Il film di Liechti racconta la storia incredibile di come il cadavere mummificato di un quarantenne venga ritrovato da un cacciatore in uno degli angoli più remoti del paese. Gli appunti dettagliati del diario del morto rivelano che si è suicidato lasciandosi morire di fame appena lestate prima. Un recupero stupefacente di un testo narrativo, basato a sua volta su un fatto realmente accaduto: un manifesto cinematografico a favore della vita, minacciata dalla radicale rinuncia del protagonista alla vita stessa. Basato sul romanzo miira ni narumade di Shimada Masahiko, ispirato a una storia vera. La lettura del diario con la voce fuori campo è, nella versione inglese, eseguita dal suo amico e collega Peter Mettler.
Festivals:
AWARDS
European Documentary Film Award 2009, Prix ARTE
Millenium Award 2009, Planete Doc Review Film Festival, Warsaw
Camera-Stylo Award 2009, RIDM, Montréal
Zürich Film Award 2009, Zürich
Swiss Film Award 2010 for the best film music (Norbert Möslang)
Nominated for Swiss Film Award 2010
Nominated for Spotlight Award 2010 by CINEMA EYE HONORS, NYC
Cinema Eye Award, New York, 2011 (for Composer Norbert Möslang)
FESTIVALS
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- ROTTERDAM IFF, Official Selection / filmmaker in focus (January 21 - February 1, 2009)
- VISIONS DU REEL, Nyon, International Competition (April 23 - 29, 2009)
- HOT DOCS, Canadian International Documentary Festival 2009, International competition
- PLANETE DOC REVIEW/WARSAW (May09), MILLENNIUM AWARD 2009
- SILVERDOCS 2009, Sterling World Competition, Silverspring Maryland (Washington DC).
- Festival International du Film de LA ROCHELLE 2009, Ici et Ailleurs
- L'AGE D'OR PRIZE 2009, BRUSSELS, Belgium Royale Film Archive
- KARLOVY VARY IFF, International Competition
- Echoes of Karlovy Vary FF
- JERUSALEM FF, official selection
- RIDM, Rencontres internationales du documentaire de MONTREAL, International Competition
- VIENNALE 2009, officia selection
- DOK Leipzig 2009, doc alliance
- CPH:DOX - Copenhagen International Documentary FF 2009, International Competition
- COPENHAGEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, 2010, official selection
- LEEDS International Film Festival» 2009, International Competition
- BERGEN IFF, 2009, Norway, official selection
- VANCOUVER International Film Festival 2009, official selection
- GÖTEBORG International Film Festival 2010, International Competition
- LJUBLIJANA IDFF 2009, official selection
- ERA NEW HORIZON IFF Wroclav/Breslau 2009, official selection
- DokuFest PRIZREN 2009, Kosova
- SANFIC IFF 2009, Santiago de Chile
- The NORWEGIAN Short Film Festival
- Kasseler Dokumentarfilm- und Videofest
- DocPoint - Helsinki Documentary FF, official selection
- DMZ Korean International Documentary FF
- INDIE Space 2010, South Corea
- Sunday Dox - Studio Nominum, Lithuania
- Docpoint Tallin, 2010, Estonia
- THESSALONIKI International Documentary Festival 2010
- ZagrebDox 2010, Croatia, official competition
- Signes de nuit, 2010, France
- Festival O.F.N.I. / Nyktalop Mélodie 2010, France
- ZagrebDox 2010, Croatia, official competition
- Beldocs International Feature Documentary Film Festival 2010, Serbia, official selection
- IndieLisboa 2010, Portugal, official selection
- Doclisboa Festival 2010, Portugal, official selection
- SXSW 2010, South by Southwest Film Festival, Austin Texas, official selection
- NaFF 2010, Nashville Film Festival USA, "Major Film Screening in the World Cinema"
- Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival 2010, USA, official selection
- ADA, Anasy Doc Award Festival 2010, Abu Dhabi, international competition
- Guth Gafa Documentary Film Festival 2010, Ireland, official selection
- Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival München 2010, official selection
- Trento International Film Festival 2010, official competition
- Tirana International Film Festival 2010, Albania
- Lemesos International Documentary Festival 2010, Cyprus, official selection
- Kos International Health Film Festival Ippokratis 2010, official competition
- Cinema Zuid 2010, Belgium, official selection
- La Rochelle IFF 2010, France, official selection
- Encounters SA International Documentary Film Festival 2010, South Africa, official selection
- Nonfiktionale 2010 Bad Aibling, Germany, official competition
- CIFF Independent Film Festival Nanjing 2010, China, Swiss selection
- Cinema Eye Honour 2011, New York
- MaerzMusik 2011, Berlin