Sabine Gisiger, The Mies van der Rohes. ISA Lecture
Institute for the History and Theory of Art and Architecture
Date: 21 November 2023 / 19:00 - 21:00
ISA Lecture
Sabine Gisiger
The Mies van der Rohes, Documentary, Switzerland, 2022
Film screening followed by a conversation between Sabine Gisiger, Sonja Hildebrand and André Bideau
Tuesday, 21 November 2023 7:00 p.m.
Palazzo Canavée, aula C0.62
A multi-layered portrait of modern mores - from a female perspective.
An epic family saga from inside modernism, told by the women in the haze of iconic architect Mies van der Rohe.
Expressive dancer and actress - Georgia van der Rohe, the eldest daughter of world-renowned architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, is an extraordinary woman. Courageous and headstrong, she seizes the opportunities of the new, modern age and tries to defy the impositions of old, patriarchal patterns - regardless of difficult family circumstances.
Georgia van der Rohe is six years old when her father leaves the family.Her mother Ada, marked by inner crises, gives everything to raise Georgia and her sisters Manna and Traudel in a loving and progressive way. She puts up with the fact that Mies van der Rohe is now involved with the famous designer Lilly Reich.
When Mies leaves everything and everyone behind in 1938 and emigrates to the USA, the women struggle on their own through the barbarism of the Nazi era and the war. Their lives remain defined by their absent husband, father and lover.
THE MIES VAN DER ROHES is a multi-layered portrait of modern mores and a stirring family saga. Based on private and unpublished archival footage, images and documents, Sabine Gisiger ("Yalom's Cure," "Dürrenmatt") retells the story of iconic architect Mies van der Rohe - from a female perspective. Acclaimed German actress Katharina Thalbach brings Georgia van der Rohe to life - in fictional interviews based exclusively on authentic testimony.
Born in 1959 in Zurich, Switzerland, Sabine Gisiger studied history in Zurich and Pisa. She worked as a reporter for Swiss Television and has been making documentaries as a freelance filmmaker since 1988. DO IT (2000) received the Swiss Film Award for Best Documentary, followed by GAMBIT (2005) and YALOM’S CURE (2014) and a nomination for WELCOME TO SWITZERLAND (2017). She is a professor for documentaries at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).
