02/10/2024 - The Swiss visual artist and director gives us the low-down on his first fiction feature, which he describes as his most personal film to date

(© Dario Caruso/Cineuropa)

Piet Baumgartner is a Swiss visual artist and film director. He has extensive experience in the field, as he directed several short films and a feature-length documentary prior to Bagger Drama [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Piet Baumgartner
film profile], his latest work and his first fiction feature, which has just earned him the New Directors Award at the 72nd San Sebastián Film Festival (see the news).

Cineuropa: You were working on this project for a very long time. Where did the idea come from, and how much did it change from its inception to the final result?
Piet Baumgartner: It's my most personal film to date. It's partly the story of my family. I'm amazed and fascinated at the same time by how little people within a family are willing to talk about what's bothering them the most. Where I come from, problems are not discussed, and you deal with such issues yourself. I spent a long time looking for a visual element and only added the excavator movements later.

This is your first fiction feature, but you directed a documentary before. How different is it working with these two different genres?
I also do theatre and visual-arts projects. I don’t give a shit about categories; ultimately, every idea fits a format. I can work faster in theatre because it's cheaper than in film. For my documentary The Driven Ones [+see also:
film review
film profile], about the future business elite, it was clear that I had to immerse myself in their real world. What I definitely don't want to do is repeat myself, as then it would be boring.

It's fascinating how, in the film, you use excavators, objects that are decidedly unhuman and are devoid of feelings, to convey the deepest emotions. How did this occur to you, and what was it like working with these huge machines?
Working with the excavators was great fun. One of the origins of Bagger Drama is the music video [that I directed] “Through My Street” [watch it here], which was created in 2015 with musician Rio Wolta. In it, excavators dance a ballet in a gravel pit, and the video travelled around the world and won several awards. So, we already had a bit of experience in that respect.

The characters in the film are marked by a tragic death, but the movie doesn't feel tragic at all. There are tough, profound emotions, but there's also dignity and hope. What did you want to convey about the characters and the things they go through?
I believe there is always a lot of humour lurking in the greatest drama. When you take yourself very seriously, you're also funny. I was interested in the question: “What happens to a family construct when everyone is grown up?” There was a moment in my own life when I realised that my parents were just normal people with flaws.

The three protagonists in the film do an amazing job, as does the supporting cast. How was the process of finding the right actors and of working with them to create these convincing and honest human portraits?
I bow down to my cast! The thing that was most important to me when casting was that I would want to watch them for a very long time, even if they didn’t say or do anything. And that’s the case with Bettina Stucky, Phil Hayes and Vincent Furrer. Bettina is an established figure in theatre, while Phil is a performer and musician. They are completely different in their approaches. Collaborating with them was a pure pleasure.

I loved that the film shows the coming-out process of one of the characters with no drama at all, and it actually feels like a source of joy in the midst of the tragedy. Was there some kind of statement you wanted to make with this?
Thank you for that observation – I'm delighted that it catches the eye. How do you show a coming-out process today? When I came out 24 years ago, the world was a different place. Today, people no longer reject it; it's much more diffuse. “I don't mind, but what do other people think?” is just as hurtful, but more indirect. Coming out in the countryside in Switzerland is still fucking difficult!

The film was well received at San Sebastián. What do you expect for the future of the film and for the next steps in your career?
I can't answer that. Winning at San Sebastián was never something I could have imagined. The invitation alone was a big enough accolade. And now winning?! Wow. What’s clear is that I want to pursue my own projects. I have had bad experiences with commissioned work. Art requires an incredible amount of energy. I want to try to organise my energy properly. Wish me luck.