«Bäckerei Zürrer»

In our previous film recommendation, we introduced you to «Il Valore della Donna è il Suo Silenzio». Now we want to show you migrant life in Zurich. And we do so with a Swiss classic: «Bäckerei Zürrer» by Kurt Früh.

About «Bäckerei Zürrer»:

The widowed, stubborn master baker Zürrer makes life difficult for his three grown-up children and only becomes reconciliatory when his life takes the worst possible turn.

Kurt Früh's tragicomedy «Bäckerei Zürrer» from 1957 was the first Swiss film to focus on living together in a modern multicultural society. The visual language with which Kurt Früh staged the urban space was also formally innovative. Inspired by Italian neorealism, Kurt Früh succeeded in 1957 with «Bäckerei Zürrer», a masterful production of a topical subject in original locations.

- Felix Aeppli / SRF 

For our project, the films of Kurt Früh have a very special meaning, as a starting point for our narrative. In «Polizischt Wäckerli"» Früh tells the story of a sleepy «Bünzlistadt» with great sensitivity. But in the later film «Bäckerei Zürrer» this world has changed. With his finger on the pulse of time, Früh shows realistic characters in their environment. An environment in rapid change, at a time when Italian migration is really taking off. And Früh manages to do all this in an entertaining and moving way.

- Samir