Sabine Gisiger’s “The Mies van der Rohes,” Steven Vit’s “My Old Man” and Caterina Mona’s “Semret” feature in this year’s pix-in-post showcase First Look, one of the industry highlights of the Locarno Film Festival, which focuses for the first time on movies from Switzerland.
The films are joined in First Look by Valentin Merz’s “De Noche los Gatos Son Pardos,” Leon Schwitter’s “Reduit” and Jackie Brutsche’s “Las Toreras” in a six-title spread which works as a predominantly new Swiss talent showcase.
Four of the six movies are first features, another a second; only Gisiger has a directorial career that stretches back several decades.
Presented by established production houses or producers such as Zurich’s Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion and Ticino’s Michele Pini, the titles also drill down, often in a highly personal fashion – two of the titles are autobiographical doc features – on questions...
The films are joined in First Look by Valentin Merz’s “De Noche los Gatos Son Pardos,” Leon Schwitter’s “Reduit” and Jackie Brutsche’s “Las Toreras” in a six-title spread which works as a predominantly new Swiss talent showcase.
Four of the six movies are first features, another a second; only Gisiger has a directorial career that stretches back several decades.
Presented by established production houses or producers such as Zurich’s Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion and Ticino’s Michele Pini, the titles also drill down, often in a highly personal fashion – two of the titles are autobiographical doc features – on questions...
- 7/27/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Firouzeh Khosrovani’s “Radiograph of a Family,” the story of an Iranian family divided by secularism and religion, Western culture and Islamic revolution, found an ideal co-producer in Zurich-based company Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion.
The film, which premieres in the feature-length competition of the documentary festival IDFA, focuses on the filmmaker’s parents, a secular progressive father and devout Muslim mother. It recounts the family’s life in Switzerland, where her father Hossein studied radiology in Geneva and where Khosrovani spent her early years. While he was very much at home in the French-speaking city, her mother Tayi remained a stranger in a strange land, yearning to return to her native country, and increasingly active in the revolutionary fervor that would soon usher in a new political reality in Iran.
The film’s subject matter and connection to Switzerland made it a perfect fit for Dschoint Ventschr. Established in 1994 by filmmakers...
The film, which premieres in the feature-length competition of the documentary festival IDFA, focuses on the filmmaker’s parents, a secular progressive father and devout Muslim mother. It recounts the family’s life in Switzerland, where her father Hossein studied radiology in Geneva and where Khosrovani spent her early years. While he was very much at home in the French-speaking city, her mother Tayi remained a stranger in a strange land, yearning to return to her native country, and increasingly active in the revolutionary fervor that would soon usher in a new political reality in Iran.
The film’s subject matter and connection to Switzerland made it a perfect fit for Dschoint Ventschr. Established in 1994 by filmmakers...
- 11/24/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Two debut features in writer-director Antoine Russbach’s “Those Who Work” and Anja Kofmel’s animated documentary “Chris the Swiss,” were the big winners at Friday night’s Swiss Film Awards, notching three plaudits each.
Sold by Be For Films, “Those Who Work,” stars Belgian actor Olivier Gourmet, who has appeared in every single film by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne since 1996’s “La Promesse,” to winning a Cannes best actor award for 2002’s “The Son.” In Russbach’s film Gourmet plays Frank, a 50-something fixer for a company which rents out cargo ships. On a busy day, to prevent a ship being put into quarantine, he rashly orders a stowaway be thrown overboard to certain death. The decision gets him fired, not for moral reasons, but in the hopes of avoiding a media scandal.
The film scooped the awards for best fiction feature, best screenplay and best performance in a supporting role,...
Sold by Be For Films, “Those Who Work,” stars Belgian actor Olivier Gourmet, who has appeared in every single film by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne since 1996’s “La Promesse,” to winning a Cannes best actor award for 2002’s “The Son.” In Russbach’s film Gourmet plays Frank, a 50-something fixer for a company which rents out cargo ships. On a busy day, to prevent a ship being put into quarantine, he rashly orders a stowaway be thrown overboard to certain death. The decision gets him fired, not for moral reasons, but in the hopes of avoiding a media scandal.
The film scooped the awards for best fiction feature, best screenplay and best performance in a supporting role,...
- 3/22/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Some of the best creativity in Hollywood is to be found in its animation. The same may be said of Europe. Anja Kofmel, an alum of Lucerne’s School of Design and Art and Paris’ Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs, adds to the growing cannon of Swiss animation with her feature film debut, “Chris the Swiss.”
The animation/live action hybrid has already gained industry and festival recognition: a four-way European co-production backing, led by Zurich-based Dschoint Ventschr; international distribution by Paris-based sales agent Udi; selection for Cannes Film Festival’s 2018 Critics’ Week.
Kofmel introduced scenes from “Chris the Swiss” at March’s Cartoon Movie, talking with passion about the feature, one of the most challenging at the co-production and sales forum. What came across was a poignant contradiction. “Chris the Swiss” tells the story of her cousin Christian Würtenberg, a Swiss journalist who was murdered under strange circumstances during the Balkans War.
The animation/live action hybrid has already gained industry and festival recognition: a four-way European co-production backing, led by Zurich-based Dschoint Ventschr; international distribution by Paris-based sales agent Udi; selection for Cannes Film Festival’s 2018 Critics’ Week.
Kofmel introduced scenes from “Chris the Swiss” at March’s Cartoon Movie, talking with passion about the feature, one of the most challenging at the co-production and sales forum. What came across was a poignant contradiction. “Chris the Swiss” tells the story of her cousin Christian Würtenberg, a Swiss journalist who was murdered under strange circumstances during the Balkans War.
- 5/14/2018
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Historical romance, literary adaptations, arthouse drama, star-studded comedies, children’s pics, animated fare and a high-profile documentary are among the many German films and co-productions on offer at this year’s Cannes Film Market.
Unspooling as part of the festival are Wim Wenders’ “Pope Francis: A Man of His Word,” repped by Focus Features and bowing in Special Screenings; “In My Room,” Ulrich Koehler’s story of a man who suddenly realizes everyone around him has disappeared, which world premieres in Un Certain Regard; and, in Intl. Critics’ Week sidebar, Anja Kofmel’s Swiss co-production “Chris the Swiss,” a partially animated documentary from Urban Distribution that investigates the mysterious death of a young Swiss journalist during the Yugoslav wars.
On the market side, one historical niche that is proving particularly successful is that of the turn-of-the-century artist.
Picture Tree Intl. is following its 2016 hit “Egon Schiele — Death and the Maiden,...
Unspooling as part of the festival are Wim Wenders’ “Pope Francis: A Man of His Word,” repped by Focus Features and bowing in Special Screenings; “In My Room,” Ulrich Koehler’s story of a man who suddenly realizes everyone around him has disappeared, which world premieres in Un Certain Regard; and, in Intl. Critics’ Week sidebar, Anja Kofmel’s Swiss co-production “Chris the Swiss,” a partially animated documentary from Urban Distribution that investigates the mysterious death of a young Swiss journalist during the Yugoslav wars.
On the market side, one historical niche that is proving particularly successful is that of the turn-of-the-century artist.
Picture Tree Intl. is following its 2016 hit “Egon Schiele — Death and the Maiden,...
- 5/12/2018
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Investigative piece Chris The Swiss faces €150,000 funding shortfall.
Swiss production company Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion faces a shortfall of €150,000 to complete Anja Kofmel’s animated documentary Chris The Swiss after the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (Havc) continues to refuse to pay out €150,000 funding due as part of its cash rebate system.
Kofmel’s investigative feature retraces the steps of her cousin, journalist Christian Würtenberg, who was killed in Croatia in 1992 wearing the uniform of an international mercenary force, the First Platoon of International Volunteers.
Speaking to Screen at this week’s Locarno Film Festival, the film’s producer Samir said that he believes that Havc’s actions come following the formation of a conservative government under Prime Minister Andrej Pienkovic in Croatia and are “unprecedented” in the European audiovisual landscape.
The bone of contention for Havc appears to be the film’s portrayal of the conflict in ex-Yugoslavia.
Cannes meeting
The €2m co-production between Dschoint Ventschr, Germany’s ma.ja...
Swiss production company Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion faces a shortfall of €150,000 to complete Anja Kofmel’s animated documentary Chris The Swiss after the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (Havc) continues to refuse to pay out €150,000 funding due as part of its cash rebate system.
Kofmel’s investigative feature retraces the steps of her cousin, journalist Christian Würtenberg, who was killed in Croatia in 1992 wearing the uniform of an international mercenary force, the First Platoon of International Volunteers.
Speaking to Screen at this week’s Locarno Film Festival, the film’s producer Samir said that he believes that Havc’s actions come following the formation of a conservative government under Prime Minister Andrej Pienkovic in Croatia and are “unprecedented” in the European audiovisual landscape.
The bone of contention for Havc appears to be the film’s portrayal of the conflict in ex-Yugoslavia.
Cannes meeting
The €2m co-production between Dschoint Ventschr, Germany’s ma.ja...
- 8/9/2017
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Investigative piece Chris The Swiss faces €150,000 funding shortfall.
Swiss production company Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion faces a shortfall of €150,000 to complete Anja Kofmel’s animated documentary Chris The Swiss after the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (Havc) continues to refuse to pay out €150,000 funding due as part of its cash rebate system.
Kofmel’s investigative feature retraces the steps of her cousin, journalist Christian Würtenberg, who was killed in Croatia in 1992 wearing the uniform of an international mercenary force, the First Platoon of International Volunteers.
Speaking to Screen at this week’s Locarno Film Festival, the film’s producer Samir said that he believes that Havc’s actions come following the formation of a conservative government under Prime Minister Andrej Pienkovic in Croatia and are “unprecedented” in the European audiovisual landscape.
The bone of contention for Havc appears to be the film’s portrayal of the conflict in ex-Yugoslavia.
Cannes meeting
The €2m co-production between Dschoint Ventschr, Germany’s ma.ja...
Swiss production company Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion faces a shortfall of €150,000 to complete Anja Kofmel’s animated documentary Chris The Swiss after the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (Havc) continues to refuse to pay out €150,000 funding due as part of its cash rebate system.
Kofmel’s investigative feature retraces the steps of her cousin, journalist Christian Würtenberg, who was killed in Croatia in 1992 wearing the uniform of an international mercenary force, the First Platoon of International Volunteers.
Speaking to Screen at this week’s Locarno Film Festival, the film’s producer Samir said that he believes that Havc’s actions come following the formation of a conservative government under Prime Minister Andrej Pienkovic in Croatia and are “unprecedented” in the European audiovisual landscape.
The bone of contention for Havc appears to be the film’s portrayal of the conflict in ex-Yugoslavia.
Cannes meeting
The €2m co-production between Dschoint Ventschr, Germany’s ma.ja...
- 8/9/2017
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
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