Markus Huersch

DOP, Screenwriter & Director

Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming.

(David Bowie)

Die Welt ist im Umbruch. Immer mehr Individuen, Institutionen und Unternehmen entwickeln Utopien, wie ihr Beitrag zur einer positiven Zukunft aussehen soll. Sie schauen nach Vorne und entwerfen ein Bild davon, wohin sie sich entwickeln wollen.

Kein anderes Medium adressiert unsere Emotionen direkter als der Film. Und von diesen hängen unsere Entscheidungen ab. Immer! 
Wer Film in seiner Tiefe versteht hat ein unschlagbares Werkzeug zur Hand um von seiner Utopie zu erzählen. Je mutiger und engagierter wir dies tun, desto grösser ist die Wirkung:

A BOLD STORY!

All     |     DOP    |    ScreenWriter    |    Director

about:

Markus Huersch

Pictures and Stories

Even after more than 25 years of active industry experience on international feature films, documentaries and commercials, creating pictures still has an incredible attraction on me.

Is it the diversity, the always new or the never-ending search? The idea of ​​being part of something that creates meaning? Curiosity or Passion?

There was a loud, rattling noise at first - when I aimed my mother's S-8mm camera at an imaginary villain and then pressed the trigger. That fired my child's imagination, but two weeks later the result was delivered by mail...
I stood behind the hung-up bed sheet to look at the projected images in reverse again when I realized that look in my family's faces: my random, shaky images made them laugh, touched them and made their eyes shine!

mehr lesen

But first of all, I wanted to be a pilot or a vet, then growing up as quickly as possible and after that nothing at all. Later I trained to be a teacher, begun the study of art history and philosophy. At the same time: The buildup of an alternative cinema and a music club in Bern (as our first act and with “I put a spell on you”, Screaming 'Jay Hawkins brought the overcrowded club to the boil). In between, rather by chance on a film set. Or not, because at this moment, it was clear!
To film school in London, first short films as DOP, some advertising. Three feature films shot in India, the shortest of which was nominated for an Oscar. More feature films. And more advertising. And otherwise?

Diversity has always been my thing, the one and only was never my goal. So I first tried out and collected material for a stormy résumé: At the age of 22, I won over the bank and bought a house. Rebuilt it myself, casted a concrete kitchen. “You'll have to blow it up if you don't want it anymore ...!
I worked for a saddler, hallmarking western chops and drove a taxi through long nights but couldn't gain romance nor inspiration from solitude. Instead, I went to concerts, wrote texts and enjoyed watching movies alone in the cinema on a sunny afternoon. Assembled a Citroen Mehari from three, bought a lambskin jacket and drove it in winter too.
Worked as a bartender and discovered a passion for cooking. I sold the house, gave up the club and left a love behind to study film in London.

Traveling, the foreign, being on the move and in the moment... the fascination of the unknown has cast a spell over me for many years. Working with local crews in Arizona, Karachi, Mongolia, Trinidad or South Africa, documenting the consequences of the war in Kosovo... Foreign cultures, never completely part of it, but always invited, a life as a guest. Seen, experienced and learned a lot, also appreciation for our privileged life at home.

Then I met Jacqueline and her 2 children and was lovingly invited to become part of their family. Embraced it. Paused. To accompany projects longer and from the beginning to the end, that desire grew stronger. Also creating stories myself... a script rewritten a hundred times: almost masochistic training in overcoming deceptive complacency. “Kill your darlings” is not a cliché but an insight. To dive as deeply as I possibly can into the world of characters but keeping sight of the genre, the view from a distance, check. Grown on it, I learned from talented colleagues and overwhelmingly clever dramaturges.

In between there was always advertising, I combined directing and camerawork and became very fond of the dual role. I thought Workshops. Passing on my passion and what I have learned, sharing my experience, keeping on the pulse by learning from the students, questioning the obvious. And now?

Passion and curiosity forever. The form may change, the goal remains. What do I want, what remains, what expresses my attitude? Each realization brings me one step further and asks two new questions.

AWARDS

"Edi"-Nomination UBS - Digital Banking, 2018

Invited participant "eQuinoxe script development" workshop 2014
für Screenplay "Liz&Nina"

"Shouting Secrets" 2011

  • Winner: Grand Jury Award, Best Feature Film, Rhode Island Intl. FF, 2012
  • Winner: Jury Award, Best Feature Film, 36th American Indian FF, San Francisco
  • Winner: Jury Award, Best Leading Actor, 36th American Indian FF, San Francisco
  • Winner: Jury Award, Best Supporting Actor, 36th American Indian FF, San Francisco
  • Winner: Jury Award, Best Feature Film, Columbia Gorge Intl. FF
    Weitere 20 Auszeichnungen auf der Filmseite

„Pas de Panique“ - TV-Comedy-Drama, 2008

  • Winner - Best Television Drama "cinema d'ecrain 2007"- Geneva
  • Winner - Audience award "cinema d'ecrain 2006", Geneva

“Little Terrorist” 2005/06

  • 77th. Academy Awards 2005, Oscar Nominated for “Best Short Film”
  • Nominated European Academy Awards 2005
  • Winner – 1st prize 28. World Film Festival Montreal
  • Winner – best film Filmfestival Flanders
  • Winner – grand prize Tehran Film Festival
  • Winner – best Film Manhatten Short Film Festival
    Weitere 108 Auszeichnungen auf der Filmseite.

„Swiss Air Force“, 2004

  • Winner - Silver Award international Film Festival Hamburg 04
  • Winner - Creative excellence at the US International
  • Festival in Los Angeles 2004
  • Winner - First prize at "15a rassegna cinematografica internazionale eserciti e popoli, Rome 2005"

Winner Kodak-Student-Scholarship 1998
Invited participant at the 5th International DOP Masterclass, Budapest (Masters: Laszlo Kovacs ASC and Vilmos Zsigmond ASC)

WORKSHOPS

Das Gelernte weitergeben und selber weiter lernen. Mit den Studenten Grundsätzliches hinterfragen, Methoden überprüfen, Neues entdecken.

Workshops:

2012 - 2015  HSLU: Masterclass „Greenscreen Studio“
2016 - 2018  HSLU: Modul „Ansätze zur Stilfindung“
2014 - 2023  Studio 1: Lichtsetzung im Dokumentarfilm

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Markus Huersch

Contact

Markus Huersch

+41 79 208 5116
markus@markushuersch.com