Max Frisch, Citoyen

Max Frisch is considered to be the last great engaged Swiss intellectual whose voice was heard worldwide. The writer and architect’s work is like a mirror held up to a world community that reacted with silence and ignorance to such dramatic events as the Holocaust, the first atomic bomb and the Vietnam war. Frisch wanted to shake up society and didn’t hesitate to meddle in world politics. Henry Kissinger debated with him about the invasion of Cambodia. Helmut Schmidt, then German Chancellor, asked him along with Günter Grass for advice when the political conflict with the Red Army Faction got out of control. Despite his international successes, Frisch never stopped being critical. He kept asking questions, not least about himself, and indefatigably fought for a collective consciousness. From a collage of unique archive material, interviews and Frisch’s diaries, this film builds a mosaic-like portrait of a passionate citizen and philanthropist, who had a real impact on the world. (DOK.fest München)