Stefano Knuchel is a Swiss documentary film director, screenwriter, and producer.

Biography

Knuchel spent his childhood traveling around Europe with his family. He graduated from the Conservatory of

Fribourg , Location of , Location of () () or , ; or , ; gsw, label=Swiss German, Frybùrg ; it, Friburgo or ; rm, Friburg. is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), ...

in 1987, in 2001 – from The Film & Photographic Workshop Rockport,

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

. In 1988, he started working at the Italian-language Swiss Radio Rete. Ten years later, he moved to Swiss Television and hosted experimental programmes, at the same time working as a critic and a writer. In 2004, he founded a production company ''Venus and beyond'' and created his first documentary, ''Nocaut'' (2004), which was presented during the Semaine de la critique of the

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

. His third documentary, ''Hugo en Afrique'', was released in 2009. An homage to

Hugo Pratt Ugo Eugenio Prat, better known as Hugo Pratt (15 June 1927 – 20 August 1995), was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as '' Corto Maltese''. He was ind ...

, it was selected for the Horizons competition at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

and won Bisato d'Oro for Best Director by the independent jury of film critics. In 2017, he released ''Quand j'étais Cloclo'', a tragicomic story of his family. Knuchel is the director of Locarno Filmmakers Academy and the founder of BaseCamp, an educational initiative for emerging filmmakers. In 2021, Knuchel presented ''Hugo in Argentina'' at the

and was screened at numerous film festivals. The film covers Pratt's Argentine years: landed in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

in 1950, Pratt was dreaming about the United States, but fell in love with Argentina and remained there, overwhelmed with its vibrance. In 2022, Knuchel announced working on the third film about Hugo Pratt, ''Hugo in Venice''.

Filmography

*2022 — ''Dawn Chorus'' (writer) *2021 — ''Hugo in Argentina'' *2017 — ''Quand j'étais Cloclo'' *2009 — ''Hugo en Afrique'' *2005 — ''Paint Me a Life'' *2004 — ''Nocaut''

References

Swiss film directors 1966 births Living people {{improve categories, date=May 2024