Mostra 2025

Five world premieres and an XR project in Venice

19.08.2025

With a coproduction in the prestigious competition, the world premiere of SILENT REBELLION (À BRAS-LE-CORPS) in Venezia Spotlight, an XR project in competition and three Swiss productions in the Giornate degli Autori, Swiss filmmaking is being presented as diverse and innovative at the Venice International Film Festival. SWISS FILMS has organised a pitching session with new immersive projects as part of Venice Immersive. 

The Italian-Swiss coproduction ELISA by Italian director Leonardo di Costanzo celebrates its world premiere in Venezia 82, the renowned main competition. The film tells the story of a woman in prison for murdering her sister, featuring Roschdy Zem and Valeria Golino in the lead roles, among others.

Part of the film was shot in Ticino and coproduced by Amka Films Productions (Michela Pini, Amel Soudani) and RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera. ELISA is now the fourth collaboration between Amka Films, the Italian production company tempesta and director di Constanzo.

In the Spotlight Venezia section, which comprises only 10 films, Swiss director Marie-Elsa Sgualdo will present the world premiere of her feature-film debut SILENT REBELLION. The film was produced by Box Productions (Elena Tatti, Nicolas Wittwer), together with Helicotronc (Brussels) and Offshore (Paris). World sales are handled by Salaud Morisset.

The film follows 15-year-old Emma, portrayed by the French up-and-coming talent Lila Gueneau, who seeks her path to self-determination as an unmarried pregnant woman in repressive, rural Switzerland during the Second World War.

The AI-driven VR installation EMPATHY CREATURES by Mélodie Mousset will be screened in the Venice Immersive Competition. The immersive, Tamagotchi-like work explores emotional dependence and collective wellbeing.

Two feature films and a documentary in the Giornate degli autori

Giornate degli Autori, the parallel section dedicated to independent auteur cinema, has chosen three Swiss productions for this year’s selection. The world premiere of MEMORY OF PRINCESS MUMBI by director Damien Hauser, just 24 years old, will be screened in competition. The Swiss-Kenyan-Saudi coproduction is set in Africa in the distant future. Hauser not only directed the film, but was also responsible for the screenplay, editing, cinematography and music.

Screened as a Special Event will be Nicolas Wadimoff’s documentary film WHO IS STILL ALIVE (QUI VIT ENCORE; Akka Films), in which nine refugees from Gaza share their stories about their former lives, now destroyed.

Also screened as a Special Event will be the minority coproduction I WANT HER DEAD (IL QUIETO VIVERE) by Italian director Gianluca Matarrese – a family drama that vacillates between documentary and fiction, coproduced by Geneva-based Elefant Films (Alexandre Iordachescu).

Swiss projects at the Film market

The Venice Gap Financing Market is a platform for selected projects that supports producers in establishing contacts and securing definitive financing for their projects. Featured on the platform are the Swiss-Peruvian documentary film REBELLION OF MEMORY by Joël Jent (Aaron Film GmbH, Amazona Producciones) and the minority Swiss coproduction I’LL FORGET YOUR NAME (France, Switzerland) by Yann Gonzalez (Pan Cinema, Garidi Films).

In the frame of the Venice Production Bridge, the Swiss publishing house Verlag Kein & Aber is among the 30 international publishers presenting selected works suitable for literary adaptations at the Book Adaptation Rights Market.

International platform for XR storytelling

The Venice International Film Festival provides a platform for immersive storytelling formats on the “Immersive Island”. In partnership with Cinéforom, Geneva International Film Festival and Geneva Digital Market, SWISS FILMS has invited participants to a work-in-progress pitching session.

Swiss creatives from the XR sector have the opportunity to present their new projects to potential partners, investors and distributors. (August 29, 2025; 2:30 - 4:00 p.m.) The event is part of the SWISS IMMERSION initiative, aiming to promote the international visibility of XR works based in Switzerland.

Participants:
Adrien Royer (screenplay/director, O2)
Vincent Fichera (screenplay / director, O2)
Diane Dormet (director, POST BINARY)
Mélanie Courtinat (director, THE SIREN)S
Laurent Novac (director / screenplay, HIATUS)
Lucien Salmon (screenplay, Hiatus)
Moderator: Mathieu Gayet (Head of Industry, Geneva Digital Market)
 

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