Marché du Film

Switzerland’s presence is organised by SWISS FILMS in collaboration with the Federal Office of Culture and the Swiss Broadcasting Union SRG SSR. Approximately 30 Swiss organisations from the Swiss film and innovation industry are actively involved in the presentation. Roughly 400 industry representatives from Switzerland will be travelling to Cannes for this event. Filmmakers, producers and experts from Switzerland will take part in the most important programmes of the Marché du Film.

One highlight of the Swiss presence will be Switzerland’s appearance on the opening evening of the Marché as well as the grand Soirée suisse, where Swiss filmmaking will be duly celebrated. Furthermore, Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider and a delegation from the Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA will visit the Marché in honour of the Swiss film industry.

Multifaceted presence at the Marché

The PRODUCERS NETWORK is a networking platform for some 400 producers from all over the world, enabling them to expand their professional network and find coproduction partners. Five promising producers from Switzerland will be presenting their latest projects: Batbayar Chogsom (Chogsom Film); Ivan Geisser (89 Productions); Olga Lamontanara (Cinédokké), Claudia Lehmann (Lehmann Sisters); and Mark Olexa (DOK MOBILE).

The GOES TO CANNES programme offers international film festivals and markets the opportunity to present a curated selection of films in post-production and to network them with sales agents, distributors and festival programmers. The Solothurn Film Festival is showcasing five coproductions by Swiss talents: AL BASEER – THE BLIND FERRYMAN by Ali Al-Fatlawi (Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion); DON’T LET THE SUN (CATCH YOU CRYING) by Jacqueline Zünd (Lomotion Filmproduktion); THE EXPOSURE by Thomas Imbach (Okofilm Productions); THE LAUNDRY by Zamo Mkhwanazi (Akka Films); DO YOU BELIEVE IN ANGELS, MR. DROWAK? by Nicolas Steiner (tellfilm).

As part of CANNES DOCS, the platform for documentary film professionals, the Visions du Réel Nyon festival will present four Swiss documentary films as work-in-progress in the Swiss Showcase, thereby drawing attention to them to festival programmers and international distributors: TALE OF BABA by Matthias Joulaud, Lucien Roux (Akka Films); ROAD 190 by Emilie Cornu, Charlotte Nastasi (Close Up Films); SONGS OF SISTERHOOD by Hanna Nobis (First Hand Films); and HELVÉCIA by Pablo Francischelli (Intermezzo Films).

Swiss Innovation at Cannes Next

Switzerland as a leading innovation country is the focus of the CANNES NEXT Innovation Day. Taking centre stage at the “The Future of Storytelling - Crafting Immersive Narratives” conference are issues relating to the production and distribution of immersive works. Laetitia Bochud (managing director, Virtual Switzerland) will moderate the discussion with Anaïs Emery (director, Geneva International Film Festival), filmmaker Simon de Diesbach, Salar Shahna (Director of Business Development, Sensoryx & President, World XR Forum) and Antoine Cayrol (founder and producer, Atlas V).

In the “Producers Pitching Their Projects” panel discussion as part of CANNES NEXT, fifteen producers will present their film projects, including the forecasts by Largo.ai, which has developed artificial intelligence tools to facilitate the distribution of films. Swiss director Simon Jaquement will present a case study on his new production ELECTRIC CHILD as part of the panel “To power or not to power your feature film by AI?” at CANNES NEXT.

In addition, directors of the leading Swiss festivals – Locarno Film Festival, Visions du Réel Nyon, Zurich Film Festival, Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival and Geneva International Film Festival – will also take part in the “Swiss Film Fest Focus: Exploring Diversity & Collaboration" panel discussion at FESTIVALS HUB

The SPOT THE COMPOSER! programme, in collaboration with SONART and Fondation SUISA, has selected the two Swiss film composers Christine Aufderhaar and Balz Bachmann for the festival’s networking programme for up-and-coming film composers.

In the SHOOT THE BOOK! programme, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia will present four literary works from Swiss publishers that are of interest to film and TV seeking material for potential new film adaptations. Swiss producer Gabriela Bussmann (GoldenEggProduction) is a jury member of Shoot the Book!.

Focus on further topics

In conjunction with this year’s European Film Award ceremony held in Lucerne, the European Film Academy and European Film Awards Lucerne 2024 have organized a conference on “How to Build a Successful Campaign for Shortlisted Films”.

The festival’s Cinéma de Demain section focuses on promoting talent. The Focus SCRIPT programme offers film school graduates practical support in project development. One of the seven selected short film projects from Switzerland is from HEAD – Genève with the short film SOUVENIRS DU SABLE by Alicia Mendy. The New Producers Room supports ten emerging producers in the realisation of new projects. Swiss participants are Lauro Jenni (Ivy Filmstudio) and Youmi Haefelin-Roche (Kumoshika Productions). Director Jorge Cadena will be taking part in one of Directors’ Talks of the SFC | Rendez-vous Industry programme.

 

 

 

 

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Numerous other events are dedicated to topics such as Switzerland as a film location (Film Commissions, Beyond Location) or aspects of film financing (Zurich Summit).

Overview of Swiss events at the Marché du Film

In order to emphasise Switzerland’s status as a leading country for innovation, the Marché du Film is hosting for the first time the Swiss Hub, a new stand in the Palais des Festivals. This is where visitors can try out the latest innovative tools and technologies from cutting-edge Swiss tech companies or network at the Swiss Innovators Cocktail & Rendez-Vous, hosted by SWSS FILMS and Cannes Next.

The Swiss Hub is also the place to meet Swiss producers. The Swiss producers’ associations will represent Switzerland here as a reliable and successful coproduction partner.

Swiss start-ups at the Marché du Film Cannes

 

 

 

 

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Market visitors can also learn more about the Swiss film industry and its coproduction models at the Swiss Pavilion (no. 125) in the Village International. SWISS FILMS offers the pavilion as a meeting place for numerous gatherings and events.

Read more:
Four Swiss world premieres on the Croisette