Berlinale 2024

Italian director Margherita Vicario’s debut film GLORIA! will celebrate its world premiere in the Berlinale Competition. The Italian-Swiss coproduction tells the story of Teresa who is at a boarding school for young girls in Venice in the late 18th century. Together with a group of extraordinary musicians, she defies the staid old regime with rebellious music. The Swiss coproducer is Katrin Renz (tellfilm), who had already presented a film in the Competition last year with INGEBORG BACHMANN – JOURNEY INTO THE DESERT.  

PARADISES OF DIANE by directing duo Carmen Jaquier and Jan Gassmann (production: 2:1 Film) will screen as an international premiere in the Panorama: immediately after the birth of her child, Diane abandons her husband and newborn in the hospital and goes into hiding in a Spanish city unknown to her. This is the fourth time that one of Gassmann’s films has been selected for the Berlinale. His last film 99 MOONS (2019) premiered at ACID Cannes. Director Carmen Jaquier’s debut film THUNDER launched its successful international festival career at TIFF 2022. Jaquier was honoured as an “Emerging Talent” as part of the Women in Motion Awards in Cannes last year. 

The Generation Kplus Competition will screen the European premiere of Klaudia Reynicke’s feature film REINAS, a production by Alva Film together with Peru and Spain. The family drama, set in 1992 amidst the throes of political upheaval in Lima, celebrated its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January.  

Amos Gitai’s SHIKUN starring the French-Swiss actress Irène Jacob, will celebrate its world premiere in the Berlinale Special. The Israeli-French-Swiss coproduction is based on a play by Eugène Ionesco. Using everyday episodes that take place in a building on the edge of the desert, Gitai dramatizes the emergence of intolerance and totalitarian thinking. The Swiss coproduction company is Elefant Films (Alexandre Iordachescu). 

Two world premieres and a restored film in the Forum 

Films screened in the Berlinale Forum stand for reflections on the medium of film and social-artistic discourse. The Italian-Swiss coproduction THE SECRET DRAWER is an essayistic, medium-reflective observation by Sicilian director Costanza Quatriglio about her father. The film was coproduced by Rough Cat (Nicola Bernasconi) in Ticino. 

In the musical REAS by Argentinian director Lola Arias (Argentina/Switzerland/Germany), a collective of cis and trans people process their own experiences as they re-enact their lives in a Buenos Aires prison. The Swiss co-producer is Mira Film Basel (Vadim Jendreyko), which specialises in documentary films. 

Screened in the Forum Special will be the feature-length documentary TECHQUA IKACHI, LAND – MY LIFE (Switzerland/BRD, 1989), digitally restored by Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art. The Hopi elder James Danaqyumtewa invited Agnes Barmettler and Anka Schmid to Arizona to document the ever-vanishing rituals of the Hopi community Hotevilla, which resulted in a collage of Super 8, animation and observation. 

Also screened in the Forum will be the Romanian feature film HOLY WEEK by Andrei Cohn, in which the Swiss producer Dan Wechsler participated with his company Bord Cadre films. 

Multifaceted market activities

SWISS FILMS is taking part in the European Film Market EFM with a stand. The aim of the market is to draw attention to new Swiss productions and offer Swiss filmmakers the opportunity to network with international players in the industry.  

Thirty-four international film projects have been selected for the Berlinale Co-Production Market in order to establish contact with financing and coproduction partners. The selection includes two Swiss projects that were already presented at Cinemart Rotterdam in January: THE DIPLOMATS by Andreas Fontana (producer: David Epiney, Alina film) and BAD GAYS by Loïc Hobi (producer: Michael Graf, Cloud Fog Haze Pictures). 

Ten promising series will be pitched and presented to potential partners at the Berlinale Co-Pro Series. The Swiss production company hugofilm features is presenting the series THE PALM LINE (head author Thomas Ritter, director Fulvio Bernasconi) – a story about Italy’s grandest art heist and mafia intrigues. 

On behalf of SRG SSR, SWISS FILMS has organised a networking event for buyers in the frame of the Berlinale Series Market, with the aim of strengthening the visibility of high-quality Swiss series on the international market. Producer Ivan Madeo (Contrast Film) will present a case study on DAVOS 1917 and discuss the challenges of producing the successful Swiss-German series with Bettina Alber of Swiss Television SRF, moderated by Matija Dragojevic (European Film Market). Ten current books with great potential for literary adaptation will be presented in the Books at Berlinale programme. Swiss publisher Kein & Aber will present the novel “Die Entflammten” („Everything for Jo“) by author Simone Meier. 

• Read more about Swiss talent at the Berlinale here 
• SWISS FILMS Line-up Berlinale