Vollenweider – Die Geschichte eines Mörders

Vollenweider – The Execution Of A Killer

Switzerland, April 2004
FILM, Documentary, 74 min.

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directed by
Theo Stich
Written by
Theo Stich
Status
In distribution
Website
www.lumenfilm.ch

Sarnen, on 18 October 1940 at 1:55 a.m. Hans Vollenweider is led into the prison workshop, escorted by two policemen. Waiting there are two Protestant ministers, two cantonal officials, the cantonal physician and – though not visible to those present – the executioner. Vollenweider, executed with the guillotine, was the last person to be sentenced to death under civil law in Switzerland. The film traces the movements of the triple murderer with accounts from witnesses and even Hans Vollenweider himself, including statements he had made in letters and interrogations. Why does a person, remembered as gentle and cooperative by his schoolmates, become a treacherous murderer? What circumstances led to an execution in the canton of Obwalden in 1940? Criminal acts never cease to shock us. They require punishment, but what degree of penalty is just? Such questions have not lost their immediate importance, especially given the fact that the majority of people in Switzerland is calling for lifelong custody of dangerous criminals and recidivists.

credits

World Premiere
April 2004
Original Version
Swiss-German, German,  colour und s/w, 35mm, 74 min.
Production
Lumenfilm GmbH, SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, Teleclub AG
Producer
Theo Stich
directed by
Theo Stich
Written by
Theo Stich
Cinemato­graphy
Pio Corradi
Editing
Mirjam Krakenberger
Sound Design
Jürg von Allmen
Re-Recording Mix
Jürg von Allmen
Music
Christoph Stiefel
Location Sound Mix
Dieter Meyer
Lighting Design
Sandro Hofstetter

World Sales / World Rights

World Rights
Lumenfilm GmbH

Worldwide Distribution

Switzerland
Frenetic Films Distribution

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