Emotions at the premiere of the Corona skeptic film “Unheard of!”

• Keystone

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  Sold out evening in the Samsung Hall in Zurich.

• Keystone

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  Most of the audience adhere to the mask requirement, which is reminded of several announcements.

• Anja Müggler

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  Not everyone can come to terms with the rules.

• Anja Müggler

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  Filmmaker Brennwald now wants to deal with the question of what kind of dialogue is needed that also works.

Heated atmosphere on Friday at the premiere of “Unerhört!”, The documentary by the former “Arena” presenter and SRF editor Reto Brennwald (57). The 950 seats in the Samsung Hall in Zurich-Stettbach are sold out.

An estimated 80 percent of the audience are corona skeptics. The mood is correspondingly emotional, with applause and boos during the film. It is compulsory to wear a mask, people in the hall are asked to do so again. Most wear respiratory protection, some groups take off their masks. The audience is informed several times that the media are present – so that it does not mean afterwards that no one has been warned.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion with “Mr Corona” Daniel Koch (65), Hans-Ulrich Bigler (62), director of the Swiss Trade Association, comedian and presenter Stefan Büsser (35) and Christoph Schmidli, doctor.

The corona dialogue mainly takes place with Koch. The questions from the audience are all directed to him. But there are boos and whistles. There can be no question of dialogue. Koch hardly manages to finish a sentence. Some people in the hall stand up when Koch speaks, others leave the hall.

After the heated evening, BLICK spoke to Daniel Koch, who “embodies Corona”, as filmmaker Brennwald says afterwards. Koch is sympathetic: “It is a film with a new point of view, more critical, much more critical than most documentaries up to now, but that too is a point of view that is justified and that can be discussed.”

He “doesn’t take the numerous insults personally,” says Koch. “My face stands for the pandemic in Switzerland, which was done in the first wave of pandemics.” He “I understand that people don’t think that’s great and prefer not to see my face.”

Koch: “Such exchanges of opinion are needed in a free society, you have to be able to endure that, even if some of them are extreme opinions, even if some of them are extreme minorities.”

The discussion has “its place,” says Koch. “As long as you treat each other properly and comply with the rules that apply to everyone, that’s okay.” The many Corona skeptics were also to be expected. He was asked to participate early on: “And if I say A once, I’ll go to the end,” says Koch.

Stefan Büsser had «expected», he says to BLICK, that there would be no dialogue: «A monologue came from outside, the audience chatted relatively one-sided, but that was to be expected.»

He thinks it is “exciting to see the other side of what the general public does not perceive.” It is “always good to see both sides. but the film wasn’t balanced either and didn’t answer any questions. It was an exciting insight. “

The fact that he was booed doesn’t hurt him “for a second,” Büsser said. “People who shout boo are not interested in a dialogue, but have a ready-made opinion – which they always accuse the media of.”

TV journalist, filmmaker and presenter Brennwald describes the evening as “emotional and informative”. “You can feel,” he says to BLICK, “that some of these people are primarily critical of official politics.” As a result, reactions were “heavily focused on Daniel Koch”.

The tense atmosphere has shown that there are still “many open questions and controversial expert opinions”. Brennwald speaks of a “cacophony towards the audience, which then doesn’t know exactly what to do”.

Now it is necessary to take stock of “how one would have to set up the next dialogue so that it works well”. It has to be a dialogue and it is necessary to «pursue a strategy that causes us the least damage overall».