IDFA selects 13 Swiss films
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam IDFA has selected a total of thirteen documentary films from Switzerland for its 31st edition. Nicole Vögele’s CLOSING TIME, which won an award at the Locarno Festival 2018, will be screened in the Competition for First Appearance; the short films ALL INCLUSIVE as well as I SIGNED THE PETITION will be screened in the Short Film Competition. In addition, seven Swiss productions will be presented in the Best of Fests and Masters sections. The world’s most important international documentary film festival will take place this year from November 14-25.
02.11.2018
Nicole Vögele’s CLOSING TIME (Beauvoir Films) was selected for the IDFA’s prestigious Competition for First Appearance. Prior to this, the documentary was screened in Locarno (Cineasti del presente), where it was honoured with the Special Jury Award, and at the RIDM in Montreal. Nicole Vögele has already made a name for herself with her previous films FOG (2014) and MRS LOOSLI (2013), both of which were produced during her studies at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg.
Screened in the Short Film Competition will be the two festival hits ALL INCLUSIVE by Corina Schwingruber Ilić (freihändler Filmproduktion) and I SIGNED THE PETITION by Mahdi Fleifel (production: Zoé Rossion), which has been nominated for the European Film Awards in the category of European Short Film.
Women’s power in Best of Fests: Anja Kofmel, Sophie Huber and Barbara Miller
The Best of Fests programme presents its favourites from this year’s international festival circuit and has selected no less than three Swiss productions by female filmmakers: BLUE NOTE RECORDS: BEYOND THE NOTES by Sophie Huber (Mira Film), which celebrated its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival; CHRIS THE SWISS, Anja Kofmel’s debut film (Dschoint Ventschr), which celebrated its premiere in Cannes this year; and #FEMALE PLEASURE by Barbara Miller (Mons Veneris Films / Das Kollektiv für audiovisuelle Werke), which won an award in the Semaine de la critique in Locarno.
Four Swiss productions among the Masters
The latest films from Peter Mettler and Christian Frei will be presented in the Masters section, which is dedicated to the international masters of cinema. The films from Switzerland include: BECOMING ANIMAL by Emma Davie and Peter Mettler (maximage); GENESIS 2.0 by Christian Frei and Maxim Arbugaev (Christian Frei Filmproduktion); as well as the two coproductions with minority participation PUTIN’S WITNESSES by Vitaly Mansky (GoldenEggProduction) and DEAD SOULS by Wang Bing (Adok Films).
Erige Sehiri’s RAILWAY MEN (Akka Films), which was screened in the Burning Lights section at Visions du Réel, will be presented within Frontlight at the IDFA. The Chinese coproduction BIG CHARACTERS will be presented in the Paradocs section and the award-winning coproduction FIX ME by Raed Andoni (2009, Akka Films) in the ME thematic focus programme.
SWISS FILMS, November 2, 2018