Erich Langjahr

Reel 25 of Gérard Courant’s on-going Cinematon series.

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A short film on throw-away culture and TV

Documentary about the history of a village guest house

Award-winning director Langjahr returns to his beloved Alps to document a group of people continuing the legacy of their forefathers. Every year on Swiss National day, August 1, the Wildheuer climb up the steep mountain of the «Hinteren Heubrig», fitted out with scythes and wearing wooden shoes with spikes, just as their ancestors did before them. They are part of a generation who have lived with the challenges of nature and survived it. In his film, Langjahr's poetic realism gives an insight into these people's experience of the simple life, the very foundation of human existence.

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A movie about getting diagnosed with cancer and living the last month of the life to the fullest.

Director Erich Langjahr follows several of the last remaining shepherds in Switzerland, on the cusp of the third millennium. How does one of the oldest human means of subsistence survive into the modern age? At an unhurried pace, he captures the shepherd, his sheep, his dogs and his mules as they trudge across snow-covered fields, climb mountain passes and cross highways. The sheep have to be cared for all year round and the life of a shepherd is physically demanding. Shepherds stay outdoors, or in small huts and caravans – often in places inaccessible by car. During their long periods away from home, their families expand and their children grow up. But they wouldn’t have it any other way; being a shepherd is a very conscious life choice. One of them puts it like this: “I just can’t sit still. As long as my health allows me I’ll always be on the go. No matter where in the world, I’d like to be on the go forever.”

"In the understanding of the complex cultural conditions of central Switzerland, I wanted to further explore through the film, who I am and what influences have influenced me. In the continuation of the contemplation of my homeland, I felt the need to come closer to the elemental of life and survival. So I went with the camera through my country and have taken everything that has happened to me. While working, I realized that the film is a reflection of my own spiritual needs. I've been trying to find an answer, to become aware of what my elemental sensations are that I believe are not different with my fellow human beings."-Langjahr

Film from Silvia Haselbeck and Erich Langjahr

The view of and from Mount Rigi stays with people for a lifetime. This massive, mighty mountain on the Lake of Lucerne has impressed and attracted swarms of friends of nature, artists and tourists alike, since time immemorial. For alpine farmer, Märtel Schindler, the Rigi is also his “Queen of the Mountains”. Like earlier generations of his family, he works on and has been shaped by the mountain. Filmmaker Erich Langjahr has made a name for himself as a chronicler of rural alpine Switzerland. He too was raised with a view of Rigi at the gateway to Central Switzerland, and in his film portrays those who live with and live off the mountain.

Documentary, showing the last cantonal assembly that was held only by men in the town of Hundwil (Appenzell AR), Switzerland in 1990.

Erich Langjahr portrays two of his close friends, internationally renowned artists, Gottfried Honegger and Kurt Sigrist. Though the personalities of the two artists are as different as night and day, Langjahr discovered one thing that connects them: their expression of and fascination with imagery.

In this film, the viewer experiences, without commentary, the everyday life of a Sennen family at the end of the 20th century. The film raises the question of identity and thus tries to raise awareness of the great dilemmas in which we all find ourselves. Who am I? What am I doing?

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The second part of a trilogy on the subject of farming in which an attempt is made to look at the existence of farmers at the end of the 20th century.

In «The battle of Morgarten» we see how Morgarten – a symbol of freedom – is celebrated and interpreted today. First part of a trilogy on Swiss traditions.