SWISS FILMS 2022 Year in Review

World premiere of LA LIGNE at the Berlinale. ©Ali Ghandtschi

Numerous festival successes this year testify once again to the high calibre of Swiss filmmaking. From Berlin to Tallinn, Swiss films were screened at the most renowned international film festivals. Several talented directors attracted attention with their first feature-length films. Carmen Jaquier’s historical coming-of-age drama THUNDER (Close Up Films, Flavia Zanon) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, followed by screenings immediately thereafter at the San Sebastian Film Festival as well as in Zurich, Busan and Thessaloniki, among others. Elena López Riera’s THE WATER (Alina film, Eugenia Mumenthaler and David Epiney) was also selected for screening in Toronto and San Sebastian. Her film, which celebrated its world premiere in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes, also garnered two nominations for a Goya Award in Spain.

Valentin Merz ventured into a new radical narrative form with the queer satire DE NOCHE LOS GATOS SON PARDOS (Andrea Film). It premiered in the Concorso internazionale in Locarno, where it received an Honourable Mention for Best Debut Film. Tizian Büchi’s documentary fable LIKE AN ISLAND (Alva Film Production, Britta Rindelaub) won the Grand Prix at the Festival Visions du Réel in Nyon and then travelled on to festivals in Karlovy Vary, Bordeaux and Sao Paulo. Fisnik Maxville’s THE LAND WITHIN (Alva Film Production, Thomas Reichlin) was invited to the Black Nights Film Festival PÖFF in Tallinn, where it was honoured with the Best First Feature Award.

New talents in front of the camera also captivated audiences, with Swiss actresses Souheila Yacoub and Kayije Kagame receiving a twofold honour: both were recommended as “Révélations” by the French Film Academy for the 2023 César. Furthermore, the European Film Promotion presented them as European Shooting Stars at the Berlinale 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Extraordinary second and third films

Filmmakers with their second or third feature films have also gained a great deal of international visibility. Director Jan Gassmann celebrated the premiere of his third feature film 99 MOONS (Zodiac Pictures) in Cannes in the ACID section. The relationship drama went on to be screened at festivals in Edinburgh, Sao Paulo, Bordeaux and Zurich. Producer Stefan Eichenberger (Contrast Film) was also in Cannes, participating in the European Film Promotion’s talent programme, Producers on the Move, upon the recommendation of SWISS FILMS. Susanne Regina Meures celebrated the premiere of her influencer documentary GIRL GANG (Christian Frei Filmproduktion) with a screening in competition at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen and received a nomination for the European Film Award. Eva Vitija’s second feature-length documentary film LOVING HIGHSMITH (Ensemble Film, Franziska Sonder, Maurizius Staerkle Drux) was screened at a number of festivals and in cinemas in North America and several European countries. In addition, the director was also present at the Sidney Film Festival to participate in the Europe! Voices Of Women in Film programme.

Cyril Schäublin has forged an impressive festival career with his historical film UNREST (Seeland Filmproduktion: Linda Vogel, Michela Pini) at three A-festivals (Berlin, Toronto, San Sebastian). The film has garnered many awards, including Best Director in the Encounters section at the Berlinale. At the same time in Berlin, Michael Koch’s poignant drama set in the Swiss Alps, A PIECE OF SKY (hugofilm features; Christof Neracher), premiered in the International Competition and was honoured with a Special Mention by the jury. In addition to various awards worldwide, it can already boast an striking festival career: DRII WINTER has entered the Oscar race 2023 as Switzerland’s official entry. 

Well-established filmmakers with festival triumphs

Among the established filmmakers, Ticinese producer Michela Pini has continued to enjoy further international success. Three of her coproductions were screened at the Toronto Film Festival: the aforementioned UNRUEH , as well as two coproductions with minority participation with Canada as debut feature films UNTIL BRANCHES BEND by Sophie Jarvis (Swiss coproduction: Cinédokké, Olga Lamontanara) and SOMETHING YOU SAID LAST NIGHT by Luis De Filippi (Swiss coproduction: Cinédokké, Cloud Fog Haze Pictures with Michael Graf, and Lido Pictures with Rhea Plangg).

Ursula Meier and Lionel Baier have once again caused an international stir at leading festivals with their production company Bandita Films (Max Karli, Pauline Gygax). The family drama THE LINE  marks the second time a film by Ursula Meier has been selected for screening in Berlinale’s Competition. CONTINENTAL DRIFT (SOUTH), Lionel Baier’s satire on European migration policy, premiered in Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes.

Major focus on Swiss animation filmmaking in Annecy

The red carpet was rolled out for Switzerland in June at the International Animation Film Festival in Annecy and its MIFA film market: the festival presented the most extensive focus ever devoted to Swiss animation, which was initiated by SWISS FILMS together with a large number of partners from the film industry. A total of 15 films were screened in the competition sections of the official festival programme, including THE RECORD by Jonathan Laskar and IDODO by Ursula Ulmi. In addition, 14 special programmes were devoted to Switzerland’s animation filmmaking from the past 100 years. The anidoc by director Alain Ughetto, NO DOGS OR ITALIANS ALLOWED (Swiss coproduction: Nadasdy Film, Zoltán Horváth), was screened in the European Animated Feature Film category in Annecy and garnered the Jury Award, followed by the European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film in December. Switzerland presented four immersive productions in SWISSXRLAND at the market in Annecy in collaboration with the Geneva International Film Festival GIFF. In order to gain further appreciation for this new production format, SWISS FILMS 2022 has launched the pilot initiative “Swiss Immersion”. The aim of this support measure is to strengthen the international presence of Switzerland’s immersive projects.

Spotlight on Switzerland at international festivals

In addition to the major Swiss focus in Annecy and the strong presence mentioned above at the A-list festivals in Berlin, Cannes, Toronto and San Sebastian, Switzerland was also well represented with eight films at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. Alexander Abaturov’s PARADISE (Schweizer Koproduktion Intermezzo Films, Luc Peter and Katja Monla) was screened in the International Competition and was honoured with the award for Best Cinematography. The IDFA Award for Best Youth Film went to the short film RAMBOY by Matthias Joulaud and Lucien Roux (Akka Films, ECAL/HEAD). Screened in the Luminous section, were the feature-film debuts POLISH PRAYERS by Hanna Nobis (First Hand Films, Esther van Messel) and STUNTWOMEN by Elena Avdija (Bande à part Films, Agnieszka Ramu). Prior to this, her cinematic portrait of three professional stuntwomen had celebrated its premiere at the Zurich Film Festival and won a Golden Eye in the Focus Competition.

Directors Anna Lena Spring and Lara Perren have doubtlessly enjoyed the most far-reaching festival career with their short animation film SAUNA (HSLU): Since its premiere in 2021, the film has been screened at more than 20 leading festivals around the globe. Simone Giampaolo’s short animation film ONLY A CHILD by (Amka Films) was nominated for BAFTA’s Children & Young People Awards. Maria Brendle, too, has celebrated tremendous success with her short fiction film ALA KACHUU – TAKE AND RUN (Filmgerberei), which was one of the five nominees in the Live Action Short Film category at the 94th Academy Awards. THE NEWT CONGRESS by Matthias Sahli and Immanuel Esser (ZHdK) is also off to a promising start: After winning awards at the festivals in Locarno and Sitges, the short film has been invited to the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in January 2023.

A high-impact Heidi and stagnation in the cinema

An innovative idea made inroads this year: MAD HEIDI, a daring reinterpretation of the classic Heidi story. The Swissploitation film by the directing duo Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopfstein (Swissploitation Films) together with producer Valentin Greutert (A Film Company) is unconventional not only in terms of content, but also in financing and distribution: The greater part of the budget stemmed from blockchain-based crowdfunding. Only two weeks after its theatrical release, the film had already been seen worldwide as a stream. The film’s creators regard the theatrical release in several European countries primarily as a marketing measure.

An idea for the future? The golden years in the cinema are most likely over, for ticket sales have only recovered slightly after Corona pandemic. But there are encouraging exceptions: Michael Krummenacher’s DE RÄUBER HOTZENPLOTZ and Barbara Kulcsar’s GOLDEN YEARS, both produced by Lukas Hobi and Reto Schaerli at Zodiac Pictures, has already sold over 300,000 tickets for the big screen in Switzerland and in Germany (as of December 11, 2022).

However, the year 2022 also meant a great loss for Swiss cinema: the film world had to say farewell to Jean-Luc Godard and Alain Tanner, who had passed in September just a few days apart at the ages of 91 and 92, respectively. The two great directors of international repute left a lasting mark on the film world and Swiss filmmakers with their iconic works.