Fiction, 16 min, Switzerland 2021

A Dynamic Frame production, in co-production with SRF Swiss Radio and Television.

In anonymous government buildings, officials are confronted with malcontent and aggressive citizens. Gradually, the cases start to add up to a bigger whole, foreshadowing danger ahead.

“Behördenhasser” (eng. “The Affront”) is an episodic short film about the everyday life of various government offices. The focus of the camera is exclusively on the civil servants; the citizens on the other side of the desk, counter or telephone remain strictly invisible. In the end, a disturbing suspicion arises from chance encounters and small misunderstandings.

The short film takes a sober look at the Swiss civil service apparatus. I don’t want to take sides. The focus is rather on the fact that no matter how the civil servants react to the citizens’ requests – whether hardened, understanding or overwhelmed – they react humanly and not just as representatives of the system. And in the end, they too are the human targets when the system gets out of hand.

– Jonas Ulrich