Docs Spring 2023

SWISS FILMS 2023 DOCS SPRING

WATCH SWISS SHORTS ONLINE: www.swissfilms.ch/en/short-film-library

SWISS FILMS

Neugasse 6, 8005 Zurich

www.swissfilms.ch

Published in April 2023

Image campaign by Cynthia Mai Ammann

79 303 58 69

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ANDREAS BÜHLMANN Head of Festivals & Markets abuehlmann@swissfilms.ch T +41

CHARLOTTE DUCOS Consultant Documentary Film & Marketing Strategies cducos@swissfilms.ch

SYLVAIN VAUCHER Consultant Short Films svaucher@swissfilms.ch

MARCEL MÜLLER Consultant Film, Programmes & VOD mmueller@swissfilms.ch

LAURA DANIEL Consultant Film, Talent & Awards ldaniel@swissfilms.ch

SWISS FILMS TEAM

CHIENNE DE ROUGE

BLOODHOUND

written & directed by Yamina Zoutat

A woman wakes up with the urge to film blood. In Paris, her city, she meets a blood conveyor, a grafter, a chimera … And she remembers a trial she followed a long time ago. The contaminated blood trial. Meanwhile, deep in a forest, a dog leads its search for blood.

WORLD SALES:

Shellac Films, Marseille www.shellacfilms.com

WORLD PREMIERE:

Cinéma du Réel Paris 2023

NATIONAL PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

SWITZERLAND / FRANCE

Documentary, 96 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

French

PRODUCTION:

Close Up Films, Geneva / Les Films d’Ici, Paris / RTS

SWISS PRODUCERS: Joëlle Bertossa, Flavia Zanon

YAMINA ZOUTAT

* 1970. Yamina Zoutat first worked as a court reporter in Paris. The criminal court was her “film school”. She was awarded the Prix de la Création for her documentary LAUNDRY (2010) followed by the Silver Sesterce for 6999 DOORS (2017) at Visions du Réel in Nyon. Her films have been screened in numerous international festivals and distributed in France.

CHAGRIN VALLEY

written & directed by Nathalie Berger

In a warehouse on the outskirts of Cleveland, residents with dementia of an elderly home live in the crystalized past of 1950s America, an artificial indoor village. The home’s residents and their caregivers share in their struggle and dream of a better future. Chagrin Valley reveals the collective fictions that make up the facade of modern-America, as well as our neglect towards those most in need of care – whether you have dementia or not.

NATHALIE BERGER

* 1993. Nahtalie Berger grew up in Europe, Asia, and South America. In 2014 she graduated with a Bachelor in Political Science from Duke University and in 2022 with a Master in Documentary Film Directing from Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). She codirected the feature documentary

CALL ME INTERN (2019)

awarded Best New Zealand Feature Documentary at Doc Edge in Wellington and which screened at various film festivals worldwide.

CHAGRIN VALLEY (2023) is her first solo feature documentary.

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 62 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

English

PRODUCERS:

1ERUTAEFTS

PRODUCTION AND WORLD RIGHTS:

Zurich University of the Arts

ZHdK

www.zhdk.ch

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE:

DOK.fest München 2023

DREAMERS

written & directed by Stéphanie Barbey, Luc Peter

At the age of nine, Carlos arrives from Mexico to Chicago with his three brothers and his parents. The day he turns eighteen, his future becomes uncertain. According to US law, Carlos is now undocumented. The slightest mistake can lead him to deportation. From defeats to successes, the film tells the story of Carlos now thirty-eight years old, his brothers and the fate of 2.5 million people growing up in a country that still does not recognize them as its own.

WORLD SALES:

Lightdox, Blonay

www.lightdox.com

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

SWITZERLAND / GERMANY

Documentary, 85 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

English, Spanish

SCREENPLAY:

Stéphanie Barbey

PRODUCTION:

Intermezzo Films, Geneva / Dirk Manthey Film, Hamburg / RTS / SWR / ARTE

SWISS PRODUCERS:

Luc Peter, Katia Monla

STÉPHANIE BARBEY

* 1972. Stéphanie Barbey has a Master from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences. She studied documentary film at Ateliers Varan in Paris. She is a filmmaker of documentary films for cinema and television.

LUC PETER

* 1963. Luc Peter has a Master in Political Science from the University of Geneva and a degree in Cinema from École cantonale d’Art de Lausanne (ECAL). He is a film producer and director of documentaries.

FLOATING ISLANDS

written & directed by Nicolas Humbert, Simone Fürbringer

What story is hidden in the stranded suitcase full of pictures, sounds and letters whose origins we do not know? The film is an homage to cinema, a film poem made up of images between dream and reality; a network of sounds, text fragments and voices that leads far out into the world and at the same time close to us. Aren’t we all floating islands?

NICOLAS HUMBERT

* 1958. Nicolas Humbert studied at the University of Television and Film (HFF) in Munich. He cofounded the filmmakers’ cooperative Der Andere Blick and the production Cine Nomad. Since 1987 he is an independent filmmaker.

SIMONE FÜRBRINGER

* 1957. Simone Fürbringer worked as a freelance journalist, photographer, acrobat and musician in circus projects. She studied at the HFF in Munich. She works as an independent filmmaker and film editor since 1993.

SWITZERLAND / GERMANY

Documentary, 95 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

German, English, French

PRODUCTION:

SimNic Films, Basel / SimNic Films, Munich

SWISS PRODUCERS: Simone Fürbringer, Nicolas Humbert

WORLD RIGHTS:

SimNic Films, Basel

s.fuerbringer@gmx.ch

nicolas.humbert@gmx.de

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE:

DOK.fest München 2023

EXPA NDED NIC AME

FOLLOW THE WATER

written & directed by Pauline Julier, Clément Postec

Winter 2021 in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Around one of the largest lithium mines in the world, several protagonists tell of their attachment to this territory. The commitment of an indigenous woman for water rights, the doubts of scientists exploring the desert as an analogue to Mars, the belief of industrialists, the spectres of colonisation and the stories of new explorers collide.

WORLD SALES:

Sister Distribution, Geneva

www.sister-distribution.ch

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

SWITZERLAND / FRANCE / CHILE

Docufiction, 51 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

English, French, Spanish

PRODUCTION:

Les films du chalet, Geneva / La Bête, Beausoleil / Capicua Films, Santiago

SWISS PRODUCER:

Pauline Julier

PAULINE JULIER

* 1981. Pauline Julier studied at the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie in Arles. She also has a Master SPEAP – Science Po Paris. She was awarded at the Swiss Art Awards in 2010 and again in 2021.

CLÉMENT POSTEC

* 1986 in France. Clément Postec studied cinema, modern literature and political science at the New Sorbonne University in Paris and at the Institute of Political Studies in Strasbourg. He produces and directs films and designs exhibitions.

FULL TANK

written & directed by Julia Bünter, Benjamin Bucher

The film looks at the microcosm of a racing team. Esteban, a 50-year-old entrepreneur, dreams of being part of this world, competing alongside professional drivers. Tirelessly, for six hours, eight hours, or even twenty-four hours, amateur and professional drivers take turns at the wheel. Their goal: to win. Esteban’s team travels around the world and from one race to the next the territories become blurred. Sounds and images form the fabric of a dream that speaks of our world.

JULIA BÜNTER

* 1990. Julia Bünter studied Film at the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL). Her award-winning Bachelor film DEADLINE (2014) was selected for numerous international festivals.

BENJAMIN BUCHER

* 1991. Benjamin Bucher has a Bachelor’s degree from ECAL. He works as a film editor and composer for documentary and feature films. He previously directed the two short films TRIO (2020) and VINCENT DROPS BY (2020).

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 63 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

French

PRODUCTION:

Bande à part Films, Lausanne

PRODUCER:

Jean-Stéphane Bron

WORLD RIGHTS:

Bande à part Films, Lausanne

www.bandeapartfilms.com

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

NIGHTS GONE BY

written & directed by Alberto Martín Menacho

ANTIER

NOCHE

A portrait of four young people from a small village in southern Spain, where modernity coexists with traditions whose origins are lost in the mists of time. A research on the relationship between the animal and the human.

WORLD RIGHTS:

Lomotion AG

Filmproduktion, Bern

www.lomotion.com

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

SWITZERLAND / SPAIN

Documentary, 106 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

Spanish

PRODUCTION:

Lomotion AG Filmproduktion, Bern / Pedro Collantes, Madrid / SRF

SWISS PRODUCERS:

Louis Mataré, David Fonjallaz

ALBERTO MARTÍN MENACHO

* 1986 in Spain. Alberto Martín Menacho is an editor and filmmaker. He studied Visual Arts at Geneva University of Art and Design. MY BELOVED, THE MOUNTAINS (2017) received the Best Short Film Award at Las Palmas International Film Festival and Penínsulas Award at Curtocircuíto International Film Festival. NIGHTS GONE BY (2023) is his first featurelength documentary and was part of the Ikusmira Berriak residency of the San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2019.

PARA NO OLVIDAR

ON REMEMBERING

written & directed by Laura Gabay

After the coup in Uruguay in 1973, thousands of intellectuals and artists fled the country. The filmmaker’s father was among them and left for Europe. After his passing, she came upon some Super 8 movies and audio files he had recorded. Through this archive, she started building a new family story trying to reveal and understand the silent pain of exile.

LAURA GABAY

* 1987. Laura Gabay is a director and producer. She studied Social Sciences and Cinema at Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD – Genève) and EICTV in Cuba. Her short film SWEET SALTY WIND (2019) was selected at Visions du Réel and IDFA. She coproduced the short films CARBON by Davide Tisato, Best Swiss film in Winterthur 2020 and CREATURE by Silvia Esteve, Pardino d’Oro in Locarno 2021. ON REMEMBERING is her first feature-length documentary.

SWITZERLAND / FRANCE / URUGUAY

Documentary, 62 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

Spanish

PRODUCTION:

Association Ecran Mobile, Geneva / Les soeurs Jaouen, Paris / Monarca Films, Montevideo

SWISS PRODUCERS:

Laura Gabay, Cecilia

Cardoso, Morena Henke, Irene Muñoz Martin

WORLD RIGHTS:

Association Ecran Mobile, Geneva

www.ecran-mobile.ch

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

PLAY WITH THE DEVIL –BECOMING ZEAL & ARDOR

written & directed by Olivier Joliat, Matthias Willi

With his band Zeal & Ardor, Swiss musician Manuel Gagneux was catapulted overnight from the underground to the big stages of the world. The bold mix of Black Metal and old work songs by enslaved African-Americans – his answer to a racist provocation on the internet – is politically explosive. Religion, racism, segregation and appropriation: his music questions and breaks taboos. Being praised as a new kind of leader by his fans frightens the introverted artist. How can he deal with the expectations?

WORLD RIGHTS:

soap factory GmbH, Basel

www.soapfactory.ch

Recycled TV AG, Bern

www.rectv.ch

WORLD PREMIERE:

Solothurner Filmtage 2023

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE:

DOK.fest München 2023

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 72 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

Swiss-German, English, German

PRODUCTION:

soap factory GmbH, Basel / Recycled TV AG, Bern / SRF

PRODUCERS:

Frank Matter, Madeleine

Corbat, Peter Guyer

OLIVIER JOLIAT

* 1977. Olivier Joliat is a freelance journalist, author and musician. He collaborated on various film projects. PLAY WITH THE DEVIL – BECOMING ZEAL & ARDOR (2023), codirected with Matthias Willi, is his directorial debut.

MATTHIAS WILLI

* 1975. Is a freelance photographer working for national and international clients with a focus on people, portrait and fashion photography. He directed and shot TONY YOU ROCK (2016) a documentary portrait on Anthony Thomas.

SCONOSCIUTI PURI PURE

UNKNOWN

written & directed by Valentina Cicogna, Mattia Colombo

Every night nameless bodies land in Dr. Cristina Cattaneo’s autopsy room. She calls them Pure Unknown. They are homeless, prostitutes or runaway teenagers. Lately, they have mostly been migrants, rejected by the Mediterranean Sea onto the shores of Italy. If all rights belong to the living, nothing is left to the dead. So what happens when the dead have lost their identity? In the face of this growing multitude, no one seems concerned about their right to dignity. No one but Cristina.

VALENTINA CICOGNA

* 1984 in Italy.

MATTIA COLOMBO

* 1982 in Italy.

Since 2013, screenwriter and editor Valentina Cicogna and director Mattia Colombo have been working together and separately on numerous observational documentaries. Their films have screened at various festivals, such as Sundance, IDFA, Hotdocs and Visions du Réel in Nyon.

ITALY / SWITZERLAND / SWEDEN

Documentary, 93 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: Italian, English

PRODUCTION:

Jump Cut, Trento / Amka Films Productions SA, Savosa / Sisyfos Film Production, Bagarmossen / RSI

SWISS PRODUCERS:

Amel Soudani, Nicola Bernasconi

WORLD RIGHTS:

Amka Films Productions SA, Savosa

www.amka.ch

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

WORLD RIGHTS:

soap factory GmbH, Basel

www.soapfactory.ch

8horses GmbH, Zurich

www.8horses.ch

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE:

DOK.fest München 2023

RUÄCH – A JOURNEY INTO YENISH EUROPE

directed by Andreas Müller, Simon Guy Fässler

Invited by a mysterious friend, a film team sets out on a journey to encounter a Yenish Europe that stretches from dusty banlieus in France to the forests of Carinthia. Told by the voices of young and old Travellers, a kaleidoscopic panorama of their lives unfolds. Diverse people relate to each other, bound together by their love of freedom but also by deep wounds from the past.

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 118 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

French, Swiss-German, German

SCREENPLAY:

Andreas Müller, Simon Guy Fässler, Marcel Bächtiger

PRODUCTION:

soap factory GmbH, Basel / 8horses GmbH, Zurich / SRF / SRG SSR

PRODUCERS:

Frank Matter, Simon Guy Fässler

ANDREAS MÜLLER

* 1975. Andreas Müller graduated in Film from Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). He works as director and writer. His short JOSHUA (2002) was awarded numerous international prizes.

SIMON GUY FÄSSLER

* 1977. Simon Guy Fässler has a degree in Visual Communications from University of Fine Arts Hamburg. He works as cameraman and filmmaker. In 2017 he won the Swiss Film Award “Best Cinematography” for ALOYS by Tobias Nölle.

DIE

ANHÖRUNG THE HEARING

written & directed by Lisa Gerig

Four rejected asylum seekers relive the hearing on their reasons for fleeing their home countries, shedding light on the core of the asylum procedure. Will the interviewees be able to describe their traumatic experiences in a way that satisfies the official criteria? For the first time, the film provides insight into this sensitive hearing, thus questioning the asylum procedure itself.

LISA GERIG

* 1990. Lisa Gerig studied film in Zurich and Geneva, majoring in editing. Her graduation film CONVERSATIONS OVER THE FENCE (2014) is a radically subjective look at the situation of people held in Zurich’s deportation detention centre. Since graduating from the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) in 2015, she has been working as a freelance filmmaker. THE HEARING (2023) is her first featurelength documentary.

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 81 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

German, English, French, Tamil, Dari

PRODUCTION:

Ensemble Film GmbH, Zurich / SRF

PRODUCERS:

Maurizius Staerkle Drux, Eva Vitija

WORLD SALES:

Rise and Shine World Sales

UG, Berlin

www.riseandshine-berlin.de

WORLD PREMIERE:

CPH:DOX 2023

WORLD RIGHTS:

Intermezzo Films, Geneva

www.intermezzofilms.ch

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

THE WONDER WAY

written & directed by Emmanuelle Antille

How to create a world of your own? How to push back the limits of your imagination? An exploration in search of extraordinary territories, terrestrial or celestial paradises, intriguing and uncharted. A journey out of time, seeking encounters with those who imagine other worlds within this world. A breath of freedom towards the most striking universes.

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 96 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

English, French

PRODUCTION:

Intermezzo Films, Geneva / Rubis Films, Territet / RTS

PRODUCERS:

Luc Peter, Katia Monla, Emmanuelle Antille

EMMANUELLE ANTILLE

* 1972. Emmanuelle Antille graduated from École Supérieure d’Art Visuel Genève (ESAV) in 1996. She spent a year at Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Since 1997 she has been creating videos and installations shown in festivals and exhibitions around the world. She directs fiction and documentary films, among them ANGELS CAMP (2003), ROLLOW (2005), AVANTI (2012) with Hanna Schygulla and Miou-Miou and A BRIGHT LIGHT – KAREN AND THE PROCESS (2018).

THIS KIND OF HOPE

written & directed by Pawel Siczek

As a diplomat, Andrei Sannikov was instrumental in Belarus’ nuclear disarmament in the 1990s. Under dictator Lukashenko, he resigned from the civil service and began the fight for a democratic Belarus, which cost the lives of companions and landed him in prison for a time. Today, as a stateless diplomat, he tirelessly tries to interest Western politicians in his homeland.

PAWEL SICZEK

* 1977 in Poland. Pawel Siczek grew up in Libya and Switzerland. He studied documentary film at the University of Television and Film HFF in Munich. He is known for BASSIONA AMOROSA (2008) FUSSGÄNGERZONE (2010) and DIE HÄLFTE DER STADT (2015).

SWITZERLAND / GERMANY

Documentary, 88 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

English PRODUCTION:

A Film Company GmbH, Zurich / Departures Films, Leipzig

SWISS PRODUCER:

Valentin Greutert

WORLD RIGHTS:

A Film Company GmbH, Zurich

www.afilmcompany.ch

NATIONAL PREMIERE:

Solothurner Filmtage 2023

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE:

DOK.fest München 2023

WORLD RIGHTS:

maximage, Zurich

www.maximage.ch

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

WHILE THE GREEN GRASS GROWS

written & directed by Peter Mettler

Parts 1 and 6 of a seven-part series. Peter Mettler follows and weaves, with his own unique cinematic signature, the flow of rivers and lives that include the magnitude of the passing of his own parents and the questions of where do we all go from here – both on a personal and on a global scale.

SWITZERLAND / CANADA

Documentary, 166 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

English, Swiss-German

PRODUCTION:

maximage, Zurich / Grimthorpe Film Inc., Toronto

SWISS PRODUCERS:

Cornelia Seitler, Brigitte Hofer

PETER METTLER

* 1958 in Canada. Peter Mettler is an award-winning SwissCanadian filmmaker, known for PICTURE OF LIGHT (1994), GAMBLING, GODS AND LSD (2002), PETROPOLIS (2009), THE END OF TIME (2012) and BECOMING ANIMAL (2018). GAMBLING, GODS AND LSD won, among many international awards, the prestigious Genie Award for Best Documentary.

ZIMMERWALD

written & directed by Valeria Stucki

In Zimmerwald, idyllically situated in the foothills of the Swiss Alps, an ornithological meeting took place in the middle of WWI. In reality, it was a secret conference against the war that united Lenin and other socialists. One hundred years later, a secondary school class searches for traces of this history, which is shrouded in legend in the Soviet Union and deliberately erased in their village, and thus leads us into the labyrinth of forgetting and remembering that history is made of.

VALERIA STUCKI

* 1983. Valeria Stucki graduated with a Bachelor in Film Directing from Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD –Genève) in 2009. In addition to her work as a video artist for theatre and performance production, she focuses her work as a director on documentary films with a fictional and performative approach.

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 66 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

Swiss-German

PRODUCTION:

Lomotion AG Filmproduktion, Bern / SRF

PRODUCERS:

David Fonjallaz, Louis Mataré

WORLD RIGHTS:

Lomotion AG Filmproduktion, Bern

www.lomotion.com

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

STUDENT TNEDUTS

L’ARRESTATION DE C.

THE ARREST OF C.

written & directed by Arthur Jaquier

C. no longer gets along with his family. Wounded in the face following an accident, he wanders the city and sells musk. In the evenings, in contact with his friend Ramzi, he discovers a new face of family ties.

PRODUCTION AND WORLD RIGHTS:

Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD – Genève) head.hesge.ch/cinema

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

SWITZERLAND

Docufiction, 19 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

French, Arabic

PRODUCER:

Delphine Jeanneret

ARTHUR JAQUIER

* 1992. Arthur Jaquier graduated in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts from École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL). From 2016–19 he worked in early childhood and on short films as a first assistant. He graduated with a Bachelor in Cinema from Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD – Genève). THE ARREST OF C. (2023) is his graduation film.

OURS

BEAR

written & directed by Morgane Frund

An amateur filmmaker who has filmed bears for years, contacts a film school looking for someone to edit his images into a film. A student comes forward. But when she digitises his archive, she discovers that the recordings are not only of bears. A discussion ensues about the power of a gaze and its voyeuristic violence.

MORGANE FRUND

* 1997. Morgane Frund studied Film, English and German at the University of Lausanne (UNIL). She went on to complete a Bachelor in Video at Lucerne School of Art and Design (HSLU). BEAR (2022) is her graduation film. Her works focuses on documentary film, video essay and performance.

STUDENT TNEDUTS

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 20 min., 2022

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

German, French, Swiss-German

PRODUCER:

Volko Kamensky

PRODUCTION AND WORLD RIGHTS:

Lucerne School of Art and Design HSLU BA Video

www.hslu.ch/video

NATIONAL PREMIERE:

Internationale Kurzfilmtage

Winterthur 2022

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE:

Berlinale 2023

PRODUCTION AND WORLD RIGHTS:

Tatjana Fanny, Wald ZH

honeggertatjana@gmail.com

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

SONNENHOF

written & directed by Tatjana Fanny

The idyllic Swiss family estate – Sonnenhof – no longer feels like home to Dijana, now that her daughter has moved away. She slowly begins to look beyond its borders and seeks comfort in the fragments of a past life she left behind in former Yugoslavia.

SWITZERLAND / NETHERLANDS

Docufiction, 22 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

Swiss-German, Bosnian

PRODUCTION:

Tatjana Fanny, Wald ZH / Idle Eye, Amsterdam

SWISS PRODUCER:

Tatjana Fanny

TATJANA FANNY

* 1995. Tatjana Fanny is a Swiss filmmaker who lives between Zurich, London and San Sebastián. Her background is in painting and religious studies, studying the latter at King’s College London. She is currently completing her Master’s degree in Film Creation at Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, San Sebastian.

NOUS ENFUIR SUR UN CHAR AILÉ TAKING FLIGHT ON A CARRIAGE WITH WINGS

directed by Noa Roquet

In the 1970s, a working woman in Geneva tries to cope with her double days, her double life. In addition to her work in the factory, she has domestic duties: time spent with her children and housework.

STUDENT TNEDUTS

NOA ROQUET

* 2000 in France. Noa Roquet is a Bachelor of Cinema student at the Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD – Genève), specializing in editing. She has worked as an editor, exploring the borders between documentary and fiction, considering reality as a shaping force.

SWITZERLAND

Docufiction, 17 min., 2022

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

French

SCREENPLAY:

Laure Federiconi, Noa Roquet

PRODUCTION:

Geneva University of Art and Design HEAD – Genève / RTS

PRODUCER:

Nicolas Wadimoff

WORLD RIGHTS:

Noa Roquet, Geneva

www.noaroquet.wixsite.com/ my-site

WORLD PREMIERE:

Festival de cinéma

Douarnenez 2022

WORLD RIGHTS:

Picfilm, Manno

www.picfilm.ch

WORLD PREMIERE:

Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

THE WONDERFUL PAIN OF THE WILD BROOM

written & directed by Olivia Calcaterra

Gone in search of stray and abandoned Spanish greyhounds in Almeria, the filmmaker decided to deal with the theme of abandonment through a documentary focusing on the introspection of emotions linked to this trauma. Inspired by Leopardi’s poem about resilience, she tried to bring together human and canine feelings in the experience of being abandoned by someone.

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 22 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

Italian, Spanish

PRODUCTION:

Picfilm, Manno / École cantonale d’art de Lausanne ECAL / RSI

PRODUCER:

Nicola Genni

OLIVIA CALCATERRA

* 1997. Olivia Calcaterra graduated in directing from the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL) with her short film THE WONDERFUL PAIN OF THE WILD BROOM in 2022. Her work focuses on the fragility of human beings and opens up hidden worlds.

MY WORST ENEMY

MON PIRE ENNEMI directed by

Mehran Tamadon

Mojtaba, Hamzeh, Zar and others have been pressured in prison and ideologically interrogated in Iran at different times in their lives. The director asks them to interrogate him as an agent of the Islamic Republic might. He would like the real torturer in Iran to see himself through the film as if in a mirror.

FRANCE / SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 82 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: Persian

SCREENPLAY:

Mehran Tamadon, Philippe Lasry

PRODUCTION:

L’atelier documentaire, Bordeaux / Box Productions, Lausanne

WORLD SALES:

Andana Films, Lussas www.andanafilms.com

FESTIVALS (SELECTION): Berlinale 2023 / Cinéma du Réel Paris 2023 / Visions du Réel Nyon 2023

PARADISE PARADIS

written & directed by Alexander Abaturov

2021, an exceptional heat-wave and drought led to giant fires ravaging 19 million hectares in northeastern Siberia. At the heart of the taiga, lies the village of Shologon soon to be coated by a thick cloud of smoke. Spread by the wind, the black ashes carry alarming news: the forest is on fire and the flames are fast approaching. The government having left them to fend for themselves, the inhabitants must rally to fight the dragon.

FRANCE / SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 89 min., 2022

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

Yakut

PRODUCTION:

Petit à Petit Production, Paris / Intermezzo Films, Geneva / ARTE / Siberiade, Paris

WORLD SALES:

The Party Film Sales, Paris www.thepartysales.com

FESTIVALS (SELECTION):

IDFA 2022 / CPH:DOX 2023 / Cinéma du Réel Paris 2023 / Hong Kong International Film Festival 2023 / Visions du réel Nyon 2023 / Docaviv 2023

POLISH PRAYERS

directed by Hanna Nobis

SWITZERLAND / POLAND

Documentary, 84 min., 2022

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

Polish

SCREENPLAY:

Hanna Nobis, Esther van Messel

PRODUCTION:

First Hand Films, Zurich / Offhand JDG, Warsaw / HBO Europe / MDR / SRF

WORLD SALES:

First Hand Films, Zurich www.firsthandfilms.com

FESTIVALS (SELECTION):

IDFA 2022 / CPH DOX 2023 /

Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival 2023 / DocsBarcelona 2023

Twenty-two-year-old Antek grew up in a deeply religious and radical right-wing family in Poland. Catholicism, nationalism and especially celibacy define his world. The filmmaker followed him and his friends of the Brotherhood, for more than four years. Antek leads them in survival camps and at anti-pride demonstrations. At the same time, he is curious about the world, and mostly, about the women in it.

STUNTWOMEN

CASCADEUSES

written & directed by Elena

Avdija

SWITZERLAND / FRANCE

Documentary, 85 min., 2022

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

English, French, Swiss-German

PRODUCTION:

Bande à part Films, Lausanne / Alter Ego

Production, Orléans / RTS / SRG SSR / ARTE / BIP TV

WORLD SALES:

Andana Films, Lussas

www.andanafilms.com

FESTIVALS (SELECTION):

Zurich Film Festival 2022 / IDFA 2022 / Solothurner

Filmtage 2022 / Festival

Internacional de cine de Cartagena de Indias 2023

Virginie, Petra and Estelle are stuntwomen who get hit by cars or struck by violent husbands and gangsters. They get back up on their feet, ready to shoot the scene as many times as necessary. Freedom, glory or a search for power fuel these women’s desire to push their bodies to the limits. How much violence are their bodies and minds able to take on? How do cinema and television distribute roles and violence on the screen?

THE DNA OF DIGNITY

written & directed by Jan Baumgartner

In the Balkan War of the nineties, thousands of people disappeared; their remains possibly missing forever. Survivors and those left behind pin their hopes on excavations and scientific work. Forensic anthropologists and archaeologists work with great concentration. A person takes shape bone by bone. Will he also get an identity? Will relatives finally receive closure and a grave to anchor their remembrance and grief?

WHERE GOD IS NOT

LÀ OÙ DIEU N’EST PAS directed

by Mehran Tamadon

Taghi, Homa and Mazyar were arrested and interrogated by the Iranian regime. All three testify with their bodies, with their gestures and tell what it means to resist, what it means to break. Is there any hope that the torturer will one day reconnect with his conscience?

SWITZERLAND

Docufiction, 61 min., 2022

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: Bosnian

PRODUCTION AND WORLD RIGHTS:

Jan Baumgartner, Bern

www.janbaumgartner.ch

MORE INFORMATION:

www.thednaofdignity.com

FESTIVALS (SELECTION):

Locarno 2022 / Solothurner

Filmtage 2023 / Thessaloniki

Documentary Festival 2023 / Crossing Europe Linz 2023

FRANCE / SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 112 min., 2023

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

Persian

PRODUCTION:

L’atelier documentaire, Bordeaux / Box Productions, Lausanne

WORLD SALES:

Andana Films, Lussas

www.andanafilms.com

FESTIVALS (SELECTION):

Berlinale Forum 2023 / Cinéma du Réel Paris 2023

SWITZERLAND

Anidoc, 6 min., 2022

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

French

ANIMATION TECHNIQUE:

2D Computer animation

PRODUCTION:

Nadasdy Film, Geneva / RSI

WORLD RIGHTS:

Nadasdy Film, Geneva www.nadasdyfilm.ch

FESTIVALS (SELECTION):

Annecy 2022 / Festival du Nouveau Cinéma Montréal 2022 / Semana Int. de Cine de Valladolid 2022 / Interfilm

Berlin 2022 / REGARD

Saguenay 2023 / Filmfest

Dresden 2023

ANIDOC CODINA COMEDY YDEMOC

AUTOSAURUS REX

written & directed by Marcel Barelli

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 30 min., 2022

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

English

PRODUCTION:

Akka Films, Geneva / Master in Film ECAL / HEAD – Genève (École cantonale d’art de Lausanne / Geneva University of Art and Design)

WORLD RIGHTS:

Akka Films, Geneva www.akkafilms.ch

FESTIVALS (SELECTION):

Visions du Réel Nyon 2022 / DOK Leipzig 2022 / IDFA 2022 / FIPADOC 2023 / Clermont-Ferrand 2023

CHILDREN NERDLIHC STUDENT TNEDUTS

Among the different species that inhabit our planet, one stands out from the others by its power and its impact on ecosystems. It is the Autosaurus Rex!

RAMBOY

written & directed by Matthias Joulaud, Lucien Roux

Achill is an island populated mainly by sheep. Cian, a young teenager, hopes to spend the summer holidays with his friends. But for Martin, his grandfather, it’s time to introduce him to farm work.

STFEATURE

EXPECTED

FALL 2023

DETCEPXE

#TIMESUPKYRGYSTAN

written & directed by Leigh Iacobucci

A young pop star in Kyrgyzstan fights for women’s rights through her music and activism, while turbulent political shifts make her fight even harder. Will the conservative government silence her right to protest (or sing) freely?

This film reveals the difficulties in sparking a feminist movement in a society deeply rooted in a conservative interpretation of Islam.

WORLD RIGHTS:

Luna Films, Geneva

www.lunafilms.ch

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 70 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

English, Kirghiz

PRODUCTION:

Luna Films, Geneva

PRODUCERS:

Véronique Vergari, Agnès Boutruche

LEIGH IACOBUCCI

* 1977. With over seventeen years of production experience and a graduate of Stanford University’s Documentary Film Production programme, Leigh Iacobucci has honed her skills in many areas of production. She has worked as a cinematographer for several theatrical-release documentary films and as a field producer and camerawoman for multiple television networks in the USA. She currently works as an independent producer, camerawoman and editor for multiple UN agencies and is based in Geneva.

DAS LEBEN BEGINNT

ADULTING

(WORKING TITLE)

written & directed by Matthias von Gunten

Pascal, a baker’s apprentice, must find out if he really wants to remain a baker. Lucia, a medical student, feels a calling to become a psychiatrist. Victor, a successful oboist, dreams of becoming a conductor. Hanna, a student at the University of Teacher Education, has wanted to become a teacher since childhood. Over the course of ten years, the director observes how the four young people pursue their dreams, how they search for their place in society and how they mature in the process.

MATTHIAS VON GUNTEN

* 1953. Matthias von Gunten studied at the University of Television and Film (HFF) in Munich. Since 1980 he has been working as an editor, cinematographer and assistant director. He collaborated on numerous films in Switzerland and Germany and since 1995 works as freelance film director and producer. He is known for THULE TUVALU (2014), REISEN INS LANDESINNERE (1988) and BIG BANG (1993).

EXPECTED SUMMER 2023

DETCEPXE

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 115 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

German

PRODUCTION:

Odysseefilm, Zurich / Mira Film, Zurich / SRF

PRODUCERS:

Matthias von Gunten, Susanne Guggenberger

WORLD RIGHTS:

Odysseefilm, Zurich

www.odysseefilm.ch

EXPECTED

HAVE A NICE TRIP

written & directed by Claude Baechtold

In 2002, a cautious young graphic designer is taken, against his will, on a complete tour of Afghanistan by two fearless reporters. With a video camera bought at the Kabul bazaar, he will follow them for two months on a wild journey. Or how to find one’s way in life when you’re fearful, anti-militarist and, after the death of your parents, you unwillingly become a war reporter just after 9/11.

WORLD RIGHTS:

Intermezzo Films, Geneva www.intermezzofilms.ch

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 90 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

English, French

PRODUCTION:

Intermezzo Films, Geneva / RTS

PRODUCERS:

Luc Peter, Katia Monla

CLAUDE BAECHTOLD

* 1972. Claude Baechtold graduated in Visual Communication from École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL) in 1996. In 2002, he founded the RiverBoom collective while in Afghanistan and has published offbeat travel books ever since. His innovative approach in photography makes him one of the lead figures of new reportage, awarded in 2006 by the Grand Prix Vevey Images and nominated for the Prix Elysée in 2018. He’s now an investigation journalist and a filmmaker.

SUMMER 2023

DETCEPXE

LONELY

written & directed by Michele Pennetta

On the outskirts of the city of Como, an encounter that could change everything. Precious and Federico are two free souls, united by their passion for music. But the pursuit of this common dream comes up against a harsh reality. The young man’s health is hanging by a thread and Precious is faced with difficult choices, torn between her ambitions and her new daily life. A moving journey made of both hope and turmoil.

MICHELE PENNETTA

* 1984 in Italy. Michele Pennetta has a Bachelor in Visual Communication from SUPSI in Lugano and a Master in Cinema from École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL).

His short documentaries THE BET (2013) and THE DOGS BARK (2010) were selected for numerous festivals. His first feature-length documentary FISHING BODIES (2016)

premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, Cineasti del presente. His previos film IL MIO CORPO (2020) premiered in the ACID section of Cannes.

SWITZERLAND / ITALY

Documentary, 75 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

Italian

PRODUCTION:

Close Up Films, Geneva / Indyca, Torino / RSI / RAI Cinema

SWISS PRODUCERS:

Joëlle Bertossa, Flavia Zanon

WORLD RIGHTS:

Close Up Films, Geneva

www.closeupfilms.ch

Indyca, Torino

www.indyca.it

EXPECTED

DETCEPXE

MISTY – THE ERROLL GARNER STORY

directed by Georges Gachot

A film about Erroll Garner, one of the great jazz legends, a pianist of genius, whose life blended tremendous public success with a complex private world: with his all-dominant manager, the women he loved, his musicians and his daughter Kim. Looking at Erroll Garner’s life means living the post-war era of the USA between the consumer boom and the Vietnam War.

WORLD SALES:

The Party Film Sales, Paris

www.thepartysales.com

SWITZERLAND / FRANCE / GERMANY

Documentary, 95 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

English

SCREENPLAY:

Paolo Poloni, Georges Gachot

PRODUCTION:

Gachot Films, Zurich / Idéale Audience Group, Paris / Achtung Panda! Media GmbH, Berlin / 2 Pilots Filmproduction GmbH, Cologne / SRF / RTS / RSI / ZDF / ARTE

SWISS PRODUCER:

Georges Gachot

GEORGES GACHOT

* 1962 in France. Georges Gachot has joint Swiss and French citizenship. He studied piano and musicology. He is known for his documentaries on musicians, composers and performers, like MARTHA ARGERICH, EVENING TALKS (2002) and his trilogy on Brazilian music: MARIA BETHÂNIA, MUSICA É PERFUME (2005), RIO SONATA (2010) and O SAMBA (2014). With WHERE ARE YOU, JOÃO GILBERTO? (2018) he achieved a new narrative form between fiction and documentary.

PEACE FOR NINA

written & directed by Zhanna Maksymenko-Dovhych

A Ukrainian mother’s journey as she seeks justice for the unlawful killing of her son by a Russian mercenary. A survivor’s tale of grief, courage and hope.

2ND FEATURE

2DN ERUTAEF

EXPECTED SUMMER 2023

DETCEPXE

ZHANNA MAKSYMENKODOVHYCH

Born in Ukraine. Zhanna Maksymenko-Dovhych has a Master’s degree in journalism and worked with different Ukrainian television channels as a creative producer, director and editor. She now mostly works in the documentary field. Her short films were presented at various international festivals.

SWITZERLAND / UKRAINE

Documentary, 90 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

Ukrainian

PRODUCTION:

Astrae Productions, Geneva / Zhanna Maksymenko

Dovhych, Kyiv

SWISS PRODUCER:

Dea Gjinovci

WORLD SALES: Lightdox, Blonay

www.lightdox.com

EXPECTED

DETCEPXE

RICARDO AND PAINTING

written & directed by Barbet Schroeder

RICARDO ET LA PEINTURE

A portrait by Barbet Schroeder of his friend, the painter Ricardo Cavallo, who devotes his life to painting. From Buenos Aires to Finistère, via Paris, this film is an invitation to dive into the history of painting but also to discover the life of this man who, with simplicity and humility, has always been fully committed, even to the point of passing on his passion to the children of his village.

WORLD SALES:

Les Films du Losange, Paris

www.filmsdulosange.com

SWITZERLAND / FRANCE

Documentary, 106 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

French

PRODUCTION:

Bande à part Films, Lausanne / Les Films du Losange, Paris / RTS / SRG SSR

SWISS PRODUCERS:

Lionel Baier, Agnieszka Ramu

BARBET SCHROEDER

* 1941 in Iran. Barbet Schroeder studied Philosophy at the Sorbonne and later worked as a journalist collaborating with Cahiers du Cinéma and Air de Paris. He was an assistant to Jean-Luc Godard on THE CARABINEERS (1963).

In 1963 he founded Les Films du Losange and produced Eric Rohmer’s first two films. 1991 Nominated Best Director, Oscars and Golden Globes, for REVERSAL OF FORTUNE. César for Best Documentary for TERROR’S ADVOCATE (2007).

ECHTE SCHWEIZER SWISS CITIZEN SOLDIERS

written & directed by Luka Popadić

Saad, Thruben and Andrija are Swiss citizens and therefore subject to military service. Like thousands of other Swiss fellows, they spend four weeks every year practising the defence of their country. They are often called “secondos”, children of migrants. The film provides a long overdue cinematic insight into the Swiss army and brings the concepts of homeland and identity up to date.

LUKA POPADIĆ

* 1980. Luka Popadić’s films are as varied and surprising as his biography. The Swiss with Serbian roots returned to his parents’ home country in 2009, and graduated with a Master’s degree in Film

Directing from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade in 2014. As an assistant director he worked in Chicago and Berlin before directing his own films. After several award winning short films, SWISS CITIZEN SOLDIERS is his first documentary feature.

EXPECTED SUMMER 2023 1ERUTAEFTS

DETCEPXE

SWITZERLAND

Documentary, 80 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

German, French

PRODUCTION:

Beauvoir Films, Geneva / SRF / RTS

PRODUCERS:

WORLD RIGHTS:

Beauvoir Films, Geneva www.beauvoirfilms.ch

WORLD RIGHTS:

Dreampixies, Vevey www.dreampixies.ch

THE ACROBAT LIFE

directed by Coline Confort

Silke, a high-level paracycling athlete, is intensely preparing for the Tokyo Paralympic Games. But in between training sessions, she hopes to return to the circus ring, the place of her accident with her husband and partner Didier. Torn between her responsibilities as a competitor and her dreams of acrobatics, Silke will have to assert her choices.

SWITZERLAND / FRANCE

Documentary, 78 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:

French

SCREENPLAY:

Coline Confort, Emmanuel Gétaz

PRODUCTION:

Dreampixies, Vevey / RTS / Goyaves, Paris / ARTE

SWISS PRODUCER: Emmanuel Gétaz

COLINE CONFORT

* 1998 in France. Coline Confort is Lausanne-based and graduated with a Bachelor in Visual Communication, specialisation cinema, from École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL) in 2020. Her graduation film IMPERIAL (2021) screened in numerous festivals and was awarded Best Swiss School Film at the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur 2021. She is currently working on several feature and short film projects. THE ACROBAT LIFE is her first feature-length documentary.

EXPECTED FALL 2023

WUNDERSAME VERWANDLUNG DER ARBEITERKLASSE IN AUSLÄNDER

THE MIRACULOUS TRANSFORMATION OF THE WORKING CLASS INTO FOREIGNERS

written & directed by Samir

For more than one hundred years, the Swiss Social Democratic Party and the trade unions shaped Swiss working-class culture. In the seventies, this culture completely collapsed. The working class of yesteryear are called foreigners. An essay by an immigrant child from a former working class stronghold.

SAMIR

* 1955 in Baghdad, raised in Switzerland. Samir belongs to Switzerland’s most acclaimed filmmakers. He cofounded the production company Dschoint Ventschr in 1994 and has been directing and producing both fiction and documentary films since. His renowned documentaries include BABYLON 2 (1993), FORGET BAGHDAD (2002) and the award winning IRAQI ODYSSEY (2014). His most recent fiction film was BAGHDAD IN MY SHADOW (2019).

DETCEPXE

SWITZERLAND / ITALY

Documentary, 90 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES:

German, French, Italian

PRODUCTION:

Dschoint Ventschr

Filmproduktion AG, Zurich / CDV Casa delle Visioni, Milan / RSI

SWISS PRODUCERS:

Werner Swiss Schweizer, Levin Vieth

WORLD RIGHTS:

Dschoint Ventschr

Filmproduktion AG, Zurich

www.dvfilm.ch

DIE

BRUNAUPARK

(working title)

by Felix Hergert, Dominik Zietlow

SWITZERLAND

Documentary

PRODUCTION:

Langfilm – Bernard Lang AG, Freienstein / Sabotage Filmkollektiv GmbH, Zurich

WORLD RIGHTS:

Langfilm – Bernard Lang AG, Freienstein www.langfilm.ch

FALL 2023 LIFE IS EVERYTHING (working title)

by Beatrice Minger, Christoph Schaub

SWITZERLAND

Docufiction

PRODUCTION:

Das Kollektiv für audiovisuelle Werke, Zurich / soap factory GmbH, Basel / SRG SSR / ARTE

WORLD SALES:

Magnetfilm GmbH Berlin www.magnetfilm.de

SPRING 2024

HIRSCHFELD –THE UNKNOWN KNOWN

by Stina Werenfels director

of DORA OR THE SEXUAL NEUROSES OF OUR PARENTS

SWITZERLAND

Documentary

PRODUCTION:

Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion AG, Zurich / SRF / 3Sat

WORLD RIGHTS:

Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion AG, Zurich www.dvfilm.ch

SPRING 2024

OUR MONEY

by Hercli Bundi director

of EISENBERGER – ART MUST BE BEAUTIFUL, AS THE FROG SAYS TO THE FLY

SWITZERLAND

Documentary

PRODUCTION AND

WORLD RIGHTS:

Mira Film, Zurich www.mirafilm.ch

FILM SALES SUPPORT

for films from Switzerland

A scheme by the European Film Promotion (EFP) for the promotion of European films outside of Europe.

EFP offers Film Sales Support (FSS) for the promotion of films from Switzerland outside of Europe thanks to international measures by the Federal Office of Culture, MEDIA Desk Suisse and SWISS FILMS.

FSS is available for:

FSS Classic

FSS Digital

FSS Digital Plus

FSS Inclusion

Contact: support@swissfilms.ch

VISIT US AT OUR STANDS AT: Cannes Village International Annecy Mifa

Locarno Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival

Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Market

Berlinale European Film Market

SWISS FILMS is supported by

“I would like to add that we are very happy with your work.”

BY by Alberto Martín Menacho