Swiss filmmaker Ulrike Koch has died at the age of 73
Published: Friday, Apr 19th 2024, 12:01
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The Swiss filmmaker and film critic Ulrike Koch is dead. The China expert died at the age of 73. Koch was known for her successful 1997 documentary "The Salt Men of Tibet", among other things.
Koch died after a serious illness on March 30 in the Zurich region, a nephew of the artist told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Friday.
"The Salt Men of Tibet" is one of the most successful Swiss films according to a list compiled by the Federal Office of Culture. With just over 53,000 admissions, the documentary ranks 92nd among the 500 most successful Swiss films between 1976 and 2023. The film was shown at various international festivals. In the documentary, the sinologist accompanied nomads in Tibet for three months and showed their ritual journey to the salt lakes in the Tibetan plateaus.
For the film, she worked with Swiss cinematographer Pio Corradi, who died in 2019. Koch and Corradi also worked together on the documentaries "Ässhäk - Geschichten aus der Sahara" and "Regilaul - Lieder aus der Luft", she as director and he as cinematographer. The filmmaker was also involved in "The Last Emperor" by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci as casting director.
The filmmaker was born in Germany in 1950. Koch studied sinology, Japanese studies, ethnology and philosophy in Zurich before continuing her studies in China. In addition to her work as a filmmaker, she wrote film reviews for the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" and "Weltwoche", among others. She also gave lectures on China, Tibet and Buddhism. She lived in Zollikon near Zurich.
©Keystone/SDA
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