Andreas Fontana’s Azor takes a scathing have a look at the tradition of silence in personal banking

Even although reviews concerning the wealthy and well-known stashing away their wealth in personal Swiss banks has periodically made information, hardly ever has one acquired an insider’s view of this discreet world. The function movie Azor, written and directed by debutant Andreas Fontana, takes the viewers by means of this chilly and calculating world as Yvan De Wiel (essayed by Fabrizio Rongione), accomplice in a Swiss personal financial institution, and his spouse Ines search for his lacking accomplice René Keys in Argentina.
It is hardly a shock that Fontana, who’s from Geneva and grandson of a personal banker, discovered this world intriguing. Since his grandfather was secretive, Fontana was not aware of his career regardless of being near his grandparents. “After my grandfather’s demise, I started researching private banking. I realised that it’s an interesting territory for a movie,” says the 39-year-old. This would finally grow to be the premise for exploring the world of excessive finance, aloofness of elites, and energy in Azor, which implies “remain quiet”.

Over the years, the Swiss personal banks have performed a serious function in serving to the rich and highly effective from completely different elements of the world to evade tax. Interestingly, Fontana selected the Argentina of the 80s — a interval after armed forces overthrew the federal government — because the backdrop for his debut film. He spent practically two-and-a-half years researching on the topic in addition to dividing his time between Geneva and Argentina to know this career. “The world of private banking is very powerful with its own language, codes, and way of operating. Argentina has a complicated history. It was important to make this movie as we can talk about those things,” says Fontana, who had lived in Argentina for a number of years and maintains a really robust reference to the nation.
Azor is helmed by Andreas Fontana. (Photo: Marina Palacio)
Private bankers travelled to different international locations the place their purchasers had been based mostly. The thought behind the film, too, was to journey. During our video chat, Fontana makes a reference to Joseph Conrad’s 1899-novella, Heart of Darkness. The e-book a couple of sailor’s journey into the interiors of Africa on the behest of a Belgian buying and selling firm is seen as a critique of European colonial rule within the continent. Drawing inspiration from the traditional, the writer-director visualises “bankers as conquistadors”.
“A private banker’s real territory is where he goes to find his client, for the most part, abroad. The idea that a private banker could be seen as a pioneer or a colonist going to conquer an unknown world struck me as a very interesting angle,” says Fontana. The filmmaker layered this film about “conquistadors” with the story of a lacking banker and his accomplice’s seek for him. “His disappearance showcases the evils of this highly competitive world. It’s a kind of duel but only one member of the duel is visible. I was interested in the possibility of narration and tension,” he says. While he was engaged on the film, the Panama Papers scandal in 2016 blew the lid off how the wealthy and highly effective park and transfer their cash out and in of secret tax-havens.
What was essentially the most difficult side of this story? “Most challenging task was to be accurate. It is a very touchy story. It might seem accurate for the Swiss audience but the Argentines probably won’t think so. It was tough to maintain the balance and keep the audience engaged,” says Fontana, who has already obtained validation from some bankers. “There were some bankers in the theatre when I showed the film at the festival in Zurich. I had a moving conversation with them. They said the world of private banking was exactly like what I have depicted in the movie. Some of them even admitted that they don’t like what they do,” says the director. He is, nonetheless, cautious of the response in Argentina when it’s proven there in cinemas in March subsequent yr. Azor had its world premiere earlier this yr throughout Berlin International Film Festival.
A nonetheless from Azor.
Private banking thrives in a tradition of confidentiality. This lends the film its tone as many issues are left unstated. “A fascinating fact about the bankers is that they always have to guess what the clients want. They are like diplomats. They have to handle the strange wishes of the clients. When they meet someone, the important thing would always be unspoken. They are expected to understand that. This aspect of their profession gave me the scope to play with things and create tension,” says Fontana about this slow-paced thriller drama.
Even as he maintains that “there is nothing biographical” within the film, he believes Azor issues his era in Switzerland. “The Swiss banks have never acknowledged their role or uttered a mea culpa. We enjoy the benefits of it. I have the impression that it is up to us, my generation, to shoulder the responsibility for the darkest hours of the 20th century. I don’t feel guilty, but I think it is absolutely necessary to encourage reflection on the subject,” he says. Next, Fontana is engaged on one other historic fiction about diplomats and their relationship with Geneva.
Azor is at the moment streaming on MUBI India.