Interview with Jonas Ulrich, director of Menschen Am Samstag [People on Saturday]

Why did you want to portray daily life, on Saturdays, in Zurich?
When I first saw Menschen am Sonntag (1930) I was struck by that film’s power to transport me back to a time and place which is long gone. I felt like I was witnessing the lives of those people unfolding in real-time, and was tremendously moved by it. So, simply put: I hoped to do a short film that can be a (little) window into our time and our lives, even if the viewer is from another continent or future century. Thus we wanted it to be understood without the barrier of language and avoided any dialogue.  I kind of looked at the film as a series of tableaus, like the exhibition of pre-historic humans in the New York Museum of Natural History… doing things that are very important to them but, maybe, a bit funny to us. 

What are the proportions of bystanders, actors and extras in Menschen am Samtag?
I think the fun of it is not knowing what is staged and what is not.

Why were you interested in the question of habits and social expectations and do you have further projects on this theme?
People often behave in strange and funny ways in their everyday life, especially in public. I always take notes when I see something interesting, and then I put some of those notes together and made a short film out of it. Yes, we’re in pre-production of a short film right now which deals with (some) similar themes: It’s a collection of scenes happening in different offices around Switzerland. But it has a lot of dialogue. 

How did you work on the painting effect, the lighting and colors?
I wouldn’t call the shots paintings (like in the films of Roy Andersson), but my DP (Andi Widmer) and I took a LOT of time walking and driving around Zürich and choosing the right locations. It really is a film about the city I grew up in.

What do you think the future holds for short films?
I think there is something exciting about saying what you have to say in a really short amount of time. I hope short films continue to have an audience in a digital age of endless hours of streaming content.

If we were to go back into lockdown, what cultural delights would you recommend to alleviate our boredom?
I was never bored during lockdown because I was lucky enough to keep working and if not, my IMDB watchlist holds 700+ titles. If I’d recommend anything in these times, more to myself: go outside. Take a walk. Read a book. Call your friends or family. Don’t watch too much Netflix.

Menschen Am Samstag [People on Saturday] is part of Lab Competition L5.