The Sarah

Dressed in black, with gloves, hat and scarf, she stands there in front of Bar 0815, smokes one cigarette after another and talks about her life - wrapped in a shimmering touch. The words seem to fall to her, but each one is chosen with care. With her appearance she attracts passers-by, one wants to know who she is, why she is being photographed. Without interrupting the conversation, Sarah immediately takes care of the questions. She assures them that she is not even a citizen of Zurich and certainly not a celebrity, and dismisses the questioners without turning them away for the afternoon. She would prefer not to take off her hat, to remain in light anonymity. Who knows how people perceive, what they understand and interpret - it is an unassessable situation among strangers.

Walker and storyteller

Sarah Pietrasanta was born on the night of August 21, 1974, in the Victoria Hospital in Bern. At the witching hour, she insists. Rumor has it that Sarah was already formulating her wishes in complete sentences long before standing on her own two feet would have been an option. Just as she later mastered walking, she walked around the village, going from house to house for visitors in exchange for a syrup or an apple, telling stories, reciting verses, or singing nursery rhymes. Sarah's first imaginary treasure was rock 'n' roller Shakin' Stevens. The second was Phillip G. He was real and wore top gun overalls. The teenager followed him to high school. Nothing came of love, but later he studied communications and political science.

Curriculum vitae of a loner

Since 2008, she has managed the sole proprietorship PS: Text, Book & Concept. Prior to that, she worked as a freelancer, among other things for various media productions and production management, writing texts, scripts and concepts. She honed her skills as a freelancer through interim positions at the Federal Office for Migration (project management and public relations), as a program manager and presenter at the association Radio Bern, and most recently, but not least, during four years of employment as a CD and co-author as well as project, production and recording manager at Aspectfilm in Zurich and Bern. Screenwriting, she says, was the writer's school par excellence: "When the script is filmed, the words disappear. So it's a matter of writing the picture precisely before the words disappear." As a sole proprietor and the head of PS: Text, Buch & Konzept, she gave clients "your word." Even if this activity required many conversations and meetings; in teamwork she did not have to take into consideration the ideas and preparations of others as an individual mask - if she liked an idea particularly well, she discarded all the others without further ado. That is now "after more than ten years in the home writing room" a little different: Since October of this year, Die Sarah is the new creative director at the BSW agency Blue Spirit. And she likes it a lot. Especially the team. But also the tasks. Everything, actually. But it's also a big change: "Moving home to Zurich, giving up your home in Bern, suddenly working in a team, among people - that's a lot of change," she stresses. But it's great. As a Bernese, she has been commuting regularly to Zurich for several weeks now. But she can't enjoy the crowds on the train and in the stations at all. She calls it a "people's festival." "It starts at the station: PEOPLE, HORROR," she explains, "Train travel disturbs my personality; the smells and sounds, the bullies and ruffians - it all affects me unfiltered." Fortunately, after a few attempts, she was immediately offered several apartments in Zurich. She has already announced the new apartment on Facebook: "My new bathroom has three windows - three windows is what my new bathroom has. And if it doesn't have three windows, it's not my new bathroom," she says happily.

"The Antichrist Is a Do-Gooder"

Sarah can write, tell stories and manipulate. Her acting performances in daily life are also noteworthy. But she doesn't want the word "manipulate" to be misunderstood in any way: "Manipulate means to fill your hands. I give something of myself. Into the hands. Or into the heart. Or into the brain." Very often she uses this word: "Manipulate." It is also attached to the industry as something negative. But it simply means that something is being offered to someone - a product, a brand, an ideology. What one then does with it is up to the individual. If so free and so capable. "The creative person is the antichrist," she adds, and she also means this in a positive sense: "The antichrist is a do-gooder," she emphasizes with a smile, "he stands for free development, for the individual determination of the present, he resists doctrine, convention and morality." He performs this "liberation" out of conviction, guided by the original idea. In this respect, the advertising industry is teeming with antichrists.

The 0815 and the 99 balloons

Those who are not capable or willing to think for themselves are guided by an ethos or an anointed one. Of course, even free thought needs solid ground under its feet, says Die Sarah, quoting Woody Allen: "I have both feet firmly planted in the clouds." So it's no coincidence that she chose Bar 0815 as her venue of choice for our conversation. Everything here is made to measure. The lounge is measured out to its square meters and labeled accordingly, the distance to the coat hooks in the checkroom can be read on the walls, and the wine bottles on display are visibly counted. For some tastes this is probably too clear and orderly, but for Die Sarah it is just right. Because it's easier to play with order. "The more firmly it stands, the more violently the change is felt." For example, in the game with the strictly regulated German language. Sarah Pietrasanta's favorite example of this is a comma shift from "Du, nur du" to "Du nur, du." In between are worlds - worlds of view and insight, worlds of soap bubbles and balloons. And balloons also wanted to let rise Die Sarah in early childhood. When she wanted to become Nena by profession and think in music, singing and rhythms. However, after the hairdresser from the "Kaff" did not know what haircut would have been necessary for this, she decided to be instead of wanting to become something.
 
Ursina mason (Text and photos)

In a nutshell

2001/2002 Program management, production and moderation at Radio Bern (RaBe)
2002/2003 Project Management and Public Relations at the Federal Office for Migration (FOM), Information Service
2003/2004 Course management "Basic course in radio journalism" at Klipp & Klang Radiokurse in Zurich
2003-2007 Creative direction, project, production and recording management, assistant director at Aspectfilm
2007/2008 Various media productions and production management, texts, scripts and concepts
2008-2014 Creation and production for PS: text, book & concept (sole proprietorship)
since October 2014 Creative Director at Blue Spirit

www.bluespirit.ch
www.pietrasanta.ch