Film Screening and Discussion: "Flying Home"

The film screening and subsequent Q&A session with Swiss documentary filmmaker Tobias Wyss will take place in MMC 100. A reception with Wyss and Consul General of Switzerland Christophe A.Vauthey will be held in AS 384 immediately following the discussion.

In Flying Home (2011, 80 min.), Wyss chronicles the life of his uncle Walter Otto Wyss or W.O.W. (1911-2001) through a series of interviews and written correspondence between W.O.W. and his mother. Wyss’s fascination with his multi-talented uncle–who is acknowledged for inventing a precursor to the modern Hybrid car and known as an important designer and engineer in the US Auto industry–marks only the beginning of his investigation into a life marked by international journeys, an enduring connection to his homeland of Switzerland, missed opportunities, and reclusive isolation. “The film Flying Home,” Wyss explains, “addresses seven episodes from the life of my uncle, Walter Otto Wyss (1911-2001), which have accompanied and haunted me for sixty years. It is my personal perspective of the events in his life that touch and scare me, that make me curious and introspective, that have something to do with me.”

Click here to view the film’s trailer, and here to visit the film’s Web site.

Wyss is a prolific documentary filmmaker. He has been a guest professor in the Department of Romance, German, Russian Languages and Literatures as well as in the Department of  Film and Electronic Arts.

The film is presented in English and German with English subtitles. All are welcome and encouraged to attend the event.

For additional  information, please contact Daniel Chaffey at daniel.chaffey@csulb.edu.

Sponsors: The Department of Romance, German, Russian Languages and Literatures,  the German Program, and the Consulate General of Switzerland