SWISS FILMS Docs Spring 2022

SWISS

FILMS

2022 DOCS SPRING

SWISS FILMS DOCS SPRING 2022

� � 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 1 12 13 14 15

NEW DOCS FEATURES DON’T WORRY ABOUT INDIA DRAGON WOMEN EXPLOITED FIERCE: A PORN REVOLUTION GETTING OLD STINKS GIRL GANG HOLIDAYS LIKE AN ISLAND LOVING HIGHSMITH MY OLD MAN PAS DE DEUX SEE YOU FRIDAY, ROBINSON SUPERTIME THE ART OF SILENCE

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

Published in April 2022 Image campaign by Pierluigi Macor

NEW DOCS SHORTS FUKU NASHI GHOST FAIR TRADE INITIAL ON A BEAUTIFUL DAY RAMBOY

21 FESTIVAL FAVOURITES SHORTS 22 COMING SOON 35 IN PRODUCTION 36 SUPPORT MEASURES

SWISS FILMS TEAM

ANDREAS BÜHLMANN Head of Festivals & Markets abuehlmann@swissfilms.ch T +41 79 303 58 69

SWISS FILMS Neugasse 6, 8005 Zurich www.swissfilms.ch

16 16 17 18 19 20

CHARLOTTE DUCOS Consultant Documentary Film & Marketing Strategies cducos@swissfilms.ch T +41 76 604 54 95

LAURA DANIEL Consultant Film, Talent & Awards ldaniel@swissfilms.ch T +41 76 343 61 16

MARCEL MÜLLER Consultant Film, Programmes & VOD mmueller@swissfilms.ch T +41 79 787 93 88

SYLVAIN VAUCHER Consultant Short Films svaucher@swissfilms.ch T +41 79 542 83 80

NEW DOCS FEATURES 1S

written & directed by Frédérique de Montblanc

SWITZERLAND / GERMANY / INDIA Documentary, 98 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: English PRODUCTION: Catpics AG, Zurich / Tamtam Film, Hamburg / SRF SWISS PRODUCERS: Sarah Born, Rajko Jazbec, Dario Schoch

FRÉDÉRIQUE DE MONTBLANC * 1982 in Belgium. In 2004 Frédérique de Montblanc completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre at Concordia University in Montreal. She went on to graduate with a Master of Fine Arts from the California Institute for the Arts in Los Angeles in 2007. She works as a film director and visual artist. She has produced a number of interdisciplinary projects with visual artists.

DRAGON WOMEN (2022) is her first feature-length film and premiered at Visions du Réel in Nyon.

NAMA FILMCOLLECTIVE Founded in 2019 in Mumbai, Nama Filmcollective is a collaboration between Indian and European artists. Nama means diary, or chronicle.

BELGIUM / SWITZERLAND / SOUTH KOREA Documentary, 83 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: French, English, Korean PRODUCTION: Savage Film, Zaventem / Beauvoir Films, Geneva / Seesaw pictures, Seoul / RTS / RTBF / WDR / VRT SWISS PRODUCERS: Adrian Blaser, Aline Schmid

3

Often called Dragons, women in the finance sector still represent a small minority, especially in the higher spheres of power. Shot in Europe, America and Asia, this documentary is a series of intimate portraits of various senior women in the finance sector. Filmed at work, at home and during their leisure time, they’ll tell us what made them succeed in the business and share with us the mechanisms they’ve had to implement to survive in one of the most competitive and masculine sectors in the world.

WORLD SALES: Rise and Shine World Sales, Berlin www.riseandshine-berlin.de NATIONAL PREMIERE: Visions du Réel Nyon 2022 INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE: DOK.fest München 2022

Documentary

An Indian filmmaker returns to his homeland during the national elections. With voting spread over a period of six long weeks, he starts travelling the country, turning the camera towards his family. Their privileged life contrasts starkly with the lives of the ordinary Indian citizens working for them. With a dry sense of humour and an eye for the absurd, the director tries to comprehend the India of today, connecting collective and family history, and confronting the recent rise of right-wing populism.

E

E

2N

NEW DOCS FEATURES

written & directed by Nama Filmcollective

FEATUR

D

FEATUR

2

DRAGON WOMEN

1S

DON’T WORRY ABOUT INDIA

T FEA UR

E

2N

WORLD RIGHTS: Catpics AG, Zurich www.catpics.ch WORLD PREMIERE: Visions du Réel Nyon 2022

Documentary

T

T

FEATU

RE

D

NEW DOCS FEATURES

NEW DOCS FEATURES

SWITZERLAND Documentary, 109 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: German, English, French, Italian, Swiss-German PRODUCTION: Fair & Ugly Filmproduktion GmbH, Bern / SRF PRODUCER: Barbara Burger

PATRICK MURONI * 1993. Patrick Muroni graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor in Film from École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne (ECAL).

He then directed A SUMMER MORNING, his first selfproduced short film, which was selected at Locarno in 2019.

His first feature-length documentary FIERCE: A PORN REVOLUTION premiered in Nyon 2022. He is also developing a forthcoming fiction project.

ULRICH GROSSENBACHER * 1958. Ulrich Grossenbacher attended the Schule für Gestaltung Basel. From 1978 to 1994 he works as artist and restorer. He has training in film history, camera, lighting, directing and screenwriting.

Since 1996 he works as freelance cameraman and independent filmmaker. He founded the film production company Fair & Ugly in 2001. He is member of the Swiss Film Academy.

EXPLOITED (2022) premieres internationally at DOK.fest München.

E

SWITZERLAND WORLD SALES: Documentary, 96 min., 2022 Reservoir Docs, Paris ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: reservoirdocs.net French WORLD PREMIERE: SCREENPLAY: Visions du Réel Nyon 2022 Emmanuelle Fournier-Lorentz, Patrick Muroni PRODUCTION: Association Climage, Lausanne / RTS PRODUCER: Stéphane Goël

5

In Lausanne, Switzerland, a group of young women in their early twenties are making pornographic films, camera in hand. Between their jobs for some and their studies for others, they do everything possible to produce ethical and dissident films. Very quickly, the country’s media, and then the public, became interested in them.

In the eyes of all, they are now involved in a fight for a different vision of desire and sexuality.

Documentary

4 Documentary

WORLD RIGHTS: Fair & Ugly Filmproduktion GmbH, Bern www.fairandugly.ch NATIONAL PREMIERE: Solothurner Filmtage 2022 INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE: DOK.fest München 2022

Fraudsters and their victims, wage dumping and illegal employment – we follow employment market inspectors Frédy, Regula, Marcos, Stefan and Chrümu and share their frustration as they try to carry out the often almost impossible task of enforcing Switzerland’s mandatory minimum standards in the work market. A political road movie that provides insights into the complex situation and is as exciting as a thriller.

FEATUR

directed by Patrick Muroni

T

written & directed by Ulrich Grossenbacher

ARDENTE.X.S

1S

EXPLOITED

FIERCE: A PORN REVOLUTION

SCHWARZARBEIT

T FEA UR

E

1S

T

NEW DOCS FEATURES

NEW DOCS FEATURES

written & directed by Peter Entell

written & directed by Susanne Regina Meures

A filmmaker, his mother and father. Throughout the world, suffering and death are close to our thoughts today.

The film is a deeply personal work, but at the same time it conveys a universal emotional content. We all go through the experience of aging – our own, that of our loved ones – and of death. A story shot over a fifteen year period, told with humor despite its drama, an ode to life beyond the suffering inherent in the human journey.

Fourteen-year-old Leonie is a successful teen influencer who lives on the outskirts of Berlin. Millions of followers are at her feet, and companies shower her with products.

When Leonie’s parents recognise the enormous economic potential of her online activities, they quickly take over her management. They want Leonie to have a better life than they had. But Leonie’s life dictated by brands and pressure to produce content has a shadow side that the adrenaline, fame and free sneakers can’t make up for.

SWITZERLAND Documentary, 85 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: English PRODUCER: Peter Entell

SUSANNE REGINA MEURES * 1977 in Germany. Meures studied Photography and Art History at The Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

She also holds a Master in Film from ZHdK. With RAVING IRAN her first feature-length documentary she launched her international festival and box-office success. The film screened at countless festivals and won numerous awards.

SAUDI RUNAWAY premiered at Sundance and among other prizes was nominated for the European Film Award in 2020.

GIRL GANG is her third featurelength documentary.

PETER ENTELL * 1952 in the USA. Peter Entell has worked in Europe, Africa and Asia on social, political and environmental projects. He is especially known for A HOME FAR AWAY (2012), SHAKE THE DEVIL OFF (2007) and ROLLING (1997), which were selected for numerous international festivals such as IDFA and the Locarno Film Festival. His documentaries LIKE DEW IN THE SUN (2016) and SISTERS (2018) were screened in competition at Visions du Réel Nyon and IDFA. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.

SWITZERLAND Documentary, 98 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: German PRODUCTION: Christian Frei Filmproduktion GmbH, Zurich / SRF PRODUCERS: Christian Frei, Susanne Regina Meures

7

GIRL GANG

WORLD SALES: Rise and Shine World Sales, Berlin www.riseandshine-berlin.de WORLD PREMIERE: CPH:DOX 2022

Documentary

6 Documentary

PRODUCTION AND WORLD RIGHTS: Show and Tell Films, Founex pentell@bluewin.ch WORLD PREMIERE: Visions du Réel Nyon 2022

GETTING OLD STINKS

NEW DOCS FEATURES

NEW DOCS FEATURES

E

written & directed by Antoine Cattin

written & directed by Tizian Büchi

Djous dreams of a better life. Dina dreams of taking power.

Anna Fyodorovna dreams of retirement. Nikita dreams of business. Saint Petersburg, a dream city, is the setting for the action. National holidays, a popular dream or an instrument of power, punctuate the calendar. A year goes by and the authoritarian stranglehold of the Kremlin seems to be closing in on Russian society. A tragicomedy about contemporary and eternal Russia.

In the heat of the summer, two watchmen secure the river that runs through a neighbourhood in Lausanne. Ammar is new to the job, and Daniel shares his experience with him.

During their rounds and encounters with the inhabitants, they observe and are observed, while bonds are being formed. And the question arises: what could have happened by the river?

SWITZERLAND Documentary, 87 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: Russian PRODUCTION: Les Films Hors-Champ, Chavornay / RTS PRODUCER: Elena Hill

TIZIAN BÜCHI * 1981. Tizian Büchi graduated in History and Aesthetics of Cinema from the University of Lausanne (UNIL) and in directing from Institut des Arts de Diffusion (IAD) in Belgium.

He worked as programmer for various Swiss festivals and in film distribution. His short films TO THE TOP (2015) premiered at Kurzfilmtage Winterthur and THE SOUND OF WINTER (2016) at Visions du Réel. His first feature-length film LIKE AN ISLAND (2022) also premieres at Visions du Réel in Nyon.

ANTOINE CATTIN * 1975. Antoine Cattin graduated from the University of Lausanne in History, Cinema and Russian in 2001. He is founder and editor of the journal “Hors-Champ”. He worked in Russia as assistant director to Sergei Loznitsa. HOLIDAYS premiered at CPH:DOX 2022.

SWITZERLAND Docufiction, 106 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese PRODUCERS: Thomas Reichlin, Britta Rindelaub

9

LIKE AN ISLAND

PRODUCTION AND WORLD RIGHTS: Alva Film Production, Geneva www.alvafilm.ch WORLD PREMIERE: Visions du réel Nyon 2022

Docufiction

8 Documentary

FEATUR

HOLIDAYS

T

WORLD RIGHTS: Les Films Hors-Champ, Chavornay www.hors-champ.ch WORLD PREMIERE: CPH:DOX 2022

L’ÎLOT

1S

JOURS DE FÊTE

T FEA UR

E

1S

T

NEW DOCS FEATURES 1S

written & directed by Steven Vit

Based on Patricia Highsmith’s personal writings and accounts of her family and lovers, the film casts new light on the famous thriller writer’s life and oeuvre, permeated by themes of love and its defining influence on identity.

Welcome to the prime of life. All his life, Rudy has worked hard for the firm, and for the family. But now, everything is about to change: Rudy retires. No alarm clock, no meetings, no travels to distant countries to set the pace.

Shopping, cooking, gardening, and the daily routines of marital bliss will now fill his schedule. Rudy was actually looking forward to it, to the next phase. But as he soon realises, the prime of life is a wild ride on an emotional rollercoaster. Retirement is not for cowards.

SWITZERLAND / GERMANY Documentary, 83 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: German, English, French PRODUCTION: Ensemble Film GmbH, Zurich / Lichtblick Film- und Fernsehproduktion GmbH, Cologne / ZDF / ARTE / RSI / SRF SWISS PRODUCERS: Franziska Sonder, Maurizius Staerkle Drux

STEVEN VIT * 1990. Steven Vit graduated with a Bachelor in Film from Lucerne School of Art and Design (HSLU) in 2014. In 2020 he completed his Master’s degree in Film and Media at Stockholm University of the Arts. MY OLD MAN is his first feature-length documentary and premiered at Visions du Réel in Nyon 2022.

EVA VITIJA * 1973. Eva Vitija studied screenwriting at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB). She has written for cinema and television, including the screenplays of MEIER, MARILYN, MADLY IN LOVE and LITTLE PARADISE. Her first feature-length documentary MY LIFE AS A FILM (2015) was nominated for the Swiss Film Award and a prize of the International Documentary Association in Los Angeles. The film garnered various awards, among them the Prix de Soleure.

SWITZERLAND Documentary, 86 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: English, Swiss-German PRODUCTION: Lomotion AG Filmproduktion, Bern / SRF PRODUCERS: Louis Mataré, David Fonjallaz

11

10 Documentary

MY OLD MAN

WORLD RIGHTS: Lomotion AG Filmproduktion, Bern www.lomotion.com WORLD PREMIERE: Visions du Réel Nyon 2022

Documentary

FEATUR

WORLD SALES: Autlook Filmsales GmbH, Vienna www.autlookfilms.com WORLD PREMIERE: Solothurner Filmtage 2022

E

E

D

written & directed by Eva Vitija

FEATUR

FÜR IMMER SONNTAG

1S

2N

LOVING HIGHSMITH

T FEA UR

E

2N

NEW DOCS FEATURES

T

T

FEATU

RE

D

NEW DOCS FEATURES

NEW DOCS FEATURES

T FEA UR

1S

À VENDREDI, ROBINSON

T

12

written & directed by Elie Aufseesser

Documentary

WORLD RIGHTS: ToïToï, Geneva www.toitoi.film WORLD PREMIERE: Solothurner Filmtage 2022

directed by Mitra Farahani

Jon moves to New York City for his studies by integrating Columbia University’s diving team while Peter wanders the Jordanian desert, sick and doubting his way of life. Both brothers are tested by their geographic location, often discovering that it can harbor more confinement than freedom. Within these moments of separation the already great distance between them becomes even wider.

“We should start with a correspondence. Ebrahim can send me a letter this Friday, and I’ll answer him next Friday.

So, see you Friday, Robinson!” And so, Jean-Luc Godard stages himself in his daily thought, wisely desperate, and sends images and words. Ebrahim Golestan tries to decode these UFO-messages and skilfully seeks to bring them back to the appearance of reason. Does the existence of poets still have any meaning in these times of distress?

SWITZERLAND / UNITED STATES Documentary, 84 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: English, French, Mandarin PRODUCTION: ToïToï, Geneva / ToïToï US, Raleigh SWISS PRODUCER: Elie Aufseesser

MITRA FARAHANI * 1975 in Iran. Mitra Farahani studied graphic design at the Azad University in Tehran.

In 2000 she began studies in fine arts and video /cinema at the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

As a visual artist, filmmaker and producer she works between both the still image and the moving image. Several of her films premiered in the Berlinale, among them JUST A WOMAN (2002), FIFI HOWLS FROM HAPPINESS (2013) and SEE YOU FRIDAY, ROBINSON (2022) in the Encounters section of Berlinale.

ELIE AUFSEESSER * 1990. Elie Aufseeser received his Master of Fine Arts in Film from Columbia University in New York in 2018. He founded ToïToï, an initiative dedicated to producing and promoting films by artists and filmmakers exploring the spaces between video art and cinema, between documentary and fiction. PAS DE DEUX (2022) is his first feature-length film as director and producer. The film was awarded the Opera Prima prize at the Solothurner Filmtage.

FRANCE / SWITZERLAND / WORLD RIGHTS: IRAN / LEBANON Écran Noir Productions, Paris Documentary, 96 min., 2022 ecrannoirprod@gmail.com ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: WORLD PREMIERE: German, English, French, Berlinale 2022 Italian, Farsi PRODUCTION: Écran Noir Productions, Paris / Casa Azul Films, Lausanne / Pejman Foundation, Teheran / Schortcut Films, Beirut SWISS PRODUCER: Fabrice Aragno

13

FEATUR

PAS DE DEUX

SEE YOU FRIDAY, ROBINSON

Documentary

E

E

1S

T

NEW DOCS FEATURES 2N

E

SWITZERLAND Documentary, 72 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: Italian SCREENPLAY: Daniel Kemény, Laura Marzi, Silvestro Maccariello PRODUCTION: Cinédokké Sagl, Savosa PRODUCERS: Michela Pini, Amel Soudani

MAURIZIUS STAERKLE DRUX * 1988 in Germany. Maurizius Staerkle Drux studied film directing at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). His debut film CONCRETE LOVE – THE BÖHM FAMILY (2014) screened around the globe, won several awards and was one of the five most successful documentary films in Germany in 2015. He works as sound designer and documentary filmmaker between Cologne and Zurich. THE ART OF SILENCE premiered at the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis in 2022.

DANIEL KEMÉNY * 1981 in Italy. Daniel Kemény studied Art and Sculpture in Berlin, Athens and Bologna.

He exhibits since over ten years in cultural and art institutions in Europe and around the world, creating spatial installations and videos. Since 2010 he works cinematographically, where he combines expressive skills with his narrative needs, combining different points of view and languages. After SÒNE:, awarded in Solothurn and Salerno, SUPERTIME is his second feature-length documentary.

SWITZERLAND / GERMANY Documentary, 81 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: German, English, French PRODUCTION: Beauvoir Films, Geneva / Lichtblick Film- und Fernsehproduktion, Cologne / ZDF / ARTE / SRF / RTS SWISS PRODUCERS: Aline Schmid, Adrian Blaser

15

With his gestures and facial expressions alone, the mime Marcel Marceau captured audiences around the globe for decades. But the tragic background behind his work has remained hidden for a long time. The film sheds new light on his life and unique art form, which his family and companions keep alive to this day.

WORLD SALES: Magnetfilm GmbH, Berlin www.magnetfilm.de NATIONAL PREMIERE: Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis 2022 INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE: HotDocs Toronto 2022 MORE INFORMATION: www.artofsilence-film.com

Documentary

E

2N

NEW DOCS FEATURES

D

FEATUR

14

A couple, used to an open relationship, experiences the pandemic. Having to share every single moment with each other makes distance impossible. The deep fear of love and dependence, but also the boundless tenderness comes to light. The documentary narrates the testing of a bond as the world is overtaken by a pandemic that shakes and questions coexistence.

FEATUR

Documentary

written & directed by Maurizius Staerkle Drux

D

directed by Daniel Kemény

L’ART DU SILENCE

FEATU

2N

2N

WORLD RIGHTS: Cinédokké Sagl, Savosa www.cinedokke.ch WORLD PREMIERE: Visions du Réel Nyon 2022

SUPERTIME

THE ART OF SILENCE

SUPERTEMPO

D

RE

FEATU

RE

D

NEW DOCS SHORTS directed by Laurence Bonvin

After several years of absence Yukie returns to Baba’s house in search of her identity. In this house of a thousand corners, these two lonely souls meet, but a great chasm separates them. Little by little, between the murmur of the television and the abandoned garden, tongues are loosened and the distance decreases.

On the site of the International Centre for Foreign Trade of Senegal (CICES), the Dakar International Fair has been held annually since 1974. The film introduces us to a masterpiece of modernist architecture through this flagship event and all the other commercial, cultural and political activities that punctuate the life of the site. A narrative emerges, with invisible presences that evoke the complex history of the place, where animism, modernism, independence and post-colonial heritage are intertwined.

SWITZERLAND Docufiction, 46 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: Japanese PRODUCTION: JoY Films, Lausanne / Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD – Genève) PRODUCERS: Yara Atz, Delphine Jeanneret

* 1967. Laurence Bonvin received her degree from École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie in Arles. Her work has been in numerous national and international exhibits. Her previous films, BEFORE THE FLIGHT (2016) and ALETSCH NEGATIVE (2019) both premiered at the Berlinale and received several prizes. GHOST FAIR TRADE is her most recent film premiering at Visions du Réel in Nyon 2022.

JULIE SANDO * 1993. Julie Sando is a SwissJapanese artist and film director. In 2017 she graduated with a Bachelor in Film from Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD – Genève), followed by a Master’s degree in contemporary artistic practices in 2019. She spent a semester at the Kyoto University of the Arts. Julie Sando is equally active in filmmaking between documentary and fiction as in performance and art installation.

SWITZERLAND Documentary, 38 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: French SCREENPLAY: Laurence Bonvin, Cheikh Ndiaye PRODUCER: Laurence Bonvin

PRODUCTION AND WORLD RIGHTS: Laurence Bonvin Productions, Switzerland www.laurencebonvin.com WORLD PREMIERE: Visions du Réel Nyon 2022

Documentary

written & directed by Julie Sando

17

NEW DOCS SHORTS 16 Docufiction

WORLD RIGHTS: JoY Films, Lausanne joy.filmproduction@gmail.com WORLD PREMIERE: Visions du Réel Nyon 2022

FUKU NASHI

GHOST FAIR TRADE

NEW DOCS SHORTS

NEW DOCS SHORTS

directed by Elodie Pong

A seminar of influential people in a remote place.

Two people are on site for different reasons. Alone with themselves, they wait for the meeting to begin.

Despite its fierce winds and dangerous waters, the Strait of Gibraltar has increasingly become the route of choice for migrants using Morocco as a gateway to Europe, making the mouth of the Mediterranean Basin into a tragic site of hope and death.

SWITZERLAND Docufiction, 14 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: French, Swiss-German PRODUCER: Hugo Radi

ELODIE PONG * 1966. Elodie Pong is an artist and filmmaker. Her practice is research-based and pluridisciplinary. She is known for single screen film works and modular, multi-media installations bringing different narrative modes into correspondence. Her most recent short ON A BEAUTIFUL DAY (2022) premieres at the International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen.

HUGO RADI * 1992. Hugo Radi graduated in 2016 with a Bachelor in Film from École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne (ECAL). His shorts FEDOR (2016) and SWIZZAIR (2015) both screened at the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur. ALBA screened at Visions du Réel in Nyon in 2019. His latest short INITIAL (2022) premieres at Visions du Réel in Nyon.

SWITZERLAND Documentary / Experimental, 6 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: French SCREENPLAY: Elodie Pong, Yto Barrada PRODUCER: Elodie Pong

19

written & directed by Hugo Radi

PRODUCTION AND WORLD RIGHTS: Elodie Pong, Zurich info@elodiepong.net WORLD PREMIERE: Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen 2022

Documentary / Experimental

18 Docufiction

PRODUCTION AND WORLD RIGHTS: Hugo Radi, Geneva hugoradi@gmail.com WORLD PREMIERE: Visions du Réel Nyon 2022

INITIAL

ON A BEAUTIFUL DAY

Anidoc

21 OMED

UEER Q UEER Q

S

T

DE TU N

20

A A

C C

NIDO

Y

C

The two now direct documentary films together. Both native of the Alps, they share a common fascination for the mountainous universe and rural accounts.

OMED

Y

LUCIEN ROUX * 1997 in France. Lucien Roux studied photography at the Beaux Arts of Marseille and Paris.

In nature, a couple is a male and a female. Well, not always! A couple is also a female and a female. Or a male and a male. You may not be aware of it, but homosexuality isn’t just a human story.

NIDO

A

MATTHIAS JOULAUD * 1997 in France. Matthias Joulaud studied painting at the Beaux Arts of Marseille and Paris.

C

DANS LA NATURE directed by Marcel Barelli

C

SWITZERLAND Documentary, 30 min., 2022 ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: English PRODUCTION: Akka Films, Geneva / Master ECAL / HEAD Genève (École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne ECAL / Geneva University of Art and Design) PRODUCER: Jaber Debzi

N C

IN NATURE

Swiss Film Award Best Animation Film 2022 WORLD RIGHTS: Akka Films, Geneva www.akkafilms.ch WORLD PREMIERE: Visions du Réel Nyon 2022

ILDRE

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.

NIDO

S

RAMBOY

LDRE HI

N CH

T

DE TU N

A

A visual poem created by over twenty animation directors under the artistic supervision of Simone Giampaolo, which gives shape and colour to the original words spoken by Severn Suzuki at the UN Summit in Rio in 1992, a child’s desperate call to action for the future of our planet. With this omnibus film, through eloquent images and powerful animated allegories, the young animators scream their call through art.

NIDO

C

94th Academy Awards® shortlist

written & directed by Matthias Joulaud, Lucien Roux

Documentary

FESTIVAL FAVOURITES SHORTS

directed by Simone Giampaolo

SWITZERLAND Anidoc, 5 min., 2021 ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: French, Italian ANIMATION TECHNIQUE: 2D Computer animation SCREENPLAY: Marcel Barelli, Fleur Daugey PRODUCTION: Nadasdy Film, Geneva / RSI WORLD SALES: SND Films, Amsterdam www.sndfilms.com FESTIVALS (SELECTION): Ottawa Int. Animation 2021 / Annecy 2021 / DOK Leipzig 2021 / Clermont-Ferrand 2022 / Aspen Shortsfest 2022

Anidoc

NEW DOCS SHORTS

ONLY A CHILD

COMING SOON

E

D

SPRING 2022

E

ECTE XP

How to speak with tenderness of feminist struggles to an enlightened patriarch? Painting her story with a very personal and poetic brush, Nadia Fares transforms a tribute to her beloved Egyptian father into a chronicle of the condition of women in Egypt and in Switzerland.

She explores the impact of patriarchal traditions in the East and the West, revealing them as mirror images.

NADIA FARES Nadia Fares is an EgyptianSwiss director, writer and producer. She has a Master of Fine Arts in Film and Television from New York University, TISH School of the Arts. Her first feature film HONEY AND ASHES (1996) received multiple international awards. Her latest feature screenplay DIPLOMATIC CORPS was accepted into the New York Writers Lab. She works and lives in Los Angeles, Cairo and Geneva. BIG LITTLE WOMEN is her first featurelength documentary.

23

written & directed by Nadia Fares

SWITZERLAND / EGYPT WORLD RIGHTS: Documentary, 86 min.

Luna Films, Geneva ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: www.lunafilms.ch English, Swiss-German, Arabic PRODUCTION: Luna Films, Geneva / AfterAll Films, Cairo / RTS SWISS PRODUCERS: Agnès Boutruche, Véronique Vergari

Documentary

COMING SOON

D

BIG LITTLE WOMEN

ECTE XP

COMING SOON

COMING SOON

T FEA UR

E

1S

T

E ALESSIO DE GOTTARDI CAMPO ABIERTO * 1991 Campo Abierto is a production collective founded EMANUEL HOHL in the framework of the * 1991 documentary project of the same name. At the MANUEL JÄGGI Milan Design Film Festival * 1991 they were selected with the construction “A BusMATTHIAS MÜLLER stop for Tathuen”.

KLUG * 1992

No animal knows us better. Where there are humans, are also ravens and crows. They have been watching us since time immemorial and have the ability to pass on this knowledge about humans to their descendants. Behind their mysterious, inquisitive gaze rests the chronicle of humanity.

MARTIN SCHILT * 1971. Martin Schilt works as a film journalist and graduated as a teacher in 1992. Since 1996 he works as filmmaker and for Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF). In 2008, together with Belinda Sallin, he cofounded the independent production company Lucky Film in Zurich. NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS was awarded the Prix du public at the Solothurner Filmtage in 2012. CROWS – NATURE IS WATCHING US, his latest documentary, is currently in post-production.

SWITZERLAND / AUSTRIA Documentary, 90 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: German, Japanese ANIMATION TECHNIQUE: 3D Computer animation PRODUCTION: Lucky Film GmbH, Zurich / Allegro Film Produktions GmbH, Vienna / SRF / ORF SWISS PRODUCERS: Martin Schilt, Belinda Sallin

25

24 Documentary

SWITZERLAND Documentary / Experimental, 77 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: German, Spanish PRODUCERS: Matthias Müller Klug, Alessio De Gottardi

written & directed by Martin Schilt

WORLD RIGHTS: Lucky Film GmbH, Zurich www.luckyfilm.tv Allegro Film Produktions GmbH, Vienna www.allegrofilm.at

Documentary

D

ECTE XP

PRODUCTION AND WORLD RIGHTS: Campo Abierto, Basel www.campoabierto.org

D

FEATUR

E

T

In a remote village on the Patagonian Steppe we meet the K’wal family, one of the last chieftain families of the Gününa Kena. Together with the youngest descendant of this family, we travel through the mesmerizing steppe and embark on an ancient trail that formed the core of his ancestors’ nomadic way of life. The path takes us past numerous faces, remote places and stories about a painful past and an uncertain future.

CROWS – NATURE IS WATCHING US

E

E

written & directed by Alessio De Gottardi, Emanuel Hohl, Manuel Jäggi, Matthias Müller Klug

KRÄHEN – NATURE IS WATCHING US

D

D

SPRING 2022

CAMPO ABIERTO

SUMMER 2022

ECTE XP

E

1S

ECTE XP

ECTE XP

COMING SOON

E written & directed by Kaspar Kasics

Carlos has lived in Chicago since he arrived from Mexico at the age of nine with his parents and his three brothers.

But the day he came of age, his life changed and he lost all his rights. The slightest mistake could lead to deportation. Between successes and defeats, the documentary tells the story of Carlos, his three brothers and the fate of two million young people growing up in a country that still does not recognise them as its own.

With her worldwide success “Fear of Flying”, the New Yorker Erica Jong inspired the sexual liberation of women. She dared to set out for herself and demanded an encounter on equal terms. She wanted to change the world and still wants to today. With her own story, with her humour and with trust in the power of words.

SWITZERLAND / GERMANY Documentary, 90 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: English, Spanish PRODUCTION: Intermezzo Films, Geneva / Dirk Manthey Film, Hamburg / RTS / SWR / ARTE SWISS PRODUCERS: Luc Peter, Katia Monla

KASPAR KASICS Kaspar Kascis studied philosophy at the University of Zurich and music at the Conservatory of Zurich.

After working as a film and programme designer for Swiss television, he became an independent director and producer in the 1990s. For thirteen years he led the Swiss Filmmakers Association as president. His documentaries CLOSED COUNTRY (1999) and BLUE END (2000) premiered in the official selection of the Berlinale and YES NO MAYBE (2015) at the Locarno Film Festival.

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 Bachelor and Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Geneva. Degree in Cinema from the ECAL, Lausanne.

Director of cinema and TV documentaries. He works as a producer since 2001.

SWITZERLAND Documentary, 95 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: English PRODUCTION: Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion AG, Zurich / Distant Lights GmbH, Zurich / SRF PRODUCERS: Sereina Gabathuler, Werner Swiss Schweizer, Kaspar Kasics

27

ECTE XP

26

ECTE XP

WORLD RIGHTS: Intermezzo Films, Geneva www.intermezzofilms.ch

Documentary

D

written & directed by Stéphanie Barbey, Luc Peter

E

DREAMERS

ERICA JONG BREAKING THE WALL

E

D

SUMMER 2022

WORLD RIGHTS: Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion AG, Zurich www.dvfilm.ch

Documentary

E

COMING SOON

FALL 2022

ECTE XP

D

D

ECTE XP

COMING SOON

C SWITZERLAND / GERMANY Documentary, 90 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: German PRODUCTION: Filmgerberei GmbH, Zurich / Florianfilm GmbH, Cologne / SRF / SRG SSR / ARTE SWISS PRODUCERS: Nadine Lüchinger, Flavio Gerber

ANDRÉ SCHÄFER * 1966 in Germany. André Schäfer has directed and produced numerous documentaries for over twenty years. HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU, BOY (2007) and ROCK HUDSON – DARK AND HANDSOME STRANGER (2010) both premiered at the Berlinale. He was nominated for the German Film Award with LENIN CAME ONLY AS FAR AS LÜDENSCHEID (2008). DEUTSCHBODEN (2014) received the German Film Critics’ Award for Best Documentary.

E

The documentary follows the life of a young Swiss kickboxer. His violent and dark past as a hooligan dictates his present, made of sacrifice, love, discipline and a desperate search for self-control.

MARA MANZOLINI * 1994 ANDREA PELLERANI * 1984 ELODIE DERMANGE * 1992

RED is their first anidoc as a director’s trio.

SWITZERLAND Anidoc, 90 min ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: Italian SCREENPLAY: Mara Manzolini, Andrea Pellerani PRODUCTION: Amka Films Productions SA, Savosa / Nadasdy Film Sarl, Geneva / RSI / SRG SSR PRODUCERS: Gabriella de Gara, Amel Soudani, Nicolas Burlet

29

28 WORLD SALES: DCM, Berlin www.dcmstories.com

D

D

ECTE XP

His theme is the criminal potential of our society, his heroes oscillate between business class and hopelessness.

Entertaining and precise, Martin Suter describes the current state of illness in the world. The documentary accompanies the Swiss writer through his literary cosmos and shows in large images the scenes of his literature, but also the very private ones of his life and his family.

E

directed by Mara Manzolini, Andrea Pellerani, Elodie Dermange

written & directed by André Schäfer

FALL 2022

ECTE XP

RED

ECTE XP

D

ALLES ÜBER MARTIN SUTER. AUSSER DIE WAHRHEIT.

WORLD RIGHTS: Amka Films Productions SA, Savosa www.amka.ch

Anidoc

E

A

COMING SOON

NIDO

E

EVERYTHING ABOUT MARTIN SUTER. EVERYTHING BUT THE TRUTH.

A

D

SUMMER 2022

Documentary

C

ECTE XP

NIDO

COMING SOON

COMING SOON

T FEA UR

E MARIA SIGRIST * 1985. Maria Sigrist collaborates with filmmakers across the globe to create films with inspiring female lead characters for a variety of genres.

ANDREAS MÜLLER * 1975. Andreas Müller graduated in Film from Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).

He works as director and writer. JOSHUA (2002) was recipient of 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.

SATINDAR SINGH BEDI * 1980 in India. Satindar Singh Bedi is a graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India.

The creative director auteur duo has worked together since 2019. Their fiction feature THIRD EYE OF SHIVA has been granted funding by Migros Ideenförderung 2020.

E

SWITZERLAND WORLD RIGHTS: Documentary / Experimental, Spirited Heroine Productions 82 min www.spiritedheroine.com ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: English PRODUCTION: Spirited Heroine Productions / Tilt Production GmbH, Zurich / Satindar Singh Bedi, Bern PRODUCERS: Maria Sigrist, Kaspar Winkler, Satindar Singh Bedi

31

SWITZERLAND Documentary, 120 min.

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

Documentary / Experimental

30

The filmmakers, Maria, a Swiss, and Satindar, an Indian, fall in love. However, his alcohol addiction calamitously hinders their future together. A poetic hybrid hypnotic autobiographical epic love tale of two souls split by addiction trying to save their love.

D

D

ECTE XP

WORLD RIGHTS: soap factory GmbH, Basel www.soapfactory.ch 8horses GmbH, Zurich www.8horses.ch

Invited by a mysterious friend, two filmmakers set out on a journey through 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.

SPRING 2022

E

written & directed by Maria Sigrist, Satindar Singh Bedi

directed by Andreas Müller, Simon Guy Fässler

D

RUÄCH

ECTE XP

ECTE XP

E

FEATUR

E

THE CURSE

T

D

SUMMER 2022

Documentary

1S

ECTE XP

E

1S

T

COMING SOON

COMING SOON

T FEA UR

E The Balkan War of the 1990s caused the disappearance of thousands of people. Their mortal remains are in danger of remaining lost forever. Bereaved families and survivors place their hopes in excavations and in the work of science. Forensic anthropologists and archaeo­ logists are highly concentrated. A human being takes shape bone by bone. Does he also take on an identity?

Do relatives receive certainty and a grave as an anchor point for memory and mourning?

An epic family saga in times of modernism, told by the women around the iconic architect Mies van der Rohe. His wife Ada, his daughters Georgia, Manna and Traudel and his lover Lilly Reich seize the opportunities of the new age but also experience the constraints of old patterns. The Golden ’20s, the increasingly barbaric ’30s and ultimately war. A troubling family story which uses unpublished films, images and documents to create a moral portrait of modernity – from a female perspective.

SWITZERLAND Docufiction, 61 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: Bosnian PRODUCER: Jan Baumgartner

SABINE GISIGER * 1959. Sabine Gisiger studied history in Zurich and Pisa.

She worked as a reporter for Swiss Television and has been making documentaries as a freelance filmmaker since 1988. DO IT (2000) received the Swiss Film Award for Best Documentary, followed

by GAMBIT (2005) and YALOM’S CURE (2014) and a nomination for WELCOME TO SWITZERLAND (2017).

She is a professor for documentaries at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).

JAN BAUMGARTNER * 1987. Jan Baumgartner is a self-taught filmmaker. He discovered his passion for photography and filmmaking through extensive traveling around the world. Originally he was trained in health care as a nursing professional.

He works as a freelance filmmaker and photographer.

TALKING SOIL was selected for the Swiss as well as for the International Competition at the 2018 edition of the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur.

SWITZERLAND WORLD RIGHTS: Docufiction, 90 min.

Dschoint Ventschr ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: Filmproduktion AG, Zurich German, English www.dvfilm.ch CAST: Katharina Thalbach, Anna Thalbach, Rebekka Burckhardt, Ingo Ospelt PRODUCTION: Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion AG, Zurich / SRF PRODUCER: Karin Koch

33

written & directed by Sabine Gisiger

Docufiction

D

ECTE XP

32

written & directed by Jan Baumgartner

D

FEATUR

Docufiction

THE MIES VAN DER ROHES

ECTE XP

T

E

PRODUCTION AND WORLD RIGHTS: Jan Baumgartner, Bern www.janbaumgartner.ch

THE DNA OF DIGNITY

SUMMER 2022

E

SUMMER 2022

ECTE XP

D

ECTE XP

D

E

1S

E

E

1S

T

E

D

FALL 2022

ECTE XP

34 Documentary

THERE WAS NOTHING HERE BEFORE (working title) written & directed by Yvann Yagchi

by Miklós Gimes, director of MOTHER and BAD BOY KUMMER

by Pauline Julier, Clément Postec

SWITZERLAND Documentary, 90 min.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: French, Hebrew, Arabic PRODUCTION: maximage, Zurich / SRF / SRG SSR PRODUCERS: Brigitte Hofer, Cornelia Seitler

YVANN YAGCHI * 1983. Yvann Yagchi has a Master in Journalism from Université Libre de Bruxelles and in documentary filmmaking from the the National Film and Television School in England. After working as a journalist in Belgium and Switzerland, he became a cameraman for the BBC and then a documentary director. He is currently editing his second feature-length documentary, THERE WAS NOTHING HERE BEFORE and producing a feature documentary for Netflix France.

SWITZERLAND / FRANCE / CHILE Docufiction PRODUCTION: Les Films du Chalet, Geneva / La Bête, Paris / Capicua Films, Santiago WORLD RIGHTS: Les Films du Chalet, Geneva www.lesfilmsduchalet.ch

WINTER 2022/23

FALL 2022

NIGHTS GONE BY

OUT OF UGANDA

SWITZERLAND / SPAIN Documentary PRODUCTION: Lomotion AG Filmproduktion, Bern / Pedro Collantes, Madrid SRF WORLD RIGHTS: Lomotion AG Filmproduktion, Bern www.lomotion.com

by Rolando Colla, Josef Burri

SWITZERLAND Documentary PRODUCTION: Peacock Film, Zurich / Little Monster, Zurich PRODUCER: Elena Pedrazzoli WORLD SALES: Outplay Films, Paris www.outplayfilms.com

SUMMER 2023

SPRING 2023

THE MIRACULOUS TRANSFORMATION OF THE WORKING CLASS INTO FOREIGNERS

THE NORTH RUSH

by Samir SWITZERLAND / ITALY Documentary PRODUCTION: Dschoint Ventschr , Zurich / CDV Casa delle Visioni, Milan WORLD RIGHTS: Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion, Zurich www.dvfilm.ch

IN PRODUCTION

FOLLOW THE WATER

by Alberto Martín Menacho

Nathanael and Yvann, two Swiss childhood friends, meet again in the Palestinian autonomous territories.

While director Yvann tries to understand why Nathanael has become a religious Jewish settler, he discovers the past of his own Palestinian family, who had to flee the country in 1948 because of the war.

WORLD SALES: Paul Thiltges Distributions, Kehlen www.ptd.lu

DIE EMPFÄNGNIS

by Karim Sayad, director of MY ENGLISH COUSIN and OF SHEEP AND MEN

SWITZERLAND Documentary PRODUCTION: Close Up Films, Geneva / SRG SSR WORLD RIGHTS: Close Up Films, Geneva www.closeupfilms.ch

35

FEATUR

D

D

E

2N

E

2N

COMING SOON

RE

ECTE XP

FALL 2022

SWITZERLAND Documentary PRODUCTION: Recycled TV AG, Bern / SRF WORLD RIGHTS: Recycled TV AG, Bern www.rectv.ch

FEATU

D

SUMMER 2022

SUPPORT MEASURES

DISTRIBUTION SUPPORT

Supporting the theatrical release and distribution via online platforms of Swiss films worldwide.

Its aim is to strengthen the visibility and the distribution of Swiss films abroad. The subsidies are granted according to the “Guidelines Export Promotion” of the FOC. KEY INCENTIVES – Funding for releases worldwide – Funding for cinema and / or VOD releases – Applications for individual as well as slate funding – No fixed submission deadlines

For more information please consult our website www.swissfilms.ch A support measure by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture (FOC), administrated by SWISS FILMS. www.bak.admin.ch

Applications must be submitted by the distributor via the Swiss producer.

VISIT US AT OUR STANDS AT:

36

Contact : support@swissfilms.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.

Cannes Village International Annecy Mifa Locarno Film Festival Toronto International Film Festival Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Market Berlinale European Film Market

EFP offers Film Sales Support 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.

SWISS FILMS is supported by

Guidelines and application : www.efp-online.com/en/project_market/fss.php

“Come on honey-bunny, we have a meeting.”

Leonie in GIRL GANG by Susanne Regina Meures