Namaste Seelisberg

While silent-film star Charlie Chaplin may have charmed American audiences with the onscreen antics of his lovable "Tramp" character, the actor's private life was marred by a series of public scandals that eventually pushed him into exile. In addition to his penchant for much younger women, Chaplin was unjustly hounded by Senator Joe McCarthy's notorious anti-Communist witch hunts, for which the U.S. revoked his visa in 1952. A bitter and disenchanted Chaplin responded by moving his family to Switzerland, where he remained until his death in 1977. This documentary chronicles Chaplin's life and career during those so-called "forgotten years" (during which he became a prolific and highly respected film-score composer) through previously unreleased archival footage and intimate interviews with his friends and family, including his children Geraldine, Michael, and Eugene.

Heinrich Danioth (1896-1953) is the most prominent artist from the canton of Uri and, at the same time, one of Switzerland’s outstanding painters in the 20th century. Although most people know of the red devil he painted on the rock face of the legendary Schöllenen Gorge, the artist has remained relatively unknown to the public. Primarily based on Danioth’s diaries and letters, the film portrays the life story of an artist lapsed into undeserved obscurity. Together with contemporary witnesses still alive today (including his two daughters), the filmmaker reconstructs the artist’s life.