Swiss documentary and animation films at international festivals this autumn

The 59^th DOK Leipzig, the international Festival for Documentary and Animated Film (October 31 - 6 November), opens with “My Life As A Zucchini” by Claude Barras (Rita Productions). The multi-award-winning film, Switzerland’s candidate in the running for an Academy Award and European Film Award nominee, will also be screened in the International Competition Long as well as in the Kids DOK section. Heidi Specogna’s “Cahier africain” (PS Film) will also compete in the International Competition Long. Dominique Margot’s “Looking Like My Mother” (maximage) will compete in the Next Masters section. In addition, a number of short film productions will be screened in the International Competition Short: “Whatever The Weather” by Remo Scherrer; “Digital Immigrants” by Norbert Kottmann and Dennis Stauffer; “Progress” by Otto Alder; and “Hypertrain” by Fela Bellotto and Etienne Kompis.

Tribute will be paid to the late filmmaker Peter Liechti In Memoriam with an out of competition screening: “Dedications – The Filmed Reading” portrays the preparatory work on his last, unfinished film. “Appunti del passaggio” by Maria Iorio & Raphaël Cuomo and “The Lives of Mecca” by Stefano Etter will be screened in the International Programme Long. Lalita Brunner’s “Immersion” is also in the International Film Programme. Furthermore, “Fragment 53” by Carlo Gabriele Tribbioli & Federico Lodoli will be presented in the Doc Alliance Selection, and the multi-award-winning film “Ivan’s Need” by Veronica L. Montaño, Manuela Leuenberger & Lukas Suter will be screened in the Disobedient Images section.

The 40^th Duisburger Filmwoche will take place from November 7-13. Mehdi Sahebi’s “MIRR” (Cinéma Copain) will celebrate its world premiere and “Offshore – Elmer And The Swiss Bank Secrecy” by Werner Swiss Schweizer (Dschoint Ventschr) will also be presented to the festival audience.

Two Swiss films will be screened in International Competitions at the Montréal International Documentary Festival RIDM (November 10-20): “Calabria” by Pierre-François Sauter (Mira Film) in the International Feature Competition; and “BUNKERS” by Anne-Claire Adet in the International Short Competition. The techno-documentary film “Raving Iran” by Susanne Regina Meures can be discovered in the Beat Dox section, and “Jean Ziegler, The Optimism Of Willpower” by Nicolas Wadimoff (Dreampixies) will be presented in the Etats du monde section.

No less than three Swiss film productions will celebrate their world premieres at the renowned International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam IDFA, which takes place from November 16-27. “Almost There” by Jacqueline Zünd (Hugofilm) and “The Girl down Loch Änzi” by Alice Schmid (Ciné A.S.) will compete in the First Appearance. “Burning Out” by Jerôme Le Maire (coproduction: Louise Production) will celebrate its premiere in the Feature-Length Competition, up against “Like Dew In The Sun” by Peter Entell (Show and Tell Films), among others. Remo Scherrer’s multi-award-winning animated documentary film “Whatever The Weather” will compete in the Student Documentary. The festival will present “Raving Iran” by Susanne Regina Meures out of competition in the Best of Fests section.

Beforehand and during DOK Leipzig, SWISS FILMS, DOK Leipzig and realeyz.de are launching a VOD collaboration: during the past few days a selection of Swiss documentary films screened at the festival’s earlier editions were offered by VOD at realeyz.de/swissfilms. The Day & Date Release of Dominique Margot’s “Looking Like My Mother” is on November 3 – the film can be viewed online for a short time, as well as simultaneously during the screening at the festival.

SWISS FILMS, October 31, 2016

> SWISS FILMS e-booklet DOCS FALL 2016