Cyril Schäublin, a descendant of a Swiss watchmaking family, studied Mandarin and film at the Zhongxi Academy in Beijing before continuing his studies at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB). His first feature film Those who are fine was selected in many festivals including Locarno, Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films and Edinburgh where it received the Best Film Award in 2018. Unrueh has been shown in many festivals including Berlinale (Encounters), Indielisboa, FID, TIFF, Jeonju...
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Through a minimalistic reenactment of a valley in northwestern Switzerland at the end of the 19th century, Cyril Schaublin’s second feature tells the modest tale of a working woman in a watchmaking factory. Upon joining the workshop dedicated to manufacturing the axis of the pendulum (Unruh), Josephine discovers the local clockmaker’s anarchist movement. The camera embrasses the workwomen’s precise, minute movements that merge with the core of the film itself. There is as much minutiae in Cyril Schäublin’s frames (however slanted they may be, since he enjoys toying with the center of the action at hand) as there is in the intricate sound design that places great emphasis on the different languages spoken in the area. The audience is wrapped in a kaleidoscope of footsteps, wind, of tools that are used, letters that are opened and various sounds of clocks, as if they were also part of the burgeoning political action of the valley. Through Josephine’s perspective, Unrest conveys the burgeoning feeling of injustice and reveals the inner workings of an impending revolt.
Claire-Emmanuelle Blot
