TEAM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
in Toronto 2015 SWISS FILMS Desk in Toronto 2015 Visit us at booth # 5 in the Industry Office Location at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, King Ballroom, 370 King Street West
Swiss films in Toronto 2015 Catherine Ann Berger Managing Director caberger@swissfilms.ch T +41 76 368 02 65
Annick Mahnert Festivals & Markets amahnert@swissfilms.ch T +33 6 37 12 81 36
TIFF Discovery
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TIFF Masters
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TIFF Wavelengths
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TIFF Special Presentations
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Swiss films 2015 SWISS FILMS Line-Up Fiction 2015
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SWISS FILMS Line-Up Documentaries 2015
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SWISS FILMS Line-Up Shorts 2015
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SWISS FILMS Festival Favourites
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Upcoming Swiss films SWISS FILMS Coming Soon
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T I F F D I S COV E RY
Keeper Guillaume Senez
Belgium / Switzerland / France Fiction, 2015, 90 min. Original language: French World premiere: Festival del film Locarno 2015 Cast: Kacey Mottet Klein / Galatea Bellugi Catherine Salée / Sam Louwyk / Laetitia Dosch Production: Iota Production, La Hulpe Louise Productions, Lausanne Offshore, Paris Savage Film, Brussels RTS Radio Télévision Suisse SRG SSR RTBF Be TV World Sales: Be For Films, Brussels T +32 4 89 80 21 23 pamela@beforfilms.com
Maxime and Mélanie are in love. They are both 15 years old and barely out of childhood. One day, Mélanie finds out she's pregnant. Maxime wants to keep the baby no matter what. www.keeper-film.com Surprising and fascinating with its realist and aesthetically sublime approach and superb cinemato graphy by Denis Jutzeler. Cineuropa
* 1978 in Belgium. After graduating from INRACI (Institut National de Radioélectricité et Cinématographie) in 2001, Guillaume Senez directs three short films which have been rewarded in numerous festivals worldwide: SQUARING THE CIRCLE (2006), IN OUR BLOOD (2009) and U.H.T. (2012). KEEPER, starring Swiss shooting star Kacey Mottet Klein (HOME, SISTER), is his first feature film.
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TIFF MASTERS
Blood Of My Blood
Sangue del mio sangue Marco Bellocchio
Federico, a young priest, is summoned by the 17th Century Inquisition to a convent prison. His mission is to coerce Sister Benedetta to confess that she has seduced Federico's brother and driven him to death. Benedetta must undergo three trials – water, fire and tears – to prove her innocence if she does not confess. Federico, too, falls under the spell of the hypnotic Benedetta … The present-day prison in Bobbio is rundown and abandoned. Tax investigator Federico is helping a Russian millionaire buy the old ruin. But a secretive old man has been living there for years. He is only occasionally seen out at night, and is referred to as "The Count".
* 1939 in Italy. From teenage rebellion to religious institutions to political subversion, the films of Marco Bellocchio have explored the social and political contradictions of his country. He is known for his early films FISTS IN THE POCKET (1965) or IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER (1971) and for his newer films VINCERE (2009) and BELLA ADDORMENTATA (2012). He was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice International Film Festival in 2011 and the Pardo d’onore in Locarno 2015.
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Italy / Switzerland / France Fiction, 2015, 106 min. Original language: Italian World premiere: Venice 2015 Cast: Roberto Herlitzka / Pier Giorgio Bellocchio / Lidiya Liberman / Fausto Russo Alesi / Alba Rohrwacher Production: Kavac Film, Rome RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera RAI Cinema IBC Movie, Bologna Amka Films Productions SA, Savosa Barbary Films, Paris World Sales: The Match Factory GmbH, Cologne T +49 221 539 70 90 www.the-match-factory.com
TIFF MASTERS
In The Shadow Of Women L'ombre des femmes
Philippe Garrel
France / Switzerland 2015, 73 min. Original language: French World premiere: Cannes 2015 Cast: Clotilde Courau / Stanislas Merhar Léna Paugam Production: SBS Productions, Paris Close Up Films, Geneva RTS Radio Télévision Suisse World Sales: Wild Bunch, Paris T +33 1 53 10 42 50 www.wildbunch.biz
Pierre and Manon are poor. They make cheap documentaries and live on odd jobs, day by day. When Pierre meets Elisabeth, a young and beautiful intern, they quickly become lovers. But Pierre won’t leave Marion. He wants them both. Philippe Garrel’s new film is one of his most magnifi cent: it goes straight to the heart. Cahiers du cinéma A magnificently sculpted black and white film which plunges us into the twists and turns of life as a couple. Cineuropa
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* 1948 in Paris, France. Works as a director, cinematographer, screenwriter, film editor, actor and producer. Several of Garrel's films have screened at the Venice Film Festival for example A BURNING HOT SUMMER (2011) and REGULAR LOVERS (2005), awarded with the Silver Lion, as well as at the Festival de Cannes such as LA FRONTIÈRE DE L’AUBE (2008) and LIBERTÉ, LA NUIT (1984), awarded with the Perspectives du Cinéma Award.
T I F F WAV E L E N G T H S
Arabian Nights
As mil e uma noites
Vol 1: The Restless One Vol 2: The Desolate One Vol 3: The Enchanted One Miguel Gomes
* 1972 in Lisbon, Portugal. Studied Film at Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema in Lisbon. 1996 – 2000 Works as a film critic. Gomes directed his first feature in 2004, THE FACE YOU DESERVE, and continued his successful international film career with OUR BELOVED MONTH OF AUGUST (2008). He won several awards for his latest film TABU (2012), such as The Alfred Bauer Award and the FIPRESCI prize at the Berlinale 2012. TABU has been sold to over 50 countries.
In Portugal, a country in crisis, a film director proposes to build fictional stories from the miserable reality he's immersed in. However, failing to find meaning in his work, he cowardly runs away and leaves the beautiful Scheherazade to stand in his shoes. She will require enthusiasm and courage so as not to bore the King with sad stories of this country! As nights go past, restlessness leads to desolation and in turn to enchantment. Therefore she organises the stories she tells the King in three volumes. She begins like this: "It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that in a sad country …" An alternately playful and angry, hugely imaginative refracting of the titular folk tales through the prism of Portugal’s recent social and economic woes. Variety 6
Portugal / France / Germany / Switzerland 2015, 380 min. (Vol 1: 124 min, Vol 2: 131 min, Vol 3: 125 min) Original languages: Portugese/French/German World premiere: Cannes 2015 Cast: Crista Alfaiate / Dinarte Branco / et al. Production: O Som e a furia, Lisbon Shellac Films, Marseille Komplizen Film GmbH, Berlin Box Productions, Renens ARTE / ZDF / RTP RTS Radio Télévision Suisse, SSR SRG Agat Films & Cie, Paris Michel Merkt World Sales: The Match Factory GmbH, Cologne T +49 221 539 70 90 www.the-match-factory.com
T I F F S P E C I A L P R E S E N TAT I O N S
Youth
La giovinezza
Paolo Sorrentino
Italy / Switzerland / France / United Kingdom 2015, 120 min. Original language: English World premiere: Cannes 2015 Cast: Michael Caine / Harvey Keitel Rachel Weisz / Paul Dano / Jane Fonda Production: Indigofilm, Rome C-Films AG, Zurich Medusa Film spa, Rome Barbary Films, Paris Number 9 Films, London RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera France Télévisions / Teleclub AG World Sales: Pathé International, Paris T +33 1 71 72 33 05 www.patheinternational.fr
Fred and Mick, two old friends, are on vacation in an elegant hotel at the foot of the Alps. Fred, a composer and conductor, is now retired. Mick, a film director, is still working. With curiosity and tenderness they look on their children's confused lives, Mick's enthusiastic young writers, and the other hotel guests. While Mick struggles to finish the screenplay for what he imagines will be his last important film, Fred has no inten tion of resuming his musical career. But someone wants to hear him conduct again – at all costs. Paolo Sorrentino, with "Youth," delivers his most ten der film to date, an emotionally rich contemplation of life’s wisdom gained, lost and remembered. Variety
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* 1970 in Naples, Italy. Works as screenwriter and filmmaker, known for his award-winning films THE GREAT BEAUTY (2013), THIS MUST BE THE PLACE (2011) and IL DIVO (2008), all screened in the International Competition of past editions of the Festival de Cannes. THE GREAT BEAUTY won Best Foreign Language Film 2014 at the 86th Academy Awards as well as at the Golden Globes Awards 2014, the European Film Award 2014 and numerous further awards.
LINE-UP FICTION
For This Is My Body Paule Muret
A famous and exhausted rocker, at the height of his glory and of his disappointments, will draw new strengths, during one day, from the contact with a groupie who worships him. A confron tation made of love and humiliation which can be fatal. Paule Muret is known for her film RIEN QUE DES MENSOGNES (1991), which was screened at the Berlinale in 1992, starring Fanny Ardant and Alain Bashung. In her new film FOR THIS IS MY BODY (2015) she will represent the poetry of Rock and Roll by uniting Carl Barât, Fanny Ardant and the young french shooting star Audrey Bastien.
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Switzerland Fiction, 100 min. Original languages: English/French Cast: Carl Barât / Audrey Bastien Thibault de Montalembert / Fanny Ardant Production: Close Up Films, Geneva RTS Radio Télévision Suisse World Rights: Close Up Films, Geneva T +41 22 808 08 46 www.closeupfilms.ch
LINE-UP FICTION
La vanité Lionel Baier
Switzerland / France Fiction, 2015, 75 min. Original language: French World premiere: Cannes 2015 Cast: Patrick Lapp / Carmen Maura / Ivan Georgiev Production: Bande à part Films, Lausanne Les Films du Poisson, Paris RTS Radio Télévision Suisse SRG SSR World Sales: Wide, Paris T +33 1 53 95 04 64 www.widemanagement.com
David Miller wants to end his life. This elderly architect, now ill, doesn’t want to leave anything to chance, so he contacts an assisted suicide organization. However, Espe, the woman accompanying him on his quest, doesn’t seem that familiar with the procedures. Meanwhile David tries everything he can to convince Tréplev, the Russian prostitute in the room next door, to act as witness to his final moments, as required under Swiss law. Over the course of one night, all three discover that a liking for others – perhaps even love – is a curiously tenacious feeling. "Vanity" seems like a dance between pessimism and optimism, knit through by a contained humor. Variety
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* 1975 in Lausanne. Lionel Baier studied at the University of Lausanne and is the Head of the Cinema department at the (École Cantonale d'Art de Lausanne) since 2002. In 2009 Baier cofounds Bande à part Films together with Ursula Meier, Jean-Stéphane Bron and Frédéric Mermoud. He is known for his films STUPID BOY (2004), ANOTHER MAN (2008) and the award-winning LONGWAVE (2013), for which he received the Trophée Francophone for Best Director in 2014.
LINE-UP FICTION
Rider Jack This L端scher
* 1969 in Zurich. This L端scher studied film at the NFTA (Nederlanse Film en Televisie Academie) in Amsterdam and is known for his latest documentaries HASSLERS UNIVERSUM (2011) and HOSELUPF (2011) as well as for his first feature FERIENFIEBER (2004). RIDER JACK will be screened in competition at the Montreal World Film Festival as well as at the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg.
Jack, who has all but failed at life, dreams of a fresh beginning abroad. Instead, he unexpectedly has to take care of his hated father Paul, who he has not seen since childhood. Paul suffers from Alzheimer's and wants to make peace with his son while he still can. But Jack has very different plans for Paul. Two worlds collide, and a journey to Ticino, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, turns into an odyssey back to a painfully suppressed past.
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Switzerland Fiction, 90 min. Original language: Swiss-German World premiere: Montreal World Film Festival 2015 Cast: Roeland Wiesnekker / Wolfram Berger Rebecca Indermaur Production: Langfilm, Freienstein SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera World Rights: Langfilm, Freienstein T +41 44 865 66 27 www.langfilm.ch
LINE-UP FICTION
Wonderland
Heimatland
Switzerland / Germany Fiction, 2015, 99 min. Original languages: German/French World premiere Festival del film Locarno 2015 Cast: Peter Jecklin / Michèle Schaub-Jackson Liana Hangartner / Nicolas Bachmann Morgane Ferru / Viola von Scarpatetti Dashmir Ristemi / Julia Glaus Florin Schmidig / Egon Betschart Roberto Garieri / Issaka Sawadogo Production: Contrast Film Bern GmbH, Bern 2:1 Film GmbH, Zurich Passanten Filmproduktion GbR, Munich World Sales: Wide, Paris T +33 1 53 95 04 64 www.widemanagement.com
A hurricane of catastrophic proportions is brewing over Switzerland. The country is in a state of emergency. Ten directors from a new generation of filmmakers imagine how the Swiss would deal with the worst possible disaster: the downfall of their country. www.heimatland-film.com HEIMATLAND builds as a critical parable with a suspense pulse. Variety A direct and refreshing blow to the stomach. Cineuropa
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Michael Krummenacher Jan Gassmann Lisa Blatter Gregor Frei Benny Jaberg Carmen Jaquier Jonas Meier Tobias NĂślle Lionel Rupp Mike Scheiwiller
L I N E - U P D O C U M E N TA R I E S
Grozny Blues Nicola Bellucci
* 1963 in Arezzo, Italy. Studies Philosophy, Literature and Film at the Università degli Studi in Florence. 1988 receives diploma from the Istituto di scienze cine matografiche in Florence. 1992 – 96 works as filmmaker and cameraman in Italy. 1996 moves to Switzerland, where he works as cameraman and sound engineer. Bellucci’s award-winning feature film IN THE GARDEN OF SOUNDS was screened at numerous festivals worldwide.
"Grozny Blues" follows the daily lives of a handful of people living in the capital of war-torn Chechnya. The film’s protagonists – human rights activists, a group of young musicians, the owner of a Blues club – are all trying to find their way through a surreal cityscape and a divided society shaped by repression, archaic customs, increasing Islamification and the failure to come to terms with recent history. … a journey as passionate as it is dramatic (…) a deep and sensitive piece, which deserves our undivided attention. Cineuropa
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Switzerland 2015, 103 min. Original languages: Russian/Chechen World premiere: Visions du Réel Nyon 2015 Production: Soap Factory GmbH, Basel SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen World Sales: Antipode Sales & Distribution, Moscow T +7 499 978 73 14 antipode-sales.biz
L I N E - U P D O C U M E N TA R I E S
Imagine Waking Up Tomorrow And All Music Has Disappeared Stefan Schwietert
Switzerland / Germany 2015, 86 min. Original language: English World premiere: Visions du Réel Nyon 2015 Production: maximage GmbH, Zurich Flying Moon Filmproduktion, Berlin SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen SRG SSR WDR World Rights: maximage GmbH, Zurich T +41 44 274 88 66 www.maximage.ch
Imagine waking up tomorrow morning and all music has disappeared. What will remain when it is all gone: CD’s, iPods, instruments? When we don’t know anymore what it was: music? Bill Drummond, the man who with The KLF once conquered the world of pop shows it to us. An anarchic spirit, an eternal punk who now leads the largest choir of the world: The17, an ever changing ensemble of amateurs with no sheets of music and no rehearsals. The film accompanies him as he finds new voices for his choir. It is a journey to point zero of music. So we can innocently invent it again. Together, in this moment. www.imaginewakinguptomorrowandallmusichasdisappeared.com
The sounds are intense and the images move in an unexpected way with the music of the everyday as if they were trying to fuse together to create an entirely new symphony. Cineuropa
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* 1961 in Germany. Grew up in Switzerland. Works as producer and director in Switzerland and Berlin. His award-winning documentaries such as BALKAN MELODIE (2012), ECHOES OF HOME (2007), ACCORDION TRIBE (2004) and THE DEVIL’S ACCORDION (2000) mostly focus on musical topics and are being screened at prestigious international film festivals.
L I N E - U P D O C U M E N TA R I E S
The Day The Sun Fell Als die Sonne vom Himmel fiel Aya Domenig
* 1972 in Japan. Joint Swiss and Japanese citizenship. Aya Domenig studied Social Anthropology, Film Studies and Japanology at Zurich University and graduated in Film Directing from the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). THE DAY THE SUN FELL is her first feature length documentary.
While tracing the story of her grandfather, who worked as a young doctor at the Hiroshma Red Cross Hospital after the detonation of the atomic bomb, filmmaker Aya Domenig meets a former doctor and a nurse who lived a similar experience. Throughout his life, her grandfather never spoke about what he had went through. But talking to her protagonists brings her closer to him. When the nuclear disaster occurs in Fukushima on March 11, 2011, her quest takes a new turn. www.alsdiesonnevomhimmelfiel.com
Beautifully intimate and personal, yet it reaches out across the world in terms of the issues that are at hand. Anne Thompson, Indiewire
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Switzerland Documentary, 2015, 78 min. Original languages: German/Japanese World premiere: Festival del film Locarno 2015 Production: ican films gmbh, Zurich SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen World Rights: ican films gmbh, Zurich T +41 44 252 33 59 www.ican-films.com
LINE-UP SHORTS
Air-Mail
Destiny
Of Shadows And Wings
Isabelle Favez
Wendy Pillonel
Elice Meng, Eleonora Marinoni
Switzerland / France, Animation, 2015, 6 min, without dialogue
Switzerland, Fiction, 2015, 15 min. Original language: Swiss-German
Switzerland / France, Animation, 2015, 13 min, original language: French
World premiere: Berlinale 2015 Production: Nadasdy Film Sarl, Geneva Folimage, Bourg-Les-Valences RTS Radio Télévision Suisse World Sales: Autour de Minuit, Paris (Theatrical rights) autourdeminuit.com Magnetfilm, Berlin (TV rights) www.magnetfilm.de
Production: Zürcher Hochschule der Künste ZHdK, Zurich SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen World Rights: Zürcher Hochschule der Künste ZHdK, Zurich T +41 43 446 31 14 film.info@zhdk.ch
World premiere: Festival del film Locarno 2015 (awarded Pardino d'argento) Production and World Rights: Nadasdy Film Sarl, Geneva T +41 22 300 20 54, www.nadasdyfilm.ch Vivement Lundi!, Rennes T +33 299 65 00 74 www.vivement-lundi.com
Hanna, a young mother, is struggling with the problems her three children have at school, with her husband Silvan’s game addiction as well as the lack of space in their tiny apartment. As the authorities threaten to take their oldest son away, Hanna needs to find a way to get Silvain out of his fictional game world.
Amid a population of "birdmen", Moann is shamed when her wings disappear and a strange cracking sets in beneath her feet. In a society where all that matters is the size of one’s wings and ambition, Ciobeck, the nihilist, would like to protect her. But how can they survive in a barren land, pervaded by "caved in" spirits?
Messages dans l’air
A young woman lives alone with her cat in a small town. The two are complete opposites: whereas the woman is goodhearted and benevolent, the cat is a hunter-killer type. The young woman has a secret: she is in love with her neighbour, a boxer. Thanks to her cat’s adventures, she will have closer contact to him.
Watch online: SHORT FILM LIBRARY www.swissfilms.ch/shortfilmlibrary
D'ombres et d'ailes
Watch online: SHORT FILM LIBRARY www.swissfilms.ch/shortfilmlibrary 15
LINE-UP SHORTS
Subotika – Land of Wonders The Big Dam
Tišina Mujo
Peter Volkart
Samuel Grandchamp
Ursula Meier
Switzerland, Fiction, 2015, 14 min. Original language: German
Switzerland / USA, Fiction, 2015, 14 min. Original language: French
Switzerland / France / Bosnia and Herzegovna, Portugal / Germany / Italy, Fiction, 2014, 11 min.
World premiere: NIFFF 2015 Production: Reck Filmproduktion GmbH, Zurich World Sales: Magnetfilm, Berlin T +49 163 801 07 53 georg.gruber@magnetfilm.de www.magnetfilm.de
World premiere: Festival del film Locarno 2015 (awarded Pardino d'oro) Production: ViceVersal, Geneva Tisch School of the Arts, New York World Rights: ViceVersal, Geneva T +41 78 748 29 22 viceversalproduction@gmail.com
World premiere: Intl. Kurzfilmtage Winterthur 2014 (awarded Best Swiss Film) Production: Bande à part Films, Lausanne / Cinétévé, Paris / Obala Art Center, Sarajevo / Ukbar filmes, Evora / Unafilm GmbH, Cologne MIR Cinematografica Srl, Milan World Sales: Indie Sales, Paris T +33 1 44 83 02 27, www.indiesales.eu
Le barrage
Subotika, a little-known island on the ot her side of the globe. Endeavouring to step up tourism in the Republic, the Foreign Minister commissions an advertising mo- vie. An enchanting country with extra ordinary sights, grand visions and a couple of minor problems. www.subotika.ch
Watch online: SHORT FILM LIBRARY www.swissfilms.ch/shortfilmlibrary
A 10-year-old boy sets off on a long-pro mised adventure with his father to discover Europe’s biggest dam. But as they progress, harbored feelings surface and their relationship is put to a test. The dam they eventually face is not the one initially dreamed of.
Watch online: SHORT FILM LIBRARY www.swissfilms.ch/shortfilmlibrary 16
It’s training time at the Zetra stadium in Sarajevo. Ten-year-old Mujo misses his penalty kick. The ball flies over the goal and disappears among the tombstones of the graveyard that replaced the sports grounds during the war. "Go search among the Christians!" some of his playmates yell. "Seek among the Muslims!" others snicker. Searching for the ball, Mujo wanders in the kingdom of the dead.
Watch online: SHORT FILM LIBRARY www.swissfilms.ch/shortfilmlibrary
FESTIVAL FAVOURITES
Above and Below
Chrieg
Horizontes
Nicolas Steiner
Simon Jaquemet
Eileen Hofer
Switzerland / Germany, Documentary, 2015, 118 min., Original language: English
Switzerland, Fiction, 2014, 110 min. Original language: Swiss-German
Switzerland, Documentary, 2015, 70 min., Original language: Spanish
Festivals (selection): International Film Festival Rotterdam 2015, Visions du Réel Nyon 2015, Hot Docs Toronto 2015, DOK.fest Munich 2015, Edinburgh 2015, KVIFF 2015 Production: maximage GmbH, Zurich Flying Moon Filmproduktion, Berlin SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen ZDF / 3sat World Rights: maximage GmbH, Zurich T +41 44 274 88 66, www.maximage.ch
Festivals (selection): Festival Internacional de cine de San Sebastian 2014, Zurich Film Festival 2014, Torino Film Festival 2014, Max Ophüls Preis Saarbrücken 2015 (Awards Best Film & Best Actor), Montreal World Film Festival 2015 Production: Hugofilm Productions GmbH, Zurich SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen World Sales: Picture Tree International GmbH, Berlin T +49 30 42 08 24 80 www.picturetree-international.com
Festivals (selection): Visions du Réel Nyon 2015, KVIFF 2015, Fe stival del film Locarno 2015, New Horizons, Wroclaw 2015, Raindance 2015, Montreal World Film Festival 2015 Production: Intermezzo Films SA, Geneva World Sales: Taskovski Films Ltd, London T +44 387 65 65 20 46 www.taskovskifilms.com
Far, far away and out of sight, that’s where April, Dave, Cindy, Rick and the Godfather are creating life on their own terms. From the depths of the flood channels under Sin City, to a reclaimed military bunker in the middle of the dusty, heated Californian nowhere land, to beyond the stratosphere where Mars now lives on earth. www.aboveandbelowfilm.com
15-year-old Matteo feels like the world is against him. He has no friends and his parents seem to live in a different universe. One night two men carry him off: his father sends him to a "youth camp" on a remote alp, where he is forced to spend the summer. When Matteo arrives, a surprise awaits him. www.chrieg.com
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Run-down rehearsal rooms along the halls of the Grand Theatre of Havana, Amanda and Viengsay dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to the demanding routine their discipline requires of them: that of classical ballet. Their every step and aspiration echo the great achievements of their predecessor, Alicia Alonso, the prima ballerina assoluta, still invincible even at the grand age of 90. www.horizontes-film.ch
FESTIVAL FAVOURITES
Iraqi Odyssey
Spartans
Sworn Virgin
Samir
Nicolas Wadimoff
Laura Bispuri
Switzerland / Germany / UAE / Iraq, Fiction, 2014, 162 min., 3D, Original lan guages: German/English/French/Arabic
Switzerland / France, Documentary, 2014, 80 min., Original language: French
Italy / Switzerland / Germany / Albania / Kosovo, Fiction, 2015, 87 min. Original languages: Italian/Albanian
Festivals (selection): TIFF 2014, Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2014, Berlinale 2015, BAFICI 2015, Beldocs 2015 Intl. Documentary Film Festival, New Zealand Intl. Film Festival 2015 Production: Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion AG, Zurich Coin Film, Cologne Furat al Jamil, Baghdad World Sales: Autlook Filmsales GmbH, Vienna T +43 720 34 69 34 www.autlookfilms.com
Festivals (selection): RIDM Montreal 2014, BAFICI 2015, Visions du Réel Nyon 2015, DocsBarcelona 2015 Production: Akka Films, Geneva Alegria Productions, Paris SRG SSR World Sales: Doc & Film International, Paris T +33 1 42 77 56 87, www.docandfilm.com
Festivals (selection): Berlinale 2015 , Hong Kong International Film Festival 2015, BAFICI 2015, Tribeca Film Festival New York 2015 Production: Vivo Film, Rome / Colorado Film Production, Rome / Bord Cadre films Sàrl, Geneva / The Match Factory GmbH, Cologne / Erafilm Productions, Tirana / RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera / RAI Cinema World Sales: The Match Factory GmbH, Cologne T +49 221 539 70 90 www.the-match-factory.com
Tracing the emigrations of his family over more than half a century, this epic from acclaimed expatriate Iraqi filmmaker Samir pays homage to the frustrated democratic dreams of a people successively plagued by dictatorship, war and occupation. www.iraqiodyssey.com
Spartiates
Yvan Sorel runs a Mixed Martial Arts club in Marseille’s "Quartier nord", a district known in the media for its drug trafficking and gang shootings. Day after day with no support from the state, he fights to keep the children and teenagers on the "right" path. A powerful film about violence, education, moral values, faith and dignity.
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Vergine giurata
The story of a woman who sacrifices her femininity for freedom, and then decides to wipe out her honour to become a woman again. A film about being stuck in invisible prisons and then finally learning how to breathe – a journey inside femininity, told in its thousand fold and contradictory forms.
COMING SOON
EXPECTED SPRING 2016
Aloys Tobias Nölle
Switzerland / France Fiction, 90 min. Original languages: German/Swiss-German Cast: Georg Friedrich / Tilde von Overbeck Production: Hugofilm Productions GmbH, Zurich Petit Film, Paris SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen ARTE World Rights: Hugofilm Productions GmbH, Zurich T +41 44 44 240 40 77 www.hugofilm.ch
A lonely private investigator falls in love with a mysterious woman who left a disturbing message on his camera. A gloomy yet magical journey begins on which he must find the courage to break out of his isolation.
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* 1976 Zürich. Tobias Nölle studied film at the School of Visual Arts in New York. His short film RENÉ (2008) was screened at numerous festivals worldwide and won several awards such as the Golden Leopard in Locarno for the best Swiss short. Nölle is one of the directors of WONDERLAND, which premiered at the Festival del film Locarno 2015. ALOYS is his first feature, which he wrote, directed and edited. It participated at the Torino Film Lab, Cinemart, the Berlinale Co-Production Market as well as at the "Work in Progress" section at Les Arcs.
COMING SOON
EXPECTED FALL 2016
Courgette
(working title) Claude Barras
* 1973 in Sierre, Switzerland. Claude Barras studied illustration and infography at École Emile Cohl in Lyon and at the ECAL (École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne). He directed several award-winning short animation films, such as BANQUISE (2005), screened in competition in Cannes and LE GÉNIE DE LA BOÎTE DE RAVIOLIS (2006) which turned into a huge international festival hit. COURGETTE (working title) is his first feature film.
Zucchini is an unusual nickname for a 9-year-old boy and his unique story is surprisingly universal. After his mother’s sudden death, Zucchini is befriended by a kind police officer Raymond, who accompanies Zucchini to his new foster home filled with other orphans his age. At first Zucchini struggles to find his place in this strange, at times, hostile environment. Yet with Raymond’s help and his new found friends, he eventually learns to trust, finds true love and at last a new family of his own.
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Switzerland / Germany / France Animation, 60 min. Original language: French Based on "Autobiography of a Zucchini" by Gilles Paris, published by Librairie Plon Production: Rita Productions, Geneva Blue Spirit Productions, Paris Gebeka Films, Lyon KNM, Geneva RTS Radio Télévision Suisse Rhône Alpes Cinéma Canal plus France 3 Helium Films Lausanne World Sales: Indie Sales, Paris T +33 1 44 83 02 27 www.indiesales.eu
COMING SOON
EXPECTED DECEMBER 2015
Heidi Alain Gsponer
Switzerland / Germany Fiction, 105 min. Original languages: German/Swiss-German Cast: Bruno Ganz / Anuk Steffen / Quirin Agrippi / Peter Lohmeyer / Hannelore Hoger / Katharina Schüttler Production: Zodiac Pictures Ltd, Zurich Claussen+Putz Filmproduktion GmbH, Munich Studiocanal GmbH, Berlin SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen Teleclub World Sales: Studiocanal / International Sales Issy-Les-Moulineaux, France T +33 (0)1 71 35 35 35 www.studiocanal.com
This is the story of Heidi, the internationally famous young mountain-girl, who lives with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. Her happiness ends when her aunt takes Heidi to Frankfurt.
* 1976 in Zurich. Joint Swiss and German citizenship. 1996 – 97 Attends Schule für Gestaltung Bern. 1997 – 2002 Attends Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg, Directing department. Alain Gsponer has recently directed the award-winning films THE LITTLE GHOST (2013) and AKTE GRÜNINGER (2014). Gsponer lives and works in Berlin.
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COMING SOON
EXPECTED SPRING 2016
Mirr – The Field Mehdi Sahebi
* 1963 in Iran. Mehdi Sahebi studied Ethnology, History and International Law at the University of Zurich, where he received his PhD in Visual Anthropology in 2006. Sahebis impressive documentary TIME OF CLOSURE (2006) was screened at many festivals worldwide and won several awards, such as the Grand Prix of the Semaine de la critique at the Festival del film Locarno and the Grand Jury Prize as well as the Audience Award at the international film festival Entrevues in Belfort.
Binchey, a traditional peasant farmer from Mon- dulkiri, was expelled from his land – like hundreds of thousands of farmers in Cambodia. He feels powerless in the face of foreign rubber tree plantations spreading across more and more parts of the country. Together with Bin chey and other villagers, film director Mehdi Sahebi stages the story of this confiscation of the land and its ramifications.
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Documentary, 90 min. Original languages: Khmer/Bunong Production and World Rights: Cinéma Copain, Zurich T +41 79 231 75 81 www.cinemacopain.com
COMING SOON
EXPECTED SPRING 2016
Molly Monster Ted Sieger Michael Ekblad Matthias Bruhn Switzerland / Germany / Sweden Animation, 70 min. Production: Little Monster GmbH, Zurich Alexandra Schatz Filmproduktion, Hannover Trickstudio Lutterbeck GmbH, Cologne Slugger Film AB, Malmö Senator Film München GmbH, Munich Peacock Film, Zurich World Sales: Global Screen GmbH, Munich T +49 89 24 41 29 55 00 www.globalscreen.de
Molly Monster is no longer the centre of attention in her family. The focus has now become the egg, which Mommy has laid and Daddy is incubating. Little Molly’s parents have absolutely no time left for her. In Monsterland parents bring the eggs to the island to incubate them. Molly, however, must stay at home in her uncle’s care. What’s more, Molly has knitted a lovely hat for the new Monster baby and now her parents have forgotten it at home. Molly thus sets out on the long and difficult journey to the egg island.
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Ted Sieger * 1958 in Chile. He is an independent director, animator and designer of animation films and series, comics and picture books. His latest short THE SMORTLYBACKS (2013) was screened and awarded at many festivals worldwide including Stuttgart, Villa do Conde, Baden, Clermont-Ferrand and Leipzig. Michael Ekblad * 1960 in Sweden. Attended Sheridan College in Oakville. Since 1985 works as animator, designer and director for animations. Co-owner of Sluggerfilm in Malmö. Matthias Bruhn * 1962 in Germany. Studied Graphic Design at FHD (Fachhochschule Düsseldorf). Since 1998 co-owner, co-manager and art director of Trickstudio Lutterbeck. Bruh lectured at the HSLU (Hochschule Luzern, Design & Kunst) and now works as lecturer at the school of animation La Poudrière in Valence.
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SWISS FILMS SWISS FILMS in Toronto 2015 Neugasse 6 | Postfach | CH-8031 Zurich Visit us at our booth #5 in the Industry Office Location T +41 43 211 40 50 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, info @ swissfilms.ch King Ballroom, 370 King Street West www.swissfilms.ch