Switzerland Today
Greetings from Bern,
Here are the latest news and stories from Switzerland on Monday.
In the News: Some surplus masks sold cheap by the Swiss army pharmacy to homes, schools and cantons performed “significantly worse” in tests than a reference mask, according to a report in Swiss newspapers today.
- It is possible that some of the 3.3 million masks were also used by the army itself. “It is irresponsible and negligent to have still been putting these masks into circulation in 2021,” said one medical expert. “These masks can give a false sense of security.”
- Rock-bottom interest rates and excess cash sloshing around Swiss companies saw a threefold increase in the value of mergers and acquisitions, rising to CHF170 billion ($186 billion) last year. The corporate shopping spree was led by the pharmaceutical and life science sectors, which have seen increased business during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- A total of 168 athletes will represent Switzerland at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing next month. Of these, 26 have already won an Olympic medal, while 93 are taking part in their first Games. Simon Ammann, Switzerland’s most successful Winter Olympian of all time, is taking part in his seventh Olympics and is going for his fifth gold.
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The secrets of the Kiwi gold rush: A Bernese man who lives in New Zealand explains how he hunts for gold and once found 250g, worth around CHF10,000, in one day.
“It’s not all just luck,” Daniel Gerber, 63, says in today’s edition of the Berner ZeitungExternal link. “Experience also plays a big part, for example knowing where to look.”
Gerber has lived in New Zealand since 2005, but nowadays he is rarely alone on his hunts. On the South Island, where the largest reserves are believed to be, a gold rush has been underway for some time. On the West Coast, for example, which in the 1860s was the centre of a gold rush that lasted several years and attracted plenty of adventurers from Switzerland, about 30% more of the precious metal was found in 2020 than the year before. Car parks in popular mining areas are full.
Gerber says the main reason for the boom is the rising price of gold. Today, one can earn $1,800 (CHF1,650) for a troy ounce; in 2015 it was just over $1,000. He also points to television programmes such as Aussie Gold Hunters, in which Australians sometimes dig up spectacular pieces of gold in the outback. “That also fascinates New Zealanders,” he says.
The final reason he gives is the pandemic. New Zealand has been sealed off for almost two years and residents can’t really travel abroad. “That’s why the Kiwis are travelling around their own country and looking for new occupations,” he says.
However, Gerber can also see a positive side to the boom: he runs a business near Christchurch selling gold-mining equipment – from the good old pan to high-tech detectors. The business, which he established over ten years ago, is growing every year – so much so that Gerber finds less and less time to pursue his real passion. But that’s about to change: he wants to sell the business in time for his retirement and start looking for gold again. “Once you’ve found a quarter of a kilo of gold, you really hope to find more.”
Young film director Elie Grappe discusses the logistical challenges in making his debut feature film, Olga, an international success which was Switzerland’s entry at the 2022 Oscars.
Set against the backdrop of the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine in late 2013, Olga is the story of a 15-year-old gymnast struggling with her dual identity: she is both Swiss and Ukrainian. She trains as a Swiss athlete (thanks to the nationality of her absent father), while her journalist mother is reporting in Kyiv and facing daily dangers.
When filming was suspended in March 2020 because of Covid-19, he had to rethink his approach. On the upside, the film had a limited main cast and was largely set inside a handful of buildings, thus the premise was already partially pandemic-friendly. Other aspects, however, were beyond the production’s control. “The film takes place in winter, because of the real Euromaidan context, so completing the shoot in the summer months was tricky. And sadly, one person we had cast, who was supposed to be in the second half of the film, passed away due to Covid-19.”
Flashforward to July 2021. Olga, by then five years in the making from when Grappe started researching the topic, was finally unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival as part of the Critics’ Week section.
He says this was a thrilling experience, but also a slightly unreal one. “We finished the sound mix five days before the premiere, so it still didn’t feel quite real at first. It wasn’t my first time in Cannes, but I’d never had my own work to present before. And it was amazing to see the theatres there running at full capacity.”
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