Swiss documentary films hold their own in Montreal
12.11.2008
No less than five documentary films from Switzerland will be screened at the 11th Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire (RIDM), which runs in Montreal from November 13-23, 2008: “Far From The Village” by Olivier Zuchuat; “The Fortress” by Fernand Melgar; “The Mother” by Antoine Cattin & Pavel Kostomarov; “No More Smoke Signals” by Fanny Bräuning; and “Return To Gorée” by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud. These outstanding films have all been well received in both Switzerland and abroad. Fernand Melgar will offer a master class in conjunction with the festival, with Fanny Bräuning Antoine Cattin and Pierre-Yves Borgeaud also participating.
The film “Far From The Villages” (production: Prince Film, Jura), which was shot in a refugee camp in Darfur, won an award at the Marseille Documentary Film Festival in July. The film “The Fortress” (Climage, Lausanne) was awarded the Golden Leopard in the “Filmmakers of the Present” section at the Locarno Film Festival this year and has experienced a great deal of success in cinemas in the French-speaking region of Switzerland. It portrays the daily sorting process at a reception centre for asylum-seekers. Since winning an award at the International Leipzig Documentary Film Festival in 2007, the Swiss-Russian film “The Mother” has continued to gain a great deal of attention at numerous film festivals this past year: for example, in Toronto at the Hot Docs, in Lisbon at the IndieLisboa Festival, in Munich at the Dokfest, at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and in Vienna at the Viennale. The film, which portrays a mother who is raising her ten children on a farm in Russia, was nominated for the European Film Award 2008.
“No More Smoke Signals” (Distant Light Filmproduktion, Zurich) celebrated its premiere in the Critics’ Week section at the Locarno Film Festival. The film illustrates the daily struggle of North American Indians for their rights and dignity. The film “Return To Gorée” (CAB Productions, Lausanne/DreamPixies, Vevey), in which the African musician Youssou N’Dour traces the trail of jazz music in conjunction with slave trade, celebrated its premiere in the competition at the Festival Vision du réel in 2007. Since then it has been screened at international festivals in Chicago, Gothenburg, London, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and honoured with numerous awards.
Zurich, November 12, 2008
“No More Smoke Signals” (Distant Light Filmproduktion, Zurich) celebrated its premiere in the Critics’ Week section at the Locarno Film Festival. The film illustrates the daily struggle of North American Indians for their rights and dignity. The film “Return To Gorée” (CAB Productions, Lausanne/DreamPixies, Vevey), in which the African musician Youssou N’Dour traces the trail of jazz music in conjunction with slave trade, celebrated its premiere in the competition at the Festival Vision du réel in 2007. Since then it has been screened at international festivals in Chicago, Gothenburg, London, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and honoured with numerous awards.
Zurich, November 12, 2008