Flood Disaster (film)

Flood Disaster (German original title ‘Flutkatastrophe’) is a 1977 Swiss short by Roger Steinmann. The film was labeled ‘Switzerland's first disaster movie' as depicting a major water dam-break with the subsequent flooding of the metropole of Zurich.^[1]

Flood Disaster
First poster of Flood Disaster (original title of 'Flutkatastrophe')
Directed by	Roger Steinmann
Written by	Roger Steinmann
Produced by	Roger Steinmann
Starring	Reto Müller, Peter Bürgisser
Cinematography	Roger Steinmann
Edited by	Roger Steinmann
Music by	Maurice Jarre (courtesy from Doctor Zhivago)
Release date	17 September 1977 (1977-09-17)
Running time	15 minutes
Country	Switzerland
Language	Swiss German

Background

The 1937 installed dam created Switzerland largest artificial lake, the Sihlsee. A failure of the dam could lead, according to studies, to an 8-metre (26 ft) high flood wave through the lower Sihl Valley reaching the Altstadt of the city of Zürich, the biggest city in Switzerland, within 2 hours. This threat has led the City of Zürich to develop, publish and test evacuation plans for the affected areas of the city, and especially the area around Zürich Hauptbahnhof railway station.^[2][3][4][5]

Production

15-year high school-student Roger Steinmann was inspired by Zürich's frequent test-alarms in case of a dam-break. With already several years of filming experience in 1977, he realized the 'would-be'-situation of a catastrophe due to an earthquake.

Some music was borrowed from Doctor Zhiwago, and some sound from Earthquake.^[6]

Steinmann cast one lead-role with his class-mate, the future mathematic-professor Peter Bürgisser.

Accolades

At the second Swiss Youth Filmfestival (Schweizerischen Jugendfilmtagen) 1977, the film won the first prize.^[7][8] For its editing, it won the 'Silver Scissors' by the Union International of Film Amateurs in 1978.^[9] Together with an interview with filmmaker Steinmann, the film was aired on Swiss national TV on Nov 4, 1978.^[10]

External links

The Flood Disaster at IMDB

References

1. "Interview with Filmmaker Steinmann". from the original on 10 January 2020.
2. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2016.
3. "Wenn der Damm des Sihlsees brechen würde | NZZ". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). 11 September 2005. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
4. "20min". m.20min.ch. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
5. Bachmann, Stefan (4 April 2011). "Naturgefahren: Wo es in der Schweiz am gefährlichsten ist". Beobachter (in German). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
6. . 10 January 2020 . Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
7. . 10 January 2020 . Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
8. . 10 January 2020 . Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
9. . 10 January 2020 . Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
10. . 10 January 2020 . Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)