First Trailer for Swiss Thriller ‘Stiller’ w/ Albrecht Schuch & Paula Beer

First Trailer for Swiss Thriller ‘Stiller’ w/ Albrecht Schuch & Paula Beer

by Alex Billington
May 26, 2025
Source: YouTube

“How can you prove that you are not someone?!” Arthaus Kino in Germany has revealed their first official trailer for a Swiss-German thriller titled Stiller, from the Swiss director Stefan Haupt. “I am not Stiller!” – this is how the eminent novel originally titled “Stiller” by Max Frisch begins – now more than 70 years after its publication has been made into a film for the first time. Stiller is premiering soon at the 2025 Munich Film Festival starting at the end of June this summer. Director Stefan Haupt gives the literary classic a fresh up-to-date look while remaining true to the themes from the eminent Swiss author. Starring Albrecht Schuch and Paula Beer in the lead roles, with Max Simonischek, Marie Leuenberger (from The Divine Order & Mother’s Baby), Stefan Kurt, and Sven Schelker. During a train journey in Switzerland, American James Larkin White is arrested at the border. The accusation: he is the sculptor Anatol Stiller, who disappeared 7 years ago and is wanted for his involvement in a dubious political affair. White denies his guilt & insists he is not Stiller. In order to convict him, the public prosecutor asks Stiller’s wife Julika for facilitate. However, she is also unable to identify him clearly. What exactly happened & who is Stiller really? Very intriguing setup.

Here’s the first official German trailer (+ poster) for Stefan Haupt’s film Stiller, direct from YouTube:

Albrecht Schuch plays the lead role of James Larkin White, an American who, on a train journey through Switzerland, is mistaken for Anatol Stiller, a sculptor who disappeared seven years earlier and is wanted for his involvement in a dubious political affair. “I am not Stiller“, White declares at the beginning of Frisch’s novel – and again and again from then on. In order to convict him, the public prosecutor played by Max Simonischek asks Stiller’s wife Julika (Paula Beer) to identify her husband, but she is unable to do so conclusively. Memories reveal more & more about the couple’s relationship – and it turns out that the prosecutor has a surprising connection to the missing man. Stiller is directed by Swiss filmmaker Stefan Haupt, director of various films including Utopia Blues, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: Facing Death, A Song For Argyris, How About Love, The Circle, The Reformer. Zwingli: A Life’s Portrait, and also Dark Fortune previously. The screenplay is also written by Stefan Haupt with Alex Buresch. Adapted from Max Frisch’s novel “I’m Not Stiller” first published in 1954. Produced by Tobias Walker, Anne Walser, and Philipp Worm. The film is premiering at the 2025 Munich Film Festival this summer. Arthaus will debut Haupt’s Stiller film in German cinemas starting October 30th, 2025. No US release date is set yet – stay tuned for news.

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