San Gottardo

Via parallel accounts of the major drilling work on the Saint-Gothard Massif – the drilling of the rail tunnel (1872-1882) and that of the road tunnel (1969-1976)– the film charts a chunk of 19th century Swiss history. Through events such as the Gothard workmen's strike in 1875 and the issue of Italian emigration, and personalities such as Alfred Escher – the Zurich banker who founded the Swiss Credit Institution and the President of the Gothard Company – and Louis Favre, a Geneva businessman and entrepreneur for the tunnel, the film portrays a country grappling with these early rumblings of the 20th century. (Locarno Festival)