Renowned for both his feature films such as Zweisitzrakete and the TV drama series Marie fängt Feuer, broadcast by German TV station ZDF, Hans Hofer, director and screenwriter from Vinschgau/Val Venosta, now ventures into a new genre, capturing his first documentary and shooting—for the first time ever—in South Tyrol. Spectacular shots of nature and emotional portraits bring to life the story of Stilfserjochstraße, the Passo Stelvio mountain pass road, and the impact it has had on the development of the region. In an interview with TAKE magazine, Hofer tells us how his own roots weave into the narrative.
What sparked the initial idea for a documentary on the subject of Stilfserjochstraße?
In truth, the documentary was inspired by my dad, Josef Hofer. He lives in Stilfs/Stelvio. He is now 78 years old and has been fascinated by Stilfserjochstraße his entire life. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the opening of the pass road, he approached me and asked me if I wanted to turn the road’s history into a movie. I immediately loved the idea of working with my dad as a kind of first-hand witness. It didn’t take long for him to draw me in and to get me just as fascinated as he is.
And what is your connection with Stilfserjochstraße?
Anyone who, like me, grew up in Prad am Stilfserjoch/Prato allo Stelvio has of course been up on the mountain and on the pass multiple times. When I was little, I was intrigued by the pass road, but it’s not like I wanted to go up there all the time. Making your way up the mountain going through a total of 48 turns is really strenuous. I’m always grateful when I’ve made it up there safely. But why I was so compelled to make this film was that I suddenly realised that now, at 40, I have been living in Austria for a longer time than I ever lived in my home country. That wasn’t lost on me.
Has your bond with your home country grown stronger over time?
I’m not the patriotic kind. Feeling a connection to your native country is something entirely positive, but what we call “Heimat” is a term often misappropriated by the wrong people. The concept of national pride is totally unfamiliar to me. Why should I be proud of something that just happens to be and that I didn’t personally achieve? I don’t like thinking that way. But the fact that I’m making a film about my home country resonated on a personal level. That is why it was so important to me to not just use a standard voice-over narrator simply commenting on the frames, but to give it a more personal touch.
So you guide your audience through the documentary yourself?
Yes, I’m my own first spectator, if you will. In my documentary, I return to Stilfserjoch/Passo Stelvio pass for the first time after many years. That is how I introduce the narrative to my audience. The documentary seeks to dynamically weave in both the history of the road and the people from and life in Stilfs and Prad am Stilfserjoch.
Expert interviews help you showcase different perspectives on the pass road. Who did you talk to?
Our protagonists hail from backgrounds as different as tourism, the arts, and even church. Arthur Gfrei, the former owner of a hotel at Stilfserjoch pass, is among those we talked to and offers a wealth of knowledge on the pass road. Learning everything there is to know about the construction of the road has been his lifelong passion. Another protagonist is Melanie Platzer. She is the head of the Ortler Sammlerverein Erster Weltkrieg, a club dedicated to the history of World War I at the Ortler/Ortles mountain front. She is tasked with collecting and archiving finds unveiled by the retreat of the melting glaciers at the site of the former war front. Stilfserjochstraße used to be a military road. Thankfully, it is no longer used for military purposes. In the modern day and age, it is a tourist attraction.
But not everyone is happy about tourist activities on the road.
A lot of people are annoyed by the amount of traffic that comes through. Even more so because the road leads directly to Stilfserjoch National Park. Traffic has become a burden. The question we need to ask is: does a busy road belong in a national park? This particular aspect is discussed in the documentary, too.
You conducted the interviews yourself. Was there a specific moment during the interviews that was particularly emotional for you?
Since he was the one who inspired me to shoot this documentary in the first place, I also talked to my dad. I filmed him in the 200-year-old parlour of the house he was born in in Stilfs. I wanted to learn more about his life when he was little and how it must have felt for him to live in a village that had to fight for survival when more and more people decided to leave. I was deeply moved by that.
The documentary features spectacular nature shots, but shooting out in the open is not always easy.
Shooting out in the mountains is always difficult, because the weather is highly unpredictable. The swiftly changing weather often required us to change our plans on the fly. That was the biggest challenge for us. Sure, there will be drone shots, too, but, in my opinion, that doesn’t suffice to make a good documentary. Most of our shots are done using a static camera.
What do you need to watch out for when working in such a delicate ecosystem as the Stilfserjoch National Park?
You need to be mindful of your natural surroundings. For me and my crew, that goes without saying. We work in small groups of three or four to minimise our footprint. We just bring a backpack and a bottle of water each. Sure, the situation is entirely different on big sets with a total of 30 or 40 people.
How does it feel to shoot in South Tyrol for the very first time, and with a South Tyrolean crew?
When shooting, I need people by my side that I feel at ease with—and I absolutely do. The atmosphere on set is great. We’re all having fun.
Could you imagine doing further projects in South Tyrol?
Yes, because it just feels good to work where I grew up. I could also imagine working with other filmmakers from South Tyrol. South Tyrol’s film industry grows ever stronger—also thanks to film funding—and is preparing the grounds for the creative work of film people. We will see what lies ahead.