Celebrated Swiss movie director Claude Goretta dies

Renowned Swiss film director Claude Goretta has died at the age of 89. Best known for his movies “L’Invitation” (1972) and “La Dentellière” (1977), Goretta – along with Alain Tanner and Michel Soutter – was part of a trio of directors central to the Swiss film industry from the 1960s.

Goretta’s collaboration with Tanner on the short film “Nice Time” in 1957 is credited with kickstarting the New Swiss Film movement, which brought a new generation of thought-provoking movies to Swiss screens. Before that, Goretta spent time in London where he developed some of his ideas.

In one interview, Goretta said he liked to make films about people “who find it hard to express their feelings”. He also wanted to give a voice to those who do not know how to defend themselves with words.

L’Invitation was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign film and was awarded the Jury Prize at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival.

The director shot his last film in 2006 – the two-part television production “Sartre, l’âge des passions” about French novelist Jean-Paul Sartre, which was a mixture of fiction and documentary.

Goretta died peacefully in his sleep on Wednesday, his family said. His death is another blow for the Swiss film industry that lost actor Bruno Ganz (77), who passed away last weekend.