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Das Mädchen und die Spinne

The Girl and the Spider
Encounters 2021
© Beauvoir Films
Over the course of two days and one night, as Lisa moves out of the apartment she has shared with Mara and into the one where she will live alone, many things will break and some will be repaired.
Like the titular spider’s web, the film has a perfect, fragile geometry. Set almost entirely in interiors, it is also an involuntary summary of the paradoxical age of the pandemic. The transition from one abode to another, and the energy that is released between one story ending and another beginning, puts the entire ensemble into an altered state of grace. This creates a sort of seductive jam session, replete with the evocative presence of totemic animals. It is, as they say at one point, “As if a secret force were holding everything together”. This weird magnetism comes from the Zürcher brothers’ organic writing and directing. Once again, framing, scale and deep focus are all essential elements of their cinematic language, while the editing orchestrates themes and figures at a relentless pace. This leads to constant formal tension between movements, gazes, sounds, colours and details, which all support each other as if part of a dizzying house of cards.

Trailer/Film Excerpt

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by Ramon Zürcher (Written and Directed by), Silvan Zürcher (Written and Directed by)
with Henriette Confurius, Liliane Amuat, Ursina Lardi, Flurin Giger, André M. Hennicke, Ivan Georgiev, Dagna Litzenberger Vinet, Lea Draeger, Sabine Timoteo, Birte Schnöink Switzerland 2021 German 98' Colour

Part of the Berlinale Summer Special

With

  • Henriette Confurius (Mara)
  • Liliane Amuat (Lisa)
  • Ursina Lardi (Astrid)
  • Flurin Giger (Jan)
  • André M. Hennicke (Jurek)
  • Ivan Georgiev (Markus)
  • Dagna Litzenberger Vinet (Kerstin)
  • Lea Draeger (Nora)
  • Sabine Timoteo (Karen)
  • Birte Schnöink (Chambermaid)

Crew

Written and Directed by Ramon Zürcher, Silvan Zürcher
Cinematography Alex Haßkerl
Montage Ramon Zürcher, Katharina Bhend
Music Philipp Moll
Sound Design Denis Séchaud
Sound Balthasar Jucker
Production Design Sabina Winkler, Mortimer Chen
Costumes Anne-Sophie Raemy
Make-Up Simone Enkerli
Casting Ulrike Müller
Production Manager Andrea Blaser
Producers Aline Schmid, Adrian Blaser

World Sales

Cercamon

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Produced by

Beauvoir Films

Genf, Switzerland

Photos

Galas & Awards

Galas & Awards

Marie Wilke

© Klaus Lüber

Marie Wilke was born in Berlin, studied at the ZeLIG School for Documentary, Television and New Media in Bolzano (Italy) and completed a degree in experimental media design at the University of the Arts Berlin. Since 2000 she has worked as a writer, director and editor of documentaries. She has screened her films at international film festivals and won prizes including the German Film Critic’s Award and the Carte Blanche prize of North Rhine-Westphalia. She also lectures on directing and content development at various film schools and institutes.

Filmography (Filmography)

2000 Con anima e corpo (Life and Limb); documentary 2015 Staatsdiener (Civil Servants); documentary 2018 Aggregat (Aggregate); documentary, Berlinale Forum 2018 2021 Höllental; documentary series, 6 episodes 2026 Szenario (Scenario); documentary

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2026

Silvan Zürcher

© Iris Janke

Born in Aarberg, Switzerland in 1982. Between 2002 and 2008, he studied philosophy, film and German philology at the universities of Bern and Zurich. From 2009 to 2014, he took a degree in film production at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB). Together with his brother Ramon, he made his debut feature film The Strange Little Cat. In 2015, he participated in Berlinale Talents. The two brothers founded the Zürcher Film production company in 2017.

Filmography

2010 Zombie; short film 2013 Das merkwürdige Kätzchen (The Strange Little Cat) 2021 Das Mädchen und die Spinne (The Girl and the Spider)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2021