logo_moneymuseum

Courses

back

Talks about money - money moves

The personal relationship of people to money and the changing role of money in our society - that is what the film "Geld bewegt" (Money Moves) is all about. Six personalities from the worlds of business, art, the church and economic sociology have their say and share their own opinions about money. The museum director and producer of the film introduces the protagonists in more detail here and tells us how the film came about in the first place. Geld bewegt" was released in 2003.

von

The motives of the producer

What prompted me to produce this film? I've always been interested in how people deal with money and what kind of relationship they have with it. Connected to this is my interest in how success and money are related. Again and again I find that the basis of success is not money, but a strong inner drive to put one's own interests and talents into practice and to create something. The money then usually comes by itself - namely by the fact that others also enjoy what they have created and are willing to pay money for it. So success does not follow money, but money follows success, to put it somewhat exaggeratedly. This is also evident in the personalities presented in the film, who are all successful in their field, although this does not always translate into money.

In any case, portraying people and their relationship to money in a film has been a wish of mine for some time. My acquaintance with the director Rudi Burkhalter then made it possible for me to turn this wish into reality.

The motives of the director

"Although as a director I don't live in a materially oriented world, the subject of money has always interested me - who hasn't?" said Rudi Burkhalter with a smile when asked why he got involved in my film project. For example, he also wrote the screenplay for the crime comedy "Piff Paff Puff" by Lutz Konermann, which is about three hoodlums in Zurich's Kreis 4. In this film, an Italian, a Yugoslavian and a Chinese meet, all of whom have no money and hope to get some through a fraudulent deal. In the end, however, the swindlers are themselves the swindled ones and come away empty-handed. Quintessence: Money is something mythical, but also something illusionary ...

"What attracted me to the film 'Money Moves'," continues Rudi Burkhalter, "was to work out the nuances of the personalities portrayed in it in their relationship to themselves and to money, in a seven-minute sequence per person. Each of the six people had to make a statement at the beginning about what money means to them. My task was to film this statement in a believable way."

What can you learn from this course?

From this text, someone can learn several key ideas:

  1. The author's primary interest lies in exploring people's relationships with money and how it connects to success.
  2. The author believes that success does not necessarily depend on money, but rather on a strong inner drive to pursue one's interests and talents.
  3. The author suggests that money often follows success, rather than the other way around, as people are willing to pay for things they enjoy or find valuable.
  4. The text provides an insight into the personalities portrayed in the film, who are successful in their respective fields, even if it doesn't always translate to financial wealth.

In summary, this text offers an interesting perspective on the relationship between success and money, emphasizing the importance of passion and dedication in achieving success. 

 

Introduction by Jürg Conzett

The six personalities who appear in the film "Money Moves" are active in very different areas. Not least because of this, they each have their own relationship to money. Sometimes their money relationships are similar, but sometimes they are quite different.

I now imagine that the people who watch the film will also recognize their own relationship to money in one or the other statement. In this respect, the people portrayed in the film also represent typical views about money.

Harald Wessbecher, psychologist, (money) seminar leader, book author

«Financial carefreeness seems to me to be particularly easy to achieve when I have the ability to create money out of myself.»

What does he mean by this sentence? Doesn't it sound too theoretical? What if I have to pay bills at the end of the month, but just can't "make more money out of myself"?

Harald Wessbecher explains the importance of self-esteem and the feeling of being valued by others. Only those who value themselves and others can feel free - also free from having to have money. One does not need to have money to be able to dispose of things. Being money - creating money out of oneself by following one's interests and talents and thus increasing the quality of life of others and creating joy - is more important to Harald than having money. He does not seem to be a businessman who worries about monthly salary obligations, not a financial investor who worries about his investments on a daily basis - although, by the way, I wondered how Harald invests his money ...

Harald is a helper in the psychological sense. Like Adelheid, he offers his helping hand, but unlike her, he accepts money in return.

Roby Steiner, Aircraft restorer

«I have everything but money ...»

Roby Steiner is a Hans-in-luck. He has everything he needs. He is not money-oriented. With him, money serves the cause; for example, it is much better invested in his quality toolbox than in a bank; therefore, there is no need to hoard it. Roby Steiner comes across as likeable, independent and very convincing. He can be a role model for us not to take money so seriously or to use it for a purpose in life, but never as an end in itself.

I asked him what he would do if he suddenly had no money at all. He laughed wholeheartedly and said he would become self-sufficient again. And he seemed credible in doing so.

Adelheid Jewanski, woman pastor

«Money also means to me that I can give, that I can be generous..»

And, "You can't buy the most important things in life."

Here, the heart is more important than money. Money does play a role, however, in that you can give something to someone, make it possible. Adelheid Jewanski needs little money to practice her profession; her gift is listening, being interested in others, having time. These aspects are more important than money. And here she is convincing as a pastor. Here she resembles Roby Steiner, the Hans-in-luck type.

In the film, Adelheid Jewanski mainly emphasizes the positive aspects of money: giving something, bringing joy. Through the experiences she has in pastoral care, however, she also knows the darker sides, as she recounts afterwards. "I also encounter money in connection with existential fears and degrading dependencies that people have to live with," she says. "Even going to the social welfare office is deeply embarrassing for people. I've also seen the effects of debt with some clients, a downward spiral of debt." But Adelheid Jewanski knows it's not because of money: Money in itself is neither positive nor negative. Rather, it depends on what you do with it. And the fact that you don't do as much good as you can with it is difficult for her to understand.

H. R. Giger, designer, artist, author and museum director

«Money in and of itself does not interest me. One should simply have enough of it.»

The paradox is clearly expressed in this sentence: as an artist, Giger doesn't want to worry about money, but the production of his art objects does need money. A quandary. For on the one hand, Giger himself says that an artist must be financially well off. On the other hand, he has always remained modest, creativity is important to him, not hoarded money.

Giger thus shows the dichotomy into which money leads modern man: the tightrope walk between the positive and negative aspects of money. Giger is not a person who wants to live both aspects in relation to money. But if you look at his art, the dichotomy between the positive and the negative is definitely the dominant theme.

Andi Stutz, Silk manufacturer

«I work only two hours a week, the rest of the time I devote to the beautiful and harmonious sides of life.»

Here it is emphasized that work must be related to desire in order to be successful. Work is self-expression, motivated from within, vocation.

Andi Stutz is a generous person at heart, comes across as likeable and is credible. With his Fabric Frontline [Andi Stutz's silk factory and salon in Zurich; editor's note], he is also successful materially, and I heartily commend him for that. Because he also knew material deprivation. Money did not change him. So he is, so to speak, the "sovereign," the "money maker." But I think not always. There is also another side in Andi Stutz, the sad, melancholic one. This side has nothing to do with money and cannot be brightened up with money.

I experienced Andi Stutz in all his vulnerability, which inevitably comes out in filmmaking. And it shows that there are other personality aspects besides the money personality, some of which are much more dominant. However, what I have experienced quite positively is that joy in work is Andi's main aspect for success, joy in vocation and in expressing oneself. This is actually an almost self-evident statement and has something childlike about it. But we adults sometimes forget this truth.

Aldo Haesler, Economic Sociologist

«Money slips away from us because it becomes an invisible object.»

With Haesler, money becomes a phantom. He means the displacement of the symbolic by the economic exchange. Exchange has always existed. Where people live together, exchange takes place - of looks, thoughts, opinions, feelings and also goods. Social relationships are formed through exchange.

But when we speak of exchange today, we mean almost exclusively the monetary system that shapes exchange in the economy. Today, economic exchange is considered the exchange par excellence. But what is actually exchanged is becoming increasingly imaginary. Since the Renaissance, a development has begun in which money has become increasingly dematerialized and invisible, from coins to paper money and credit cards to cybermoney, in which only virtual amounts are shifted back and forth. Money thus becomes a phantom.

Paradoxically, however, interpersonal relationships are becoming increasingly materialized. This is evident in the fact that we have already begun to "balance" our relationships. On the other hand, what exchange was actually intended for - namely, to constitute social bonds and to consolidate them in the long run - has collapsed. But when everything is accounted for in dollars and cents alone, coldness reigns.


Each of the six people was asked for a phrase that symbolizes their relationship with money. Which sentence would you say?

 

Harald Wessbecher:

«Financial carefreeness seems to me to be particularly easy to achieve when I have the ability to create money out of myself.»


Roby Steiner:

«I have everything but money ...»

 

Adelheid Jewanski, woman pastor

«Money also means to me that I can give, that I can be generous..»

 

H. R. Giger:

«Money in and of itself does not interest me. One should simply have enough of it.»


 

Andi Stutz:

«I work only two hours a week, the rest of the time I devote to the beautiful and harmonious sides of life.»

 

Aldo Haesler:

«Money slips away from us because it becomes an invisible object.»


Film duration 52 Minutes

You will find the film sequences at the following minutes:

  • Intro: 0:00
  • Harald Wessbecher: 3:45
  • Roby Steiner: 11:40
  • Adelheid Jewanski: 18:20
  • H.R. Giger: 25:55
  • Andi Stutz: 33:50
  • Aldo Haesler: 40:20


Signet Sunflower Foundation