* Belinda Sallin, Director
It is now two months to the day since I got the call from Tom: "I'm calling you as Carmen asked me to", was how he began. I already had misgivings. Carmen and I had established a good relationship during filming. Why should our communication suddenly go via Tom? And even before he had said, "Hansruedi died this afternoon", I already knew it. Yet didn't want to accept it. Everything had been fine. We had finished shooting and were way into the editing. Hansruedi had already been in poor health for some time. It meant that shooting had not been simple for him or us. But we had managed to get this far together, after all. It was a fierce shock.
When I met an acquaintance a couple of weeks later who had known nothing about my film project, she claimed I had climbed aboard the bandwagon because of the media hype following Hansruedi’s death. I was perplexed. The film was not created because of such factors. It had been carefully planned long in advance.
Hence the idea of this blog. I want to report on the creation of this film together with others. About the filming with Hansruedi, his family and friends, and the work yet to be done in the coming weeks.
It remains surreal to me that Hansruedi is no longer with us and at times I simply forget it. While editing, he is a daily presence to me. I'm very grateful for having been able to complete shooting together. We were even able to do the photo shoot for the film poster. Five days before his death. Almost as if he we wanted closure before he left.
HR Giger at the garden door.
December 2011 © Christian Schwarz
HR Giger next to the bust he had created of his deceased girlfriend Li.
December 2011 © Christian Schwarz
HR Giger in front of his work "Friedrich Kuhn II". It shows his friend photographed shortly before his death.
December 2011 © Christian Schwarz