Thomas Haemmerli

My brother and I had suspected the apartment would be in disorder. But what we found exceeded our worst expectations. Like most "Messies" my mother would do anything to make sure no one ever saw the inside of her home. It took us an entire month to clean out the apartment, and we had to work our way through mountains of things. We unearthed a lot of documents about our family history, including photos going back to the 1880s, film footage from the 30s and 40s, and all the home movies my mother shot from the 1960s onward. This precious material – roughly seventy years of an unusual family history – became the first impulse for making a film. And the possibility of filming in the apartment, without interference from relatives.

- Thomas Haemmerli, Director Seven Dumpsters and a Corpse

I detest films conceived as therapy for their maker. I believe films should be made to tell a story, not as self-help for the filmmaker.

- Thomas Haemmerli