In 2022, Mulhouse celebrates one of its children, William Wyler, the director of “Ben Hur”

Mulhouse can be proud of having seen the birth of the filmmaker who holds the absolute record for Oscar nominations. Indeed, he has been awarded twelve times in the Best Director category and, in a single film, he has won the famous trophy eleven times with the cult Ben Hur. Well deserved a year of accolades.

Why 2022? Because William Wiler was born in Mulhouse on July 1, 1902, in a building that still exists, in a family of small traders where culture had its place, as film critic Pierre-Louis Cereja recounts: “His mother had the cultural fiber, they went to the theater a lot and at home, they organized little skits”.

William Wyler was not “just” born in Mulhouse, he grew up and lived there until the age of 19. Then, he left France in 1922, heading for the United States where he joined his mother’s cousin, Carl Laemmle, creator in 1912 of the Universal Pictures film studio.

There, he will climb the ladder starting in the advertising department before becoming a production assistant. In 1925, he started directing and became the youngest director employed by the firm.

Prior to the huge success of Ben Hur in 1959 (he was then 57 years old), Wyler had already made nearly forty films with monuments of cinema: The rebellious with Bette Davis and Henry Fonda, The Wuthering Heights with Laurence Olivier, The Desert Rider with Gary Cooper, roman holidays with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, funny girl with Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif… The list goes on!

Naturalized American in 1928, Wyler never forgot where he came from. On each of his trips to Europe, he stopped in Mulhouse, taking pleasure in speaking the Alsatian patois. Disappeared in 1981, it is despite everything in California that he chose to be buried.

To celebrate the 120th anniversary of his birth and the 100th career of the director, many appointments are planned throughout the year in Mulhouse. Exhibitions will be offered at Historical museum as well as a photo exhibition designed by college students from Wolf College. College students who also aspire to make a short film

In April, the Motàmot festival will focus on writing and cinema. In June, the Maison du patrimoine Edouard-Boeglin will publish a heritage trail booklet.
On July 1, Catherine Wyler, the director’s daughter, will be present in Mulhouse with part of her family, on the occasion of the inauguration of a monumental fresco.

The theme Ben Hur will, of course, be revisited with, on July 2, an Electro Peplum evening imagined by the artists of Motoco. Then at the end of July, it will be the turn of the Automobile Museum to propose a special evening Ben Hur. On the music side, concerts are planned in September with the Orchester symphonique de Mulhouse and the Conservatoire. December will see the release of a book by Jean Walker, a specialist in the filmmaker, entitled William Wyler, from Alsace to Hollywood.