Indiewire - More Than 'Honey' - Has the Swiss Documentary Renaissance Peaked?

Bron's narration and composition are poetic -- the director closes with a clever and evocative reference to CITIZEN KANE's ending -- though he's sometimes guilty of buying into Blocher's populist mysticism, especially when he indulges in evoking the man's superlative Nietzchean dreams. But for all the intensity of debate that preceded its premiere, THE BLOCHER EXPERIENCE emphatically refuses to let itself be coerced into perpetuating controversy, instead offering an unintrusive definition of this ruthless, obstinate businessman and politician, dispelling any claim that Bron might have tried to push his own opposite ideologies. Separating the man from the shadow he projects, the director has borrowed the basic recipe for Morris THE FOG OF WAR and improved on it.
Set in the middle of an endearing, though never belittled, rural community, BLACKBOARD plays like a near-exhaustive chronicle of the school's final year of existence. The touching naivete of the children, a la TO BE AND TO HAVE, breathes life to every shot, their persistent sense of wonder and kid chatter a delight to watch and hear. Yersin intelligently punctuates the near-constant stream of happiness with reminders that this theater of smiles doesn't survive the end of his documentary. The director's discreet statement about the social decay brought about by the urban governments' overlooking of rural areas is an eminently valid one, especially when it's communicated through so much overwhelming cuteness.
As difficult as it is to admit, Switzerland's 2013 documentary output has to be considered a regression for the genre's recent resurgence in the country. Not in the sense that this new batch is of lesser quality than previous years' (both examples are progressive, topical, and enthralling), but rather in its focused commitment to specifically Swiss issues that can only lessen the films' range of exportability. 2012 helped put Swiss documentary filmmakers on the map. In 2013, the subjects perhaps aren't quite so unlikely, and more clearly intended for the sensibilities of Swiss audiences.
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