Embassy [Ambassade]

The First Account of the U.S. Hostages in Iran Told by Swiss Diplomats

Director: Daniel Wyss, 2019, Switzerland, 72 minutes, Cast: Pascal Decosterd, Gary Sick, Henry Precht, Abbas Milani, John Limbert, Ahmad Salamatian, Ebrahim Asgharzadeh

“Embassy” questions the role of diplomatic relations and territorial representation. In the spectrum of the crisis of the hostage-taking of Americans in Iran between 1979 and 1981, the film tries, in particular, to respond to Switzerland’s role as a mediator in resolving this international conflict. The film shows how important the individual person is in the midst of great diplomatic machinery.

Pascal Décosterd was a young Swiss diplomat sent to Tehran in 1979. Today, recently retired, he is embarking on a journey to try to understand the events of which he was one of the actors. Flavio Meroni was number 2 of the Swiss Embassy in Iran, today he is writing a book on negotiations to free the hostages. In their company we visit places in the United States, Iran and Switzerland, we meet the protagonists and retrace the different stages of these three years that shaped a new global balance. Behind the scenes of these events, where small and great history mingle, Embassy [Ambassade] offers insights into the importance of the human being at the heart of major diplomatic mechanisms.

U.S. Premiere

Screening with: Only Voice Remains [Forugh Farrokhzad Story]

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Daniel Wyss

Daniel Wyss was born in 1978 in Quito (EC) Switzerland. He studied cinema history and aesthetics at the University of Lausanne. Between 1999-2002, he was the editor and cameraman for the Audiovisual Department of EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne). In parallel realization of several short films as well as programs “Demo” on TVRL, before moving to the documentary. Since 2004, he has collaborated with the association of Climage.

Filmography: 1998 Lea / 2000 Max M. (both short films) / 2003 Soy pobre y vivo lejos / 2007 The most difficult train in the world (both documentaries) / 2011 Mad About the Boy (music clip) / 2012 Portraits and landscapes of the west (co-director) / 2013 The barque is not full (both documentaries) / 2014 The song of the old lovers (music clip) / 2015 Forced landing / 2016 1010 against the police (both documentaries) / Bad Idea (music clip ) / 2017 Delamuraz / 2019 Embassy (both documentaries).