Atelier Zerodeux
Close Encounters 1999 candidates Portia Rankoane and Pule Diphare were invited to Switzerland to take part in Atelier Zerodeux. Convened by Werner Schweizer, an Encounters guest in 2001, Atelier Zerodeux was to produce 50 films celebrating the 2002 Expo in Switzerland. Rankoane and Diphare spent 10 weeks in Switzerland, funded by Pro Helvetia Liaison Office Cape Town.
A man tormented by childhood images of violent struggle travels to Switzerland, a model of tranquillity and order, and embarks on a quest to find Helvetia’s soul. His journey takes him from Zurich’s quaint, clockwork world to the majestic rural idyll of the Alps and the Lakes region, where German and French speakers meet. Finally, he reaches Helvetia’s confession rooms, where the dark, hidden forces that have shaped this aloof society, decaying at the heart of Europe, are laid bare.