SWISS FILMS PREVIEWS LOCARNO 2025
SWISS FILMS
Neugasse 6, 8005 Zurich www.swissfilms.ch
Published in July 2025
Hosted by SWISS FILMS in collaboration with
SWISS FILMS TEAM
MARCEL
HELLO BETTY
directed by Pierre Monnard
In 1956, copywriter Emmi Creola created the fictional character Betty Bossi, who quickly became a Swiss cooking icon. Many people believe that Betty Bossi is a real person, and Emmi unexpectedly finds herself in the spotlight. However, professional success and personal expectations threaten to tear her apart. The film shows how a woman fights for her place in a maledominated world – a theme that is just as relevant today as it was back then.
WORLD RIGHTS:
C-FILMS AG, Zurich www.c-films.com
LOOKING FOR:
World Sales
Int. Distribution
Int. Festival Premiere
CONTACT:
Peter Reichenbach
C-FILMS AG
reichenbach@c-films.com
SWITZERLAND
Fiction, 110 min.
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: Swiss-German SCREENPLAY: André Küttel
CAST:
Sarah Spale, Martin Vischer, Rabea Egg, Viviana Zappa, Cyril Metzger, Leonardo Nigro
PRODUCTION:
C-FILMS AG, Zurich / SRF / SRG SSR / CH Media
PRODUCERS: Peter Reichenbach, Roland Stebler
PIERRE MONNARD
* 1976. Pierre Monnard studied film in England. His short film, SWAPPED (2002), toured the globe earning more than twenty awards. After his feature debut, RECYCLING LILY (2013), he directed the TV series ANOMALIA (2015), and the first two seasons of WILDER (2017). His recent films include NEEDLE PARK BABY (2020), BISONS (2024) – recipient of several Swiss Films Awards – and the series WINTER PALACE, a coproduction with Netflix.
HALLO BETTY
WINTER
2025/26
GENÈVE DUBLIN
GENEVA DUBLIN
directed by Frédéric Baillif
In a gritty neighborhood of Geneva, a double-decker bus becomes a refuge where social workers guide refugees through the labyrinth of Swiss asylum laws. On the frontlines of a Kafkaesque struggle, they face ethical dilemmas where compassion clashes with rigid regulations. As frustration turns into determination, solidarity edges closer to illegality, raising a crucial question: when does empathy become a “crime of compassion”?
FRÉDÉRIC BAILLIF
* 1973. Frédéric Baillif is a selftaught filmmaker. In 2000 he graduated from the Geneva Graduate Institute with a degree in special education. He interned as production assistant in New York. While producing various short films he developed his own approach and voice in filmmaking, which he calls social cinema. With THE FAM (2021) he won the Grand Prix for the Best Film in the 14plus Competition at the Berlinale and was selected for the European Film Awards 2021.
SWITZERLAND
Fiction, 100 min.
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE:
French
SCREENPLAY:
Frédéric Baillif, Joanne Giger
CAST:
Sewit Abadi, Sabbel Ceesay, Rebecca Baillif, Margarita Sanchez, Nadim Ahmed, Selam Tesfu, Claudia Grob
PRODUCTION:
Alva Film, Geneva / Freshprod, Geneva / RTS
PRODUCERS:
Thomas Reichlin, Britta Rindelaub, Frédéric Baillif
WORLD RIGHTS: Alva Film, Geneva www.alvafilm.ch
LOOKING FOR:
World Sales Int. Distribution Int. Festival Premiere
CONTACT: Thomas Reichlin Alva Film thomas@alvafilm.ch
SILENT REBELLION
directed by Marie-Elsa Sgualdo
Fifteen-year-old Emma – pregnant after a rape – defies her repressive rural Protestant community to carve a path of self-determination. She transforms trauma into a catalyst for emancipation while confronting the moral hypocrisy of the village and the spectre of World War II around her.
WORLD SALES:
Salaud Morisset, Berlin www.salaudmorisset.com
LOOKING FOR:
Int. Distribution
CONTACT:
Blaise Strautmann
Box Productions blaise.strautmann@ boxproductions.ch
SWITZERLAND / BELGIUM / FRANCE
Fiction, 96 min., 2025
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: French SCREENPLAY:
Nadine Lamari, Marie-Elsa Sgualdo
CAST:
Lila Gueneau, Grégoire Colin, Thomas Doret, Aurélia Petit, Sandrine Blancke, Sasha Gravat, Cyril Metzger PRODUCTION:
Box Productions, Lausanne / Helicotronc, Brussels / Offshore, Paris / RTS
SWISS PRODUCER:
Elena Tatti, Nicolas Wittwer
* 1986. Marie-Elsa Sgualdo graduated with a Bachelor in Film from HEAD-Genève (Geneva University of Art and Design) in 2010 and in 2012 with a Master from the INSAS (Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle), Brussels. Early shorts include VAS-Y JE T’AIME (2009), BAM TCHAK (2010), ON THE BEACH (2012). YOU CAN’T DO EVERYTHING AT ONCE, BUT YOU CAN LEAVE EVERYTHING AT ONCE was selected in the Directors Fortnight at Cannes and in another fifty festivals. SILENT REBELLION is her first feature-length film.
ENJOY YOUR STAY
directed by Dominik Locher
Driven by a desperate need to return home to her daughter, an undocumented Filipina cleaner at a luxurious Swiss ski resort steps up as a human trafficker, a perilous choice that jeopardizes the safety of her fellow workers and tests her moral boundaries. A tense social drama about survival and exploitation in the shadow of privilege.
DOMINIK LOCHER
Dominik Locher is a Swiss director exploring social conflict and power dynamics through emotionally vulnerable characters. His second feature GOLIATH premiered in Locarno’s International Competition. His debut TEMPO GIRL was nominated for a First Steps Award. He studied theatre and film at ZHdK, Bruxelles Sint Lukas, and the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles. ENJOY YOUR STAY is his third feature.
SWITZERLAND / FRANCE Fiction, 100 min.
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: English, Tagalog, French SCREENPLAY: Mary Honeylyn Joy Alipio, Dominik Locher CAST:
Mercedes Cabral, Alexis Manenti, Anna Luna PRODUCTION:
Close Up Films, Geneva / JBA Production, Paris / RTS
SWISS PRODUCERS: Joëlle Bertossa, Flavia Zanon
WORLD RIGHTS:
Close Up Films, Geneva www.closeupfilms.ch
LOOKING FOR:
World Sales Int. Distribution Int. Festival Premiere CONTACT: Flavia Zanon
Close Up Films flavia@closeupfilms.ch
WINTER 2026
A HAPPY FAMILY
directed by Jan-Eric Mack
Despite juggling two jobs, Niki is always short of money and her life is under constant supervision by the social services. When her two children accidentally set the kitchen on fire, they are placed in the care of a foster family. Despite a restraining order, Niki finds them at the other end of Switzerland. With a new identity, she secretly participates in her children’s lives. When Niki is on the verge of being exposed, their only option is to flee.
WORLD RIGHTS:
C-FILMS AG, Zurich www.c-films.com
LOOKING FOR:
World Sales
Int. Distribution
Int. Festival Premiere CONTACT: Martin Joss
C-FILMS AG joss@c-films.com
SWITZERLAND
Fiction, 120 min. ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: Swiss-German SCREENPLAY: Anna Schinz, Jan-Eric Mack, Nikita Afanasjev, Eva Kienholz CAST: Anna Schinz, Julia Jentsch, Bettina Stucky, Michael Neuenschwander PRODUCTION:
C-FILMS AG, Zurich / SRF PRODUCER: Martin Joss
JAN-ERIC MACK
* 1983. Jan-Eric Mack is a Swiss director and screenwriter based in Zurich. He studied directing at the ZHdK (Zurich University of the Arts). His master short FACING MECCA (2017) won Best Short Film at the Swiss Film Awards, received a Student Academy Award, and made the 90th Oscars Live Action Short shortlist. He directed Season 3 of SRF’s crime drama WILDER and also codirected the historical espionage series DAVOS 1917.
UHLANJULULO
LAUNDRY
written & directed by Zamo Mkhwanazi
Johannesburg, 1968. Khuthala hates his father’s laundry and doesn’t want to take over the family business. But the apartheid government is cracking down on black business ownership. Khuthala is torn between pursuing his own dreams of becoming a musician and fighting against the injustice that threatens the business, his only means of subsistence and the glue that holds their family together.
ZAMO MKHWANAZI
* 1976 in South Africa. Zamo Mkhwanazi graduated from the University of Cape Town with a Sociology major. She entered television as a writer on the South African drama ISINDIGO. To date she has scripted some four hundred hours of aired television in South Africa. Her third short film GALLO ROJO (2016) premiered the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. THE LAUNDRY is her feature film debut.
SWITZERLAND / SOUTH AFRICA Fiction, 106 min.
ORIGINAL LANGUAGES: English, Africaans, Zulu
CAST:
Tracy September, Ntobeko Sishi, Zekhethelo Zondi, Bukamina Cebekhulu, Siyabonga Shibe
PRODUCTION:
Akka Films, Geneva / Kude Media, Johannesburg / RTS
SWISS PRODUCER: Philippe Coeytaux
WORLD RIGHTS:
Akka Films, Geneva www.akkafilms.ch
LOOKING FOR:
World Sales
Int. Distribution CONTACT:
Séverine Pisani
Akka Films s.pisani@akkafilms.ch
MORE INFORMATION ON OUR SWISS LINE-UP LOCARNO 2025
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YONNE directed by Julietta Korbel & Yan Ciszewski
DISTRIBUTION SUPPORT
Supporting the theatrical release and distribution via online platforms of Swiss films worldwide.
The subsidies are granted according to the “Guidelines Funding for the distribution of Swiss films and coproductions in foreign countries”.
A support measure by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture (FOC), administrated by SWISS FILMS. www.bak.admin.ch
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.
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 supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture (FOC), Media Desk Suisse and SWISS FILMS.
www.swissfilms.ch
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