Cannes 2013: Films by Basil Da Cunha, Marie-Elsa Sgualdo and Kaveh Bakhtiari in Directors’ Fortnight
This marks the third year Basil Da Cunha has been invited to Cannes, this time with his feature-length fiction film debut “Até ver a luz” in the 45th Directors’ Fortnight.
16.05.2013
After Basil Da Cunha’s short film “Os vivos tambem choram” (The Living Also Cry) was screened in the Director’s Fortnight last year and “Nuvem (Le poisson lune)” (Sunfish) two years ago, the 28-year-old Swiss-Portuguese dual citizen will celebrate the world premiere of his feature-length fiction film debut “Até ver a luz” (After The Night) in the Director’s Fortnight this year in Cannes (May 16-26, 2013). Da Cunha studied at Geneva University of Art and Design HEAD and has already made a name for himself within a very short time and been very productive. Da Cunha received an Honourable Mention for “Os vivos tamben choram” in Cannes in 2012. His protagonists live on the margins of society and are hopeless outcasts.
Documentary film “L'escale”
The documentary film “L'escale” (Stop-Over) by Swiss-Iranian director Kaveh Bakhtiari will also celebrate its world premiere in Cannes. This is the first feature-length documentary film by the Swiss-Iranian dual citizen, coproduced by Louise Productions (Lausanne). The film portrays people who have left Iran seeking their dream of a better life and freedom.
Short film with long title
Marie-Elsa Sgualdo discovered the work by the Spanish filmmaker José-Luis Guerin in 2011 and used it to create her fiction film “Man kann nicht alles auf einmal tun, aber man kann alles auf einmal lassen.” In 2012 the project was honoured with the European First Film Award of first films at the Images Visual Arts Festival in Vevey, which enabled the director to produce the film now celebrating its international premiere in Cannes.
Focus on producer Jöelle Bertossa
Once again, a Swiss film producer will be in the spotlight of the European event “Producer on the Move” at the world’s largest film festival and market this year: Jöelle Bertossa. The 40-years-old producer worked for Akka Film from 2003 to 2012 for, among others, the fiction film “Opération Libertad,” which was screened in Cannes in 2012. Last year she founded Close Up Films in Geneva. She will participate together with 28 other European producers in the event in Cannes, which is organised by European Film Promotion.
Zurich, April 23, 2013