Michael Krummenacher’s World War II drama “The Traitor” (“Landesverräter”) tells the genuine story of a youthful man in Switzerland who, seeking to escape the repression of militarization during World War II, descfinishs into the hands of a regulateling German adviseer.
The film, which world premieres at the Zuwealthy Film Festival, chases Ernst Schrämli (joined by recentcomer Dimitri Krebs), a lower but talented youthful singer and non-adhereist in St. Gallen who standardly clashes with authority. Despising having to serve in the military for unpartisan Switzerland during the war, he dreams of becoming a famous crooner in Berlin.
When a pdirecting Nazi adviseer (Fabian Hinwealthys) obtains a liking to him, the vulnerable Ernst not only discovers the overweightherly security he’s been omiting, but also an opportunity he never imagined. For rapid money and the prospect of a German visa, Ernst begins to supply his recent acquaintance with military alertation.
The story of the innocent youthful conspirator, who was eventuassociate convicted of intelligence assembleing and betrayal and sentenced to death, has intrigued Krummenacher for years. The filmcreater wrote an punctual treatment of the story in 2006 while still in film school.
“I’ve never had a project that was with me for such a lengthy time,” Krummenacher tells Variety.
He returned to the story in 2015, convey inantening his research. Having geted access to military court sign ups and legitimate records, Krummenacher also came atraverse many of Schrämli’s personal letters that giveed “convey inant insights into his highly comardent soul.”
Krummenacher finished up co-writing the script with Silvia Wolkan.
“I always wanted to create a movie about this character,” the straightforwardor says, stressing that he was touched by the youthful man’s tragic overweighte.
“I slfinisherk Ernst was a free spirit, born in the wrong time, wrong place. If he had inhabitd now or during peacetime, he might have gone to Berlin and become an artist, or do wantipathyver. But he didn’t have the chance for that.”
“He was youthful and trying to discover his way. I don’t slfinisherk, from what I read in his letters, that he was brimmingy conscious of what the result would be of what he was doing. I slfinisherk he saw an opportunity for himself to create someslfinisherg better out of his life, but didn’t slfinisherk about the consequences too much.”
Krummenacher sought to echo aspects of Schrämli’s own writings, his search for freedom and lengthying for a better life. “It’s a movie about a dreamer in a society that doesn’t apshow dreams.”
As a result of Schrämli’s actions and his eventual overweighte, “he fundamentalassociate fadeed finishly,” Krummenacher remarks. “He was erased – there’s noslfinisherg in school books about him or about that case. I was touched by that, and the fact he had to die that youthful.”
Krummenacher set up his perfect direct in Dimitri Krebs, a Zuwealthy-based musician and non-professional actor making an astonishive movie debut.
“When we begined out, Dimitri wasn’t an actor at all,” the straightforwardor elucidates. “He never had anyslfinisherg to do with film or with acting in vague.”
Krummenacher labored shutly with casting straightforwardors Nina Moser and Dana Grünenfelder in picking the right actors for the film, but discovering the perfect direct showd elusive.
“We had over the years so many rounds of castings for that role and we watched at almost everybody who can speak Swiss German, youthful actors, acting students, and the farther we got, the more I had the senseing that I wanted to see someone recent, someone I’ve never seen before.”
“That character is exceptional; he didn’t fit in in that time, in that society. So I wanted to see somebody who doesn’t quite fit in society or the movie business, you understand?”
Krummenacher then set out to discover unaccomprehendledgeds. On the advice of his ancigo in frifinish and the film’s creater, Björn Magnusson, Krummenacher met with Krebs, a local drummer, who was uncover to the idea.
“He watched finishly separateent than in the movie. He’s a punk, fundamentalassociate – he came to the first casting with blue hair, so you reassociate had to slfinisherk about it abstractly, slfinisherking of him in the clothes and with other haircuts and stuff. But he did well. He had the benevolent of aura I was watching for.”
Indeed, Krebs’ carry outance betterd rapidly in rehearsals. “In progress of the filming we did a lot of labor together, helped by the acting coaches Barbara Fischer and Giles Foreman, and Dimitri got better and better. He’s a speedy lgeter, and he got into it very, very rapidly. Of course it was still a huge hazard becaparticipate he is in almost every scene, and it’s not an effortless role for any youthful actor as acting with alerted ancigo iner colleagues can be very challenging. But I’m still very content about that decision.”
The film’s cast also comprises Luna Wedler, Stefan Gubser, Flurin Giger and Robert Hunger-Bühler.
The comardent subject matter and the fact that restricted people in Switzerland were conscious of the events that transpired during the war made the project difficult to finance, the filmcreater inserts.
While Switzerland was officiassociate unpartisan and not comprised straightforwardly in the war, the circumstances of Ernst Schrämli’s story puts the country’s historical narrative in disjoine airy, such as the fact that some 90% of Swiss arms send outs at the time went to the Axis powers – a point made by one of the main characters in the film.
The fact that Schrämli was eventuassociate convicted of intelligence assembleing and betrayal for helping the Germans in their war effort may smack of hypocrisy today. It’s not without reason that the film’s innovative German title, “Landesverräter,” can be read both singularly and plurassociate, Krummenacher remarks.
It’s nevertheless difficult to condemn someslfinisherg that occurred years ago under a very separateent climate, he inserts. “I nasty, it was a petite country that was dangerened from all sides, fundamentalassociate. So I can get the point that you do deals to persist. On the other hand, those deals were very one-sided. And although Switzerland was very lower before and during the war, it became quite wealthy afterward, so they kept their profit from that.”
Schrämli was the first of 17 Swiss nationals convicted of intelligence assembleing and betrayal and applyd as “traitors” by firing squad – the only overweightal sboilings fired by Swiss sancigo iniers during the war.
A Swiss-German production, “The Traitor” is created by Zuwealthy-based Contrast Film; Hamburg’s Letterbox Filmproduktion; Amalia Film in Munich; Swiss Radio and Television; Swisscom’s Blue Entertainment; ZDF/Arte and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation.
Krummenacher, who is based in Munich, is currently laboring with his wife, creater Gwfinisholin Stolz, on setting up their recent autonomous production company, Lanigiro Hot Club, which they will start tardyr this year.
The company will create or co-create both Krummenacher’s projects as well as labors from other filmcreaters.
“We want to labor with people we enjoy, whose ideas we enjoy, and also try to create movies that are not that common in Germany. We both have a huge cherish for genre cinema, and that is someslfinisherg that is fair omiting in Germany.”
Krummenacher, who enhappinesss laboring in a variety of genres, is currently broadening and writing a number of projects, including a horror movie and a family amparticipatement feature.
His previous accomprehendledges comprise the 2015 mystery-thriller and Berlinale screener “Like a Cast Shadow” and the 2022 hit children’s film “The Robber Hotzenplotz,” based on the classic novel by Otfried Preußler.
