The Corona film by ex-SRF Reto Brennwald is a success – it doesn’t really seem to him – Switzerland



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The movie “Unheard of” is seen. Reto Brennwald’s documentation has been viewed approximately 436,000 times since it was released three weeks ago on the Vimeo video platform.

How can this success be explained? The film is a haunting critique of government and media handling of the first crown wave. The virus is presented as more harmless and the countermeasures, especially blocking, are worse than you think. The media are accused of not having heard voices from doctors and coronavirus experts. The film thus reached a loyal fan base. It was celebrated in the relevant forums of the crown skeptics. But 400,000 views can’t be explained by this niche audience alone.

The crown skeptics and the Brennwald factor

Brennwald says: “400,000 views show me that there is obviously a great deal of interest in a critical view that goes far beyond so-called crown skeptics.” In fact, sender Brennwald is likely to have ensured that the film also reached a portion of its former audience. In the 2000s, the man with the characteristic face was a prominent figure on Swiss television. He initially worked for the “Rundschau” and, since 2007, for the Arena. With his deep voice, which had once given him a career on “Radio 24”, he would then take viewers on travel reports or introduce strange personalities to doc-films. He left his position as “Arena” moderator after criticism was raised that he preferred the UDC. «Teleblocher am Leutschenbach», wrote the «NZZ». This accusation also makes Brennwald popular with that part of the public for whom Swiss television is too left.

Even today he moderates the niche program “The points of view of the Sunday newspaper”. He is now self-employed. Brennwald was unavailable for a detailed discussion of the reactions to his film and his assessment of the current situation. He would prefer a concrete debate on “how we can overcome the crisis now” and not on his person, who had recently been “too central”. There is one thing in particular that Brennwald doesn’t want to talk about anymore. It’s about Friday, October 23rd. At that time the film premiered in an event hall in Dübendorf. A discussion followed with Daniel Koch, coronaseptic family doctor Christoph Schmidli, trade association director Hans-Ulrich Bigler, and comedian Stefan Büsser, who belongs to the risk group due to lung disease.

The unpleasant whistles against Daniel Koch

New Brennwald fans came in droves. And some of them didn’t want to be told when and how loud they could speak, nor did they adhere to the mask requirement. Daniel Koch was booed repeatedly and comedian Büsser was interrupted by complaints. Brennwald was clearly uncomfortable with this. “Not like that!” He once addressed the audience, and when one of his guests was interrupted again: “I’d like to hear it.”

After the discussion in Dübendorf, Brennwald kept his distance from the troublemakers. He had little fear of early contact, even with provocative figures. On his YouTube channel, for example, he had a conversation with a blogger demanding that the Federal Council be put in jail. Brennwald distanced himself from the man’s individual extreme attitudes in the conversation, but released the video with the resounding title “Does the Federal Council belong to the prison?”. On September 19, he enjoyed applause at a coronavirus demonstration on Zurich’s Turbinenplatz and solicited donations for his film.

The distance from his fans became evident. Because even before the premiere of the movie “Unheard of”, Brennwald started rowing. So he distanced himself from Marco Rima in a preliminary interview with the journalists to whom he showed the film before the premiere. The comedian has a prominent aspect in the film. Brennwald pointed out that the interview with Rima was recorded on a radio show with Roger Schawinski before Rima made his comments. In Schawinski’s case, Rima opposed wearing a mask and relativized the deaths of the crown with reference to the excess birth rate. When asked what he would do differently today, Brennwald replied that he would interview Rima in more detail and criticism. Furthermore, Brennwald did not want to criticize the blockade measures that the cantons of Geneva and Valais had adopted shortly before the first.

Today he refrains from further screenings of his film, although this would still be possible on a small scale. “At the moment we are encouraged to social distancing, and I care,” Brennwald writes via e-mail. In any case, only a few other demonstrations were planned.

Is it opportunism or is there more?

You might dismiss Brennwald’s rumbling as opportunism: when he still needed donations and attention for his film, he took a pampering class with crown skeptics. The thing in the box and the donations in the account distances itself. But this explanation is probably too simple. Anyone who argues with Brennwald recognizes him as doubtful. According to his own statements, he was one of the first to wear a mask when shopping in the store. But he soon questioned those measures. When he voiced his doubts on Facebook, he was attacked there, which prompted him to make the film even more.

Before the movie was released, the wind turned. Protective measures have decreased, infections more. The film’s stance that further blocking must be prevented has meanwhile become the doctrine of the Federal Council. Instead of rejection, Brennwald is in favor. It is entirely possible that the reporter had doubts again.

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