Silver Bear for Ursula Meier and initial sales of Swiss films at the Berlinale

Already during the Berlinale Ursula Meier’s film “L’enfant d’en haut,” offered on the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin with the international distribution title “Sister,” was sold in several countries by Memento Films, the French World Sales firm: Benelux (distributor: O’Brother Distribution), Great Britain (Soda Pictures), Italy (Teodora Classics), Israel (Lev Films), Austria (ThimFilm), Sweden (Folkets Bio), Spain (Alta Classics) and USA (Adopt Films), with sales in further countries under negotiation. The film was produced by Vega (Zurich) and Archipel 35 (Paris) and will be released in cinemas in France on April 18. The release in Swiss cinemas is scheduled for April 26 (distributor: Filmcoopi, Zurich).

Negotiations for the documentary film “Die Kinder vom Napf,” which was the opening film of the Generation Kplus Competition, are under way with distribution companies in Germany, Austria and Denmark, according to Atrix Films, the German World Sales firm. The children in the film from the village of Romoos in the canton of Lucerne attended the festival together with director Alice Schmid and were enthusiastically applauded, mostly by the young viewers. More than 50,000 viewers have already seen “Die Kinder vom Napf” in cinemas in Switzerland (distributor: Xenix Filmdistribution, Zurich).

Manuel von Stürler’s film “Hiver Nomade,” screened in the Berlinale Forum, with the shepherds portrayed in the film in attendance, also met with a rare display of enthusiastic applause. Discussions are under way for a theatrical release with distributors from Belgium, Germany, France, Austria and Spain. The film has already received invitations from several major festivals in Europe, Canada and the USA.

The Swiss actor Max Hubacher (“Der Verdingbub”) was honoured with the Shooting Stars Award 2012 in the Berlinale Palast on February 13. He, too, met with considerable resonance from casting and actors agencies.


Zurich, February 20, 2012