Of Cats, Dogs & Art

Anka Schmid was born in Zurich in 1961. After graduating from high school, she began her studies in German philology and she shot her first experimental videos and Super-8 films. In the turbulent 80 ’s she was active in a street theater and a music band. In 1984 she moved to Berlin when it was still a divided city because she had been accepted as a student at the German Film and TV Academy, (Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin – DFFB). Here she made numerous short films and videos. In 1989 she spent a year in the USA, shooting the Hopi documentary TECHQUA IKACHI, LAND – MY LIFE with the Hopi Indian James Danaquymptewa and the artist Agnes Barmettler. In 1991 she completed her studies at the DFFB with the feature film BEHIND LOCKED DOORS (HINTER VERSCHLOSSENEN TÜREN), which won numerous prizes. After that, she worked as freelance filmmaker and director’s assistant in Germany, Switzerland, France, Argentina and the USA. In 1994, her son was born in Berlin and she made the documentary MAGIC MATTERHORN, which she shot in Zermatt, California and Berlin In 1998 she moved to Zurich with her son. In Switzerland, in addition to her own creative work, she is a lecturer in film and media and heads animation workshops. She also participated in various solo and group exhibitions.

Née à Zurich en 1961, Anka Schmid réalise, dès les années 1980, des films expérimentaux en vidéo et en Super-8, travaillant parallèlement pour divers productions comme technicienne. Elle entre à la Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie de Berlin (DFFB) en 1984 et fonde en 1994 sa propre maison de production Mano Film. Adepte du mélange de genres, souvent elle se détache d’une conventionnelle forme narrative et joue avec des larges possibilités qu’offre le cinéma. Elle réalise ainsi des fictions, des documentaires et des films expérimentaux auxquelles elle ajoute des éléments d’animation. Outre son travail de réalisatrice, elle conçoit et produit des installations vidéo et art, et elle enseigne dans diverses écoles de cinéma. Après plusieurs années passées à Berlin, elle vit et travaille actuellement à Zurich.