* Belinda Sallin, Director
I realized once again how much one can project onto Hansruedi Giger. Marcel Hoehn, the producer of the film, visited us during the final mix. He brought someone along for the screening who told us about the first time as a child he had heard about HR Giger. And it hadn’t been a good experience. His strictly religious parents had told him Giger was a Satanist.
That could’ve made for interesting films as well: HR Giger Through the Eyes of His Contemporaries, or The Reception of HR Giger’s Art in the '70s, or The Religious Symbolism of HR Giger, and so on and so forth. There were not only dozens of former companions but also critics that could be interviewed. I could’ve easily found both pro and contra positions.
I chose another approach. I wanted to make a personal film. I didn’t want to show what you can already find on the Internet and in countless newspaper articles and TV reports. So I decided on protagonists who had a close relationship with Hansruedi (for the most part anyway), mostly from his family. I wanted to show HR Giger’s world from the inside out, so to speak, and to view him and his surroundings in the most unbiased way possible. Such an approach leaves no room left for accusations, stereotypes or clichés.
This might prove disappointing to those with preconceived notions, but that’s a risk I’ll have to take.
Satanic?
HR Giger, December 2011 © Christian Schwarz
HR Giger, December 2011 © Christian Schwarz