IDFA 2022

In his second feature-length documentary film PARADISE, Russian-born director Alexander Abaturov examines the dramatic environmental problems in the Siberian taiga. The French-Swiss coproduction will celebrate its world premiere with a screening in the International Competition. Swiss coproducer is Luc Peter (Intermezzo Films).

Two films in Luminous section

The Swiss-Polish coproduction POLISH PRAYERS (image) by Hanna Nobis (production: Esther van Messel, First Hand Films) will celebrate its world premiere with a screening in the prestigious Luminous premiere section. The director portrays a young Pole whose strict Catholic, nationalistic and homophobic convictions begin to unravel when he falls in love for the first time.

Elena Avdija’s debut film CASCADEUSES (STUNTWOMEN), recently honoured with an award at the Zurich Film Festival, will also be screened in the Luminous section. The film portrays women in their hard-hitting daily business as professional stunt women and is a Swiss-French production by Bande à Part Films (Agnieszka Ramu, Ursula Meier, Marie-Lou Pahud).

Short documentaries

MOUNTAIN FLESH by Valentina Shasivari will celebrate its world premiere with a screening in the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary. The film was produced as a graduation film for the ECAL/HEAD Master’s degree programme, together with Cinédokké (Michela Pini, Micol Guido) in Ticino. Shot in black and white in the Swiss Alps, the short film is a meditative exploration of such topics as human beings, nature and religion.

Celebrating its international premiere in the same section is DUST AWAY by Swiss director Dea Gjinovci in codirection with the American Tanita Rahmani, with whom she produced the short film. Combined with animation sequences, they depict testimonies of the predominantly undocumented migrants employed as cleaners in the aftermath of 9/11 – and paid for it with their health.

RAMBOY by Matthias Joulaud and Lucien Roux – recently awarded a Special Mention at DOK Leipzig – is a Swiss short film selected for the IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary. Produced together with Akka Films, the ECAL/HEAD graduation film portrays a grandfather and grandson on a remote Irish island. GIRL GANG by Susanne Regina Meures (Christan Frei Filmproduktion) will be screened as a feature-length documentary in the section for a youth audience. The film about a Berlin influencer is currently shortlisted for the European Film Awards.

Selected for the BEST OF FESTS is the Swiss coproduction DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA by Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor (Rita Productions), which celebrated its world premiere in Cannes. TRAINED TO SEE – THREE WOMEN AND THE WAR, a German-Italian production by Swiss director Luzia Schmid, will be screened in the Frontlight section.

Swiss projects at the IDFA film market

In addition to the multifaceted festival programme, IDFA offers one of the world’s most important industry events for documentary films. Three Swiss projects will participate in the IDFA Forum, the international coproduction and co-financing market (November 12 – 16). The Producers Connection event will feature DOM by Svetlana Rodina & Laurent Stoop, produced by DokLab (Corinna Dästner), as well as DIE WUNDERSAME VERWANDLUNG DER ARBEITERKLASSE IN AUSLÄNDER by Samir, Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion. Presented at the IDFA Forum Pitch will be WOMAN OF MY LIFE by Iraqi director Zahraa Ghandour, also produced by Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion together with Karada Films (Iraq) and WG Film (Sweden).

The Docs for Sale platform (November 11 - 16) is dedicated to the distribution of high-quality documentaries and provides know-how for outstanding current titles on today’s market. Three Swiss projects are participating at IDFA Forum and 22 Swiss productions are part of the Docs for Sale catalogue.

In collaboration with Festival Visions du Réel, SWISS FILMS has invited sales agents, international distributors and festival programmers to a networking lunch in Amsterdam, where they will have the opportunity to network with Swiss producers and talents.