Writing the silver screen: from literature to cinema and vice versa

There has always been a passionate relationship between literature and cinema. The exhibition “Writing the silver screen” from 31 August 2023 – 12 January 2024 provides an overview of these turbulent interrelations based on documents from the Swiss Literary Archives.

Leinwand beschreiben — Key visual of the “Writing the silver screen” exhibition (Design: Studio Marlon Ilg, Zürich)

What happens when literature meets the silver screen? This medium has fascinated writers since its invention at the start of the 20th century. Describing their experience of darkened movie theatres, writing film scripts, adapting novels to the screen, standing behind the camera or just imagining their own film: those are some of the ways in which authors have attempted to “write the silver screen”.

The Swiss Literary Archives (SLA) preserve the records of these often passionate interplays. Based on documents from prominent exponents (Blaise Cendrars, Patricia Highsmith, Friedrich Dürrenmatt) as well as less well-known sources, this exhibition provides an overview of the interrelationships going back over 100 years between the world of cinema and professional writers.

Flyer “Writing the silver screen” exhibition (PDF, 96 kB, 18.07.2023)