From stagehand to festival director

“This city is like a teenager,” says Rudi Gehring, commercial director of the Short Film Festival, with a laugh. If he were to describe Winterthur using a film genre, it would be a coming-of-age story. For over a century, heavy industry and its workers helped the city to grow steadily, until the early 1990s, when most of the Sulzer and Rieter factories closed their doors and the city was forced to break free from its image as an industrial hub.

“It was a time of upheaval; nobody knew exactly what was coming next,” recalls Rudi, who was himself still a teenager at the time. Through the involvement of his older sisters, he came into contact early on with new cultural centres that were rising from the ashes of former industrial sites. “At twelve, I was stuffing glass wool into the windows of the Gaswerk, just before it opened in 1996,” recalls the now 41-year-old. This was followed by his first odd jobs: putting up posters for the Musikfestwochen, and working as a stagehand at the Salzhaus and Gaswerk. Training as a sound engineer was the next logical step for Rudi: “If you’re constantly running around on stage, rolling up cables and plugging things in, at some point you want to be at the desk too.” Even whilst he was still training, he was told he would lose his hearing in his right ear within a few years. A fate he has so far been spared, but which prompted him to undertake a commercial apprenticeship with a music distributor.

This additional training eventually led the then 23-year-old to the administrative side of his former workplace. At the Salzhaus, he set up the communications department, later moving into booking and co-management. Rudi’s desire to help shape the cultural landscape around him extended beyond the music scene. In 2010, he co-founded the association “Kulturmagazin für Winterthur”, from which Coucou emerged two years later: “I have a fundamental urge to keep moving and I’m easily inspired,” he says with a laugh. However, he was no longer involved by the time the name was chosen.

After more than ten challenging years at the Salzhaus, Rudi felt the need for a change. He began a master’s degree in cultural management, which led to his departure from Winterthur’s club scene: “I was studying at the weekends, which was no longer compatible with the Salzhaus and my freelance jobs as a sound engineer and booker.” The search for a “nine-to-five job” led him to the Short Film Festival in 2017: “I was never a film nerd, but I’m fascinated by the diversity of filmmakers and collaborations that the Short Film Festival brings together.”

Over the course of six days, more than 200 productions are screened. That’s twice as many as at the Zurich Film Festival, which focuses on feature films. In his role as project and production manager, Rudi was confronted with the unexpected challenge of the coronavirus pandemic: “We had to develop various scenarios and constantly reorient ourselves – a huge amount of extra work.” When the federal government pulled the plug on major events in March 2020, streaming was the festival’s only option.

“We have to achieve much more with fewer staff resources; the pressure has
clearly increased.” – Rudi Gehring

Whilst the cultural world came to a standstill in many places, Rudi’s drive led him to collaborate with other figures from the cultural and hospitality sectors to develop new concepts, with the aim of making culture accessible again as quickly as possible under the prevailing conditions. This is how the idea for the Winter Market at Teuchelweiher and the ‘Ante auf dem Bäumli’ concert series came about. “We were all working in sectors that had ground to a halt. We simply wanted to do something again.”

Both projects have become established beyond the pandemic, though he himself is no longer involved in them today. “I’m still learning to say no and to take it easy sometimes,” says Rudi, who became a father for the second time in two years in 2025. The pandemic was followed by the next upheaval in 2021. The Short Film Days moved from the Casino and Stadttheater to the blue Cinema Maxx in the Kesselhaus. A compromise between the charm of the old venue and the advantages of a modern cinema, as Rudi puts it. At the same time, the Lagerplatz transformed into the festival’s new hub: from accommodation in Depot 195 to screenings at the Cameo cinema, a supporting programme at Kraftfeld and Museum Schaffen, right through to the offices and team rooms at Machwerk. What used to take place under one roof is now spread across the entire industrial site next to the railway tracks.

Rudi’s role at the Short Film Festival has evolved over time; planning issues have increasingly become the focus of his work, whilst the challenges in the area of financing have grown: “Whereas before the pandemic, partnerships tended to be driven by factors such as image or even philanthropic motives, the focus today is increasingly on a clearly measurable ‘return on investment’.” Unlike feature films, there is hardly any market for commercial exploitation in short films: “To ensure that short films continue to find their way onto the big screen, we need strong and consistent support from the public sector, private foundations and sponsors.” After a year away working in fundraising at the Fotomuseum, Rudi returned to the Short Film Festival last summer; as commercial director and co-director. Heavy losses in 2023 prompted the festival management to implement cost-cutting measures: “We have to achieve much more with fewer staff resources; the pressure has clearly increased.”

The fact that, a year later, during the renegotiation of the subsidy agreements, the city rejected an annual increase of 100,000 francs and pledged only 40,000 also contributes to the tense situation. There is no comparable festival in Switzerland with such a tight budget, says Rudi: “What makes Winterthur a city of culture, rather than just a museum city, is the many people who work for free or in precarious employment conditions and simply carry on regardless.”

This year too (in 2025, editor’s note), there are around 200 volunteers who are playing a key role in ensuring that the Short Film Festival can take place in Winterthur for the 29th time. This year’s edition focuses on two themes: ‘Cinema of India’ with six short film programmes, and the ‘Motion in Motion’ series with three programmes on movement and dance. In addition, the festival is showing screenings as part of the Swiss and international competitions. The programme is complemented by panel discussions, workshops and various support initiatives for filmmakers. Even though everything seems to be geared towards these six days in November, the Short Film Festival is far more than just a festival. With the Short Film Night Tour, Switzerland’s largest short film archive, various collaborations and support programmes, they are the centre of excellence for short film in Switzerland. “I’m very proud of the team,” says Rudi, already looking ahead. “We’ve been able to lay the groundwork for the future this year.” As soon as the festival is over, he’ll be off again, running further and further, with the Short Film Festival’s 30th anniversary already on the horizon.

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The article appeared in 2025 in the print edition of the cultural magazine Coucou.

THE SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
is Switzerland’s most significant short film festival and attracts around 17,000 film enthusiasts every year. The 30th edition begins on 3 November and runs until 8 November 2026. With prize money of around 69,000 Swiss francs and the opportunity to be nominated for international awards such as the Oscars, the festival is a key meeting place for the international short film scene.

PROFILE
JULIEN FELBER is a cinema-goer, photographer and journalist from Winterthur. Along with the Musikfestwochen, the Short Film Festival is one of his annual highlights in the cultural calendar.