Focus on Swiss short films in Toronto
Switzerland is featured as the guest country at this year’s Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto, the largest festival for the short film genre in North America.
31.05.2012
The 11th Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto, which takes place from June 5-10, 2012, will offer Swiss short film productions a prominent platform. Initiated by SWISS FILMS and in close collaboration with Festival Director Eileen Arandiga, the festival will showcase Swiss film productions in two programmes entitled “So Near So Far.” The animated cartoon film “Kali, le petit vampire” by Portuguese director Regina Pessoa – a coproduction by Studio GDS in Geneva, Folimage in Valence, Ciclope Filmes in Lisbon and NFB Canada – will be screened in competition.
“So Near So Far”
The festival has compiled the selection of films from Switzerland thematically in the two respective programmes, thereby comprising the converse tendency of a small country. Screened in the “Near” programme, for example, will be films addressing issues and concerns which underscore the idiosyncrasies of our country: “Bon voyage”; “Ich bin’s Helmut”; “Auf der Strecke”; “Einspruch VI”; “Aschenbrüder”; and “Station.” On the other hand, the films screened in the “Far” programme illustrate Switzerland’s global connectivity: “Kwa Heri Mandima”; “Romance”; “Il neige à Marrakech”; “Las Pelotas”; “Prora”; and “Yuri Lennon’s Landing On Alpha 46.”
Panel discussion on coproduction
Marcel Müller, head of the SWISS FILMS office in Geneva, will participate in a panel discussion that takes a closer look at the potential of international collaboration in short film production. Stéphane Riethauser and Robert-Jan Lacombe, directors of the films “Prora” and “Kwa Heri Mandima,” will also attend the festival in Toronto to participate in the various activities organised by the Canadian Film Center (CFC).
Geneva/Zurich, May 31, 2012