Palaver Palaver

In his "Swiss Autumn Chronicle 1989", Alexander J. Seiler records the political debate about the Swiss army triggered by the "Group for a Switzerland without an Army" and its popular initiative: from the official commemorations "Diamant" and the unofficial counter-events "Klunker" to public debates throughout the country and the referendum. The film also follows the play "Jonas und sein Veteran" by Max Frisch, directed by Benno Besson, from the first rehearsals to the premieres at the Schauspielhaus Zurich and the Theatre Vidy Lausanne and the reactions of the audience and political celebrities.
The result is an exciting dual chronicle of a democratic and an artistic process: politics as theatre and theatre as politics. Above all, however, the result is an impressive picture of Swiss democracy and two opposing "Switzerlands": the other way of thinking, the other way of cohesion, the Switzerland of tomorrow that many hoped for become tangible and visible.