IDFA Amsterdam 2010: five Swiss documentary films provide a view of the world
Five Swiss film productions and coproductions will be presented at the 23rd International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam (IDFA), the largest documentary film festival in the world.
16.11.2010
The film "An African Election" by Jarreth Merz will celebrate its premiere in Amsterdam. It traces the election of the president of Ghana in 2008, the same year Barack Obama was elected. Jarreth Merz, theatre, film and television director, was born in Zurich and returned after 28 years to the capital city of Accra, where he grew up. Also celebrating its world premiere in the Reflecting Images section is the film "Impunity" by Juan Lozano: the Geneva-based Columbian director worked together with his fellow countryman, Hollman Morris, the journalist portrayed in the previous film "Témoin indésirable," participating in court cases in which former paramilitary militias are confronted with the victims and their family members in 2002. Jarreth Merz and Juan Lozano will attend the festival in Amsterdam, with support from SWISS FILMS.
The German-American-Italian-Dutch-Swiss coproduction "My Reincarnation" by American director Jennifer Fox portrays the career of Tibetan master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, one of the last reincarnate masters, and his son Yeshi's defiant refusal to follow in the footsteps of his father. The film "Praca Maszyn" (Work of Machines), discovered at the documentary film festival in Marseille this year in June, explores the relationship between man and machine against a backdrop of a Polish industrial city. The film's director, Gilles Lepore, was born in Porrentruy and made the film together with his fellow Polish students Maciej Madracki and Michal Madracki. The film "David Wants to Fly" by German director David Sieveking (coproduction: Dschoint Ventschr, Zurich) celebrated its premiere at the Berlinale in January of this year. It delves into the arcane world of transcendental meditation in Europe and America. The film has already been released to Swiss cinemas
Parallel to the IDFA is the 15th Docs for Sale, the documentary film market with some 500 films. Ten further Swiss film productions will be presented at the market, along with the films screened at the festival.
Zurich, November 16, 2010