lynx
 
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LYNX is a nature film that goes beyond the usual boundaries of the genre. An essential characteristic of the lynx is that it hides from view (and from the camera). As a result, Franz Reichle takes a highly imaginative approach to tracking down the animal, including interviews with zoologists, gamekeepers and farmers. The lynx can also be seen as a barometer for ecological balance; ultimately, nature itself becomes the subject of this film. The search for the lynx develops into an essay about our treatment of these wild cats and the living spaces we share with them. With the same precision and complexity used by the lynx experts in following the object of their research, Reichle questions and criticises our understanding of nature. In this way, the arguments of the researchers as well as those opposing the lynx are revealed to be questionable: the lynx does not seem to have a place in either the technologically advanced world or the prejudice-ridden farming environment. The great accomplishment of this film is to demonstrate that this kind of reflection ultimately reveals much more about the nature of the lynx than would be possible in a conventional animal documentary.

Statement of the Jury of the Zurich Film Prize 1990


 

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Switzerland 1990. Documentary, 16mm, colour, 82 min.
Versions: Original version in German.
Version in German with French subtitles.

producer, Script-writer, Director Franz Reichle, Camera Gisela Tuchtenhagen, Franz Reichle, Sound Ingrid Städeli, Franz Reichle, Editing Franz Reichle, Myriam Flury, Music Joseph Haydn, Carl Maria von Weber.

further assistance (behind the camera): Gabi Bussmann, Yvonne Griss, Franziska Reck u.a.
further assistance (in front of the camera): Urs Breitenmoser, Heiner Haller, Familie Locher, Peter Zysset, and others.

Quality Award eDI, Film Award Zurich 1990.

Festivals: Solothurn, Locarno, Viennale. Screenings: Swiss TV, German TVs, Swiss Cinema.
franzreichle.ch