism tolerance and terrorism identity and ignorance the ephemeral and our feeble attempts to preserve it 9 The film turned out to be a documentary that filled a necessary gap of knowledge far from the everyday media war reportage 10 At the Sundance Film Festival in 2010 Frei won the World Cinema Directing Award for his film Space Tourists 2009 The documentary juxtaposes the journeys of the extremely rich tourists traveling with the astronauts into space with the poor Kazakh metal collectors risking their lives in search for rocket waste fallen down into the planes once the space shuttle has left As a result the film turns out to be a humorous and poetic declaration of love for planet earth Critics acclaimed this film for its breathtaking imagery and richness of insights 11 In 2014 Sleepless in New York premiered in competition at Visions du Reel the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival Frei dives into the frenzied nights of three newly rejected Helen Fisher an American biological anthropologist reveals the astounding and profound processes that unfold in the brain of the lovesick 12 Working again with DOP Peter Indergand they developed a spherical mirror to capture the solitude of the broken hearted 13 As producer Frei released Raving Iran the first feature length documentary directed by Susanne Regina Meures 14 She follows two Tehran DJs performing at illegal parties and planning to leave Iran The film had its international premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival Toronto and won awards at numerous film festivals 15 The documentary Genesis 2 0 had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2018 16 and was awarded with the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematography 17 Swiss cameraman Peter Intergand and the Russian filmmaker Maxim Arbugaev are responsible for the cinematography Arbugaev also co directed the film Genesis 2 0 follows mammoth hunters on the remote New Siberian Islands and portrays clone researchers and synthetic biologists in South Korea China and USA 18 Filmography editDie Stellvertreterin 1981 Fortfahren 1982 Der Radwechsel 1984 Ricardo Miriam y Fidel 1997 Kluge Kopfe 1998 Bollywood im Alpenrausch Indische Filmemacher erobern die Schweiz 2000 War Photographer 2001 The Giant Buddhas 2005 Space Tourists 2009 Sleepless in New York 2014 Genesis 2 0 2018 co directed by Maxim ArbugaevAwards editThis section about a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Christian Frei news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2024 Learn how and when to remove this template message 2021 Honorary Doctorate PhD h c in Social Sciences University of St Gallen 19 Ricardo Miriam y Fidel edit Basic Trust International Human Rights Film Festival Ramallah Tel Aviv 2000 audience award 20 War Photographer edit Academy Awards 2002 Nominated Best Documentary Feature Gregory Foster Peabody Award 2003 Emmy 2004 Nomination Award for Cinematographer Peter Indergand Adolf Grimme Award 2003 Special Prize of the Ministry for Development Culture and Sports Durban International Film Festival 2002 Best documentary Cologne Conference 2002 Winner Phoenix Price Best non fiction Rehoboth Beach Delaware Independent Film Festival 2002 audience award Viewpoint film festival Gent 2002 winner European Documentary Film Festival Oslo 2003 Eurodok award 21 Dokufest Pizren Dokumentary and Short Film Festival 2003 winner British Documentary Awards 2002 Shortlisted The Grierson Award Category International Documentary Swiss Film Award 2002 Nominated Best Documentary Film Docaviv Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival winner Sichuan Television Festival Gold Panda Award Best Long Documentary Telluride Mountainfilm Mountain Film Festival Telluride Colorado 2003 Voice of Humanity Award The Giant Buddhas edit DOK Leipzig 2005 Silver Dove Dokufest Pizren Dokumentary and Short Film Festival 2006 winner ex aequo Trento Film Festival 2006 Silver Gentian Reno Tahoe International Film Festival 2006 Best of the Fest Documentary 22 Sundance Film Festival 2006 Nominated Grand Jury Prize feature length documentaries Swiss Film Award 2006 Nominated Best Documentary Film Space Tourists edit The Documentary Channel 2012 Jury prize Best of Doc Cervino Cine Mountain International Mountain Film Festival 2011 Miglior Grand Prix dei Festival 2011 Beldocs Belgrad 2010 Best Photography Award Berg und Abenteuerfilmfestival Graz 2010 Grand Prix Documentary Feature European Documentary Film Festival Oslo 2010 Eurodok Award 21 Sundance Film Festival 2010 World Cinema Directing Award EBS International Documentary Festival Seoul 2010 Special jury prize Swiss Film Award 2010 Nominated Best Documentary Genesis 2 0 edit Sundance Film Festival 2018 World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematography to Maxim Arbugaev und Peter Indergand 40th Moscow International Film Festival 2018 Audience Award 23 15th Seoul Eco Film Festival 2018 Best Feature Film 24 Lunenburg Doc Fest 2018 Feature Documentary Award 25 International Arctic Film Festival Golden Raven 2018 Golden Raven Award 26 9th DocUtah International Film Festival 2018 Best Foreign Film 27 Zurcher Filmpreis 2018 Film Award City of Zurich 28 Budapest International Documentary Film Festival 2019 Main Prize section Naked Truth 29 Swiss Film Award 2019 Nomination Best Documentary Film 30 References edit Tully Andrew F 26 March 2006 Afghanistan Film Revisits Destruction Of Bamiyan Buddhas Radio Free Europe Retrieved 25 February 2011 Die Schweizer Filmakademie filmakademie ch filmakademie ch The only thing that matters is a quest for authentic moments trying to make myself invisible Frei quoted in Norbert Creutz Director s Portrait Christian Frei ed by SwissFilms May 2006 S 1 2 Archived from the original on 2016 03 04 Retrieved 2012 05 28 a b Gaede Peter Matthias 2007 The Tectonics of Humanity Booklet PDF Warner Home Video Switzerland pp 3 4 a b Christian Frei swissfilms Retrieved 2022 07 11 CHICAGO LATINO FILM FESTIVAL OPENS A WINDOW ONTO MANY WORLDS Chicago Tribune Retrieved 2022 07 11 A O Scott Witnessing the Witness Looking Over a Shoulder at War s Deprivation in New York Times June 19 2002 FILM CLIPS Also opening today Norbert Creutz Director s Portrait Christian Frei ed by SwissFilms May 2006 S 1 7 Archived from the original on 2016 03 04 Retrieved 2012 05 28 David Courier The Giant Buddhas is a stirring example of the power of cinema to enlighten as it defies the boundaries of culture and time Sundance Institute History 2006 Space Tourists Giorgia del Don Sleepless in New York A dive into the intimacy of three broken hearts in Cineuropa April 22 2014 John Anderson Romance and Heartbreak Is Rarely As Moving As Sleepless In New York in Indiewire May 5 2014 Sian Melton on Raving Iran in Women And Hollywood April 30 2016 Raving Iran swissfilms Sundance Film Festival Archived from the original on 2017 10 27 Retrieved 2018 02 10 Kilday Gregg January 27 2018 Sundance The Miseducation of Cameron Post Wins Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Sloan Science amp Film scienceandfilm org Christian Frei Wikipedia in German 2023 04 01 retrieved 2023 04 13 Ricardo Miriam y Fidel ricardo christian frei info a b SWISS FILMS Cineportrait Update 2014 see PDF p 3 Retrieved April 29 2019 The Giant Buddhas swissfilms Award list Swiss Films April 25 2018 Retrieved April 29 2019 15th Seoul Eco Film Festival Award Winners June 8 2018 Archived from the original on April 23 2019 Retrieved April 23 2019 Lunenburg Doc Fest Twitter September 18 2018 Retrieved April 29 2019 Agha Genesis 2 0 and Bribe awarded the best Arctic films at the International Film Festival Golden Raven Cyrillic September 16 2018 Retrieved April 29 2019 DocUtah 2018 Wrap Up November 9 2018 Retrieved April 29 2019 Media Release November 14 2018 Retrieved April 29 2019 Awards February 4 2019 Retrieved April 29 2019 Nominations Swiss Film Award January 31 2019 Retrieved April 29 2019 Further reading editThe Tectonics of Humanity GEO Edition Documentaries Christian Frei Collection ed by Warner Home Video Switzerland 2007 External links editNorbert Creutz Director s Portrait Christian Frei ed by SwissFilms May 2006 Archived 2017 10 17 at the Wayback Machine nbsp Media related to Christian Frei at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Christian Frei amp oldid 1220344302, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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