rejected a push<\/a>\u202fby the right-wing Pro Schweiz association\u00a0\u2013\u00a0backed by the\u202fright-wing\u202fSwiss People\u2019s Party\u202f\u2013\u00a0for a \u201cperpetual and armed neutrality\u201d,\u00a0it will now be up to Swiss citizens to define what neutrality\u00a0should\u00a0look like in\u00a0concrete political terms.\u00a0<\/p>\nAs the country gears up for an autumn vote that could redefine a key pillar of Swiss foreign policy, the intensifying debate offers a timely chance to examine a virtue Switzerland has long prized. Simply put, now is the time to ask a painful question: what does Swiss neutrality mean amid the geopolitical turbulence of the 21st century?\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
This question brings\u00a0together two distinct Swiss voices for a dryly comic and politically probing documentary that delivers a witty diagnosis of their country\u2019s crisis of consciousness.\u202fNeutral Ground\u202f (original title:\u202fEn Terrain\u00a0Neutre) is\u202fa road movie in which veteran documentary filmmaker St\u00e9phane Go\u00ebl is joined by Mehdi Atmani \u2013\u00a0named Swiss Journalist of the Year in 2020\u00a0\u2013\u00a0to depict their homeland at a turning point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to define something that cannot be defined,\u201d says Go\u00ebl\u00a0after the world premiere of their collaborative effort at the Visions\u00a0du\u00a0R\u00e9el\u00a0documentary festival\u00a0in Nyon in April. \u201cFor us, it was a chance to go deeper into the psyche of Switzerland,\u201d adds debuting director Atmani.\u00a0<\/p>\n
External Content <\/p>\n
Swiss\u00a0identities across cultures and generations\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even though Atmani, a Swiss journalist of Algerian descent born in Lausanne in 1984, and Go\u00ebl, born in 1965, come from different generations and backgrounds, Atmani says they shared a key motivation: \u201ca desire to question Swiss identity. To do the psychoanalysis of the country and go to the roots of what makes us Swiss, or not.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This shared curiosity brought the duo across Switzerland and well beyond \u2013 to New York City and the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) \u2013 where they captured absurd vignettes that reveal a society\u00a0reluctantly undergoing major transformation.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neutral Ground\u202f depicts young soldiers wrestling with\u00a0the prospect of\u00a0military\u00a0service,\u00a0commercial trade shows where Swiss weapon manufacturers profit from a war-stricken planet, and, most notably, a hotelier seeking to sell his luxurious spa-hotel nestled inside one of the underground bunkers Switzerland built into the Alps during the Cold War.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The owner drily\u202fobserves\u202fthat his\u00a0failing\u00a0business\u00a0\u2013\u00a0for sale at a modest CHF8 million ($10.1 million)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0might be\u202fbought\u202fby Ukrainian buyers, turning the ironic scene into an uncanny metaphor for the collapse of Swiss isolationism.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Swiss](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cine_en-terrain-neutre-agora-films.jpg\")
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Swiss filmmakers St\u00e9phane Go\u00ebl (left) and Mehdi Atmani. <\/p>\n
Agora Films <\/p>\n
After Ukraine<\/p>\n
This scene points to the raison d\u2019\u00eatre of the\u202fdocumentary, as the notion of Swiss neutrality came under pressure after Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the starting point of a certain momentum in our history, all in relation to our\u00a0supposed neutrality,\u201d Go\u00ebl explains, adding that this came as Switzerland became a member of the UN Security Council and presided over the council twice.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimultaneously, we see this extreme initiative launched by Pro Schweiz, which puts to a vote a staunchly nationalistic and highly restrictive view of\u00a0neutrality.\u00a0We saw all of this happen and thought to ourselves: now is the right moment to deal with this vague theme of neutrality,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n
Underlining how Swiss neutrality is a mythical construct, Neutral Ground\u202f gives a cheeky history lesson. The film highlights the decisive defeat of the Old Swiss Confederacy at the hands of the French forces under Francis I during the Battle of Marignano (1515), which prompted the precursor to the Swiss nation-state to step back from European battlefields for good.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the course of five centuries, the modern Swiss nation has metabolised\u202fwhat was once a military humiliation into a diplomatic virtue, prompting\u202fGo\u00ebl\u202fto declare that \u201cour neutrality is a privilege, not a special talent\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He continues: \u201cThe simple fact is that the French beat our asses and we did everything to remove ourselves from further conflict. Now this time should be over, as\u202fI believe we\u202fare also responsible for the rest of the world. We might seem insignificant as a small country, but we do have power because of our capital. That should steer our neutrality from privilege towards responsibility.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Armed](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_3080.jpeg\")
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Armed neutrality: a Swiss stand at a weapons fair. <\/p>\n
Climage.ch <\/p>\n
How to film an abstract myth<\/p>\n
In terms of their own journalistic responsibilities,\u202fGo\u00ebl\u202fand Atmani decided to avoid overt polemics, instead delivering their critical diagnosis in a more tongue-in-cheek style\u00a0\u2013\u00a0a genuine expression of their own vibrant personalities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy journalistic work deals with serious matters,\u201d says Atmani, who earlier made waves with his critical reporting on Switzerland\u2019s intelligence and espionage apparatus, \u201cbut\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0not that serious a person.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0a fan of gonzo-style reporting, by\u202fna\u00efvely diving into a new topic and bringing other people into the journey.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
What both\u00a0filmmaker\u00a0and\u00a0journalist\u00a0agreed on was that filming neutrality is an impossible quest, as\u202fit\u2019s\u202fillusory by nature and thus invisible to the naked eye.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, what I particularly liked about making\u202fEn Terrain Neutre is capturing the energy that diplomats, politicians, soldiers and businesspeople put in constantly telling and retelling the story of neutrality,\u201d Atmani adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do these people have in their\u202fminds? Do they see the absurd underpinnings of their attachment to this political construct? And do they think that this narrative is still valid today? To me,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0quite amazing that the energy many people spend on telling this story seems\u00a0way more important than\u202fthe actual\u202fneutrality itself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Swiss](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ETN_25.jpg\")
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Swiss filmmaker Mehdi Atmani in the Swiss parliament building in Bern. <\/p>\n
Climage.ch <\/p>\n
The politics of comedy<\/p>\n
Neutrality may be a rallying banner for the Swiss far-right, but it is supported by a wide range of the political spectrum, from right to left, including almost the entire conservative camp. No wonder Go\u00ebl\u00a0and Atmani soon\u00a0realise\u00a0that they are poking the hornet\u2019s nest of Switzerland\u2019s political (sub)consciousness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Go\u00ebl\u202fis\u202fclear\u202fabout how they chose to do that: \u201cIf I film power, I can make fun of power.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Disarmingly sincere and\u202fself-effacing, they have\u202fultimately turned Neutral Ground\u202f into a delightful piece of auto-derision that happily makes fun of a strange little country that perhaps takes\u202fitself a bit too seriously.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAuto-derision is something that we lack in Switzerland,\u201d says Go\u00ebl, who\u202fwants to ridicule the idea of Swiss exceptionalism. \u201cWe also happily make fun of ourselves in the film. The form of the film is even consciously anti-cinematic. Its playfulness and accessibility are\u202fall gestures towards the\u202faudience. In\u202fthe end, we want to invite Swiss viewers to stop taking themselves\u202fso seriously and to simply look at this big topic in a lighter way.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
After festival screenings at Visions du\u202fR\u00e9el, a theatrical release in French-speaking Switzerland, and an upcoming cinema run in German-speaking cantons, Atmani and\u202fGo\u00ebl\u202fhave already seen how their \u201cnewborn baby\u201d is having its\u00a0intended effect on its audience. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy to see that every generation, no matter the political stance, is now prompted to think about their own relationship to neutrality and to question again what it means to be Swiss,\u201d says Atmani.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_3860.jpeg\")
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The filmmakers interview members of the Swiss armed forces. <\/p>\n
Climage.ch <\/p>\n
For the journalist-turned-filmmaker, this road movie also\u00a0became a way\u00a0to\u00a0re-examine his own complicated connection to a country he was born in, while his ancestral roots lie in Algeria. \u201cIt was like undergoing therapy,\u201d he admits. \u201cI still have many questions about my Swiss identity, but on a personal level, this amazing experience put me at the beginning of a new journey.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Part of that journey\u00a0will continue\u00a0with his trusted collaborator. Atmani is\u00a0already\u00a0developing his next documentary, co-directed by Delphine Schnydrig and produced by\u202fGo\u00ebl. In the meantime, the duo hopes\u202fNeutral Ground will spark\u202fa much-need political and ethical debate in a country that has always preferred to remain closed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edited by Virginie Mangin & Eduardo Simantob\/ds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Swissminiatur leisure park in Melide, canton Ticino. As Switzerland struggles with its identity, the nation’s mythical neutrality…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[101,98,11844,10638,7923,10093,1918,2143,460,36739,3314,41,17,21362],"class_list":["post-67940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-article","tag-beat-culture","tag-beat-neutrality","tag-beat-swiss-cinema","tag-cinema","tag-citizens-initiative-and-recall","tag-culture","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-multi","tag-national-elections","tag-production-type-external","tag-swiss","tag-switzerland","tag-user-need-give-me-perspective"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116600108977611931","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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