Swiss director Christian Frei competing at the Sundance Film Festival for the third time
GENESIS 2.0, the new documentary by Swiss filmmaker Christian Frei, has been selected for the prestigious World Cinema Documentary Competition section of the Sundance Film Festival. This marks the third time Frei presents a documentary film at the most important film festival in the USA and one of the leading international film festivals. His films THE GIANT BUDDHAS (2005) and SPACE TOURISTS (2009) were also screened in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, the latter of which was honoured with the World Cinema Directing Award 2010. The Sundance Film Festival takes place in Park City from January 18-28, 2018.
29.11.2017
Christian Frei’s latest film GENESIS 2.0, which he co-directed with the young Russian filmmaker Maxim Arbugaev, will celebrate its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. The film observes the harsh and dangerous life of mammoth hunters on the remote New Siberian Islands in the far north of Siberia and portrays high-tech clone researchers who want to bring the extinct woolly mammoth back to life à la “Jurassic-Park”. Resurrecting the woolly mammoth is a first manifestation of the next great technological revolution: the human being as creator, Genesis two point zero. Arbugaev captured the hard work of the mammoth hunters for the first time in his short film THE HUNTERS (2014), which screened in the short film competition at Visions du Réel in Nyon.
Documentary films of international standing
Christian Frei ranks among the most internationally successful Swiss filmmakers. His documentary films WAR PHOTOGRAPHER (2001), THE GIANT BUDDHAS (2005) and SPACE TOURISTS (2009) have won numerous awards across the globe. With WAR PHOTOGRAPHER, Frei was hitherto the only Swiss director nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Documentary Feature. Moreover, Swiss cinematographer Peter Indergand received a nomination at the Emmy Awards for his work in WAR PHOTOGRAPHER in the category of Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Cinematography. Frei collaborated with Indergand for SPACE TOURISTS, THE GIANT BUDDHAS and now for GENESIS 2.0. as well. Christian Frei is the first Swiss filmmaker to screen a third film in the World Cinema Documentary Competition section at the Sundance Film Festival.
Previous Swiss presence at the Sundance Film Festival
In recent years, the following Swiss films were screened at the Sundance Film Festival: in 2017 MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI competed in the Kids section; in 2016 the Swiss coproduction SONITA (2015) competed in the Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival and was honoured with the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award. Films screened in earlier years include: AN AFRICAN ELECTION by Jarreth and Kevin Merz (2010); PEPPERMINTA by Pippilotti Rist (2009); as well as ANGRY MONK (2005) by Luc Schaedler.
The prestigious Festival will take place in Park City, Utah, from January 18-28, 2018. SWISS FILMS provides support for the world premiere of GENESIS 2.0 and will also attend the Festival.
SWISS FILMS, November 29, 2017