Festival de Cannes 2024

Three productions from Switzerland have been chosen for the festival’s Official Selection: DOG ON TRIAL is the first feature film by ther French-Swiss actress Laetitia Dosch. In the leading role of this courtroom comedy, she plays a lawyer who specialises in hopeless cases and has to defend a dog in court. The Swiss-French film was coproduced by the renowned production company Bande à part Films (Lionel Baier, Agnieska Ramu) in Lausanne. MK2 Films has acquired the world sales.

The second Swiss coproduction competing in the Un Certain Regard section is THE SHAMELESS by Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov. The film tells the story of the forbidden love between two young Indian sex workers who are on the run seeking a new life of freedom. Swiss cinematographer Gabriel Lobos was the film’s DOP. The feature-length film was produced by the Geneva-based company Akka Films (Nicolas Wadimoff, Philippe Coeytaux, Séverine Pisani, Palmyre Badinier), together with France, Bulgaria and Taiwan as majority partners. World Sales has been acquired by Urban Sales.

Swiss animation at its best

The Swiss animation film SAVAGES will be screened in the Official Selection as a Special Screening for a young audience. It is the second feature-length animation film by Swiss director Claude Barras, who was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI and honoured with the César as well as with the European Film Award and the Swiss Film Award.

The acclaimed animation film studio Nadasdy Film (Nicolas Burlet) in Geneva coproduced SAVAGES, together with Belgium and France. A gigantic studio with 19 different sets was built in Martigny especially for the production of this stop-motion animation, where animation specialists from all over the world were hired for the film. Laetitia Dosch lends her voice of one of the characters – a biologist. In June, SAVAGES will also be screened in competition at the world’s most important animation film festival in Annecy. Gebeka Films has acquired the world sales.

Swiss short film screened in Semaine de la Critique

Elena López Riera’s short film SOUTHERN BRIDES will be screened in the independent parallel section Semaine de la Critique. The Swiss-Spanish coproduction, directed by Alina film in Geneva (Eugenia Mumenthaler, David Epiney), will be presented as a Special Screening. The director had already presented her first feature-length film THE WATER in Cannes in 2022 and subsequently enjoyed on a celebrated festival career.

Further Swiss talents at the festival

In addition to the films, a diverse range of Swiss talents can also be discovered in Cannes: actress Souheila Yacoub stars in a leading role in the French film THE BALCONETTES by Noémie Merlant, screened in the Official Selection. Yacoub was Switzerland’s Shooting Star at the Berlinale 2022 and is forging an impressive career in French cinema.

Actress Deleila Piasko – well known from series such as TRANSATLANTIC and DIE ZWEIFLERS – stars in the German short film IMMACULATA by Kim Lêa Sakkal, screened in the Quinzaine des Cinéastes. Piasko is also the leading actress in Thomas Imbach’s feature film THE EXPOSURE, which will be presented as work-in-progress at the Marché du Film.

Producers with ties to Switzerland have also contributed to other films screened in Cannes: The opening film of Cannes Classics – NAPOLÉON by Abel Gance (1927) – will be presented by the Cinémathèque française. The restauration of the almost four-hour monumental work was cofinanced by Netflix, the Golden Globe Foundation, and former Swiss producer Michel Merkt, among others.

Jean-Luc Godard’s last work SCÉNARIOS, which he completed the day before his death in Rolle on Lake Geneva, will also be presented in Cannes Classics. Godard also outlined his work on the project in a 34-minute film. The French-Japanese production will be shown with Jean-Luc Godard’s long-time assistant in attendance, Swiss producer Fabrice Aragno, who supported the project with his expertise.

The Zurich-based international company MYGOSH GmbH was involved in the production of the Argentinian debut film MOST PEOPLE DIE ON SUNDAYS by Iair Said, which will be screened in the ACID section.

Switzerland as Country of Honour at the Marché du Film

Switzerland will be making a prominent appearance this year as the “Country of Honour” at the Marché du Film – the largest film market in the world – which takes place parallel to the festival. A number of Swiss filmmakers will be presenting new projects as part of the industry programmes. Exhibitors and institutions from Switzerland’s film industry will take part in numerous panel discussions and conferences.
Overview of the Swiss events at the Marché du Film

In the Swiss Pavilion at the Village international, SWISS FILMS has organised numerous events as a meeting place for gatherings and events. As part of Switzerland’s presence as “Country of Honour”, Swiss companies from the field of innovation will also be presenting new products from the audiovisual sector at the Swiss hub in the Palais des Festivals for the first time.
Swiss start-ups at Marché du Film Cannes

Switzerland’s presence at Marché du Film is organised by SWISS FILMS in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Office of Culture and the Swiss media company SRG SSR. Approximately 30 Swiss organisations from Switzerland’s film and innovation industry are actively involved in the presentation.