SWISS FILMS at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

Four films have been selected for the Swiss and International Competition. The animated documentary film ALETSCH NEGATIVE by Laurence Bonvin is a visual experience addressing the melting glaciers. In her fiction film RED ANTS BITE, Elene Naveriani tells the story of two in Nigerians stranded Tbilissi. ALL CATS ARE GREY IN THE DARK, Lasse Linder’s HSLU graduation film about a cat lover, was honoured with an award in Locarno and at TIFF in Toronto, among others. The documentary film BÉTON AMER by Chloé Simonin and Margot Lancon, a graduation film from HEAD in Geneva, portrays a group of teenagers in the inoperative airport in Athens.

Under specific conditions, films screened in the International Competition at the Kurzfilmtage are eligible for an Oscar® and a BAFTA Award nomination; new are the European short films also for the European Film Award EFA.

Many films by women in Swiss Competition

An impressive 81 percent of the 17 short films screened in the Swiss Competition are by female directors. These include, for example, the documentary film BIRD OF PARADISE by Aline Suter and Céline Carridroit, which recently celebrated its premiere in Leipzig; the fiction film HAPPY BIRTHDAY by Lisa Gertsch, who was honoured with a Student Academy Award last year for her film FAST ALLES; and Aline Höchli’s animation film WHY SLUGS HAVE NO LEGS, which celebrated its world premiere in Toronto and won an award for Best Short Film in Warsaw.

In addition, seven Swiss short films will be screened in the Züri Shorts programme, including Michael Frei’s experimental animation film KIDS, which can already look back on an impressive career with participation at nearly 30 international festivals or Kim Allamand’s short fiction film TERMINAL, which was honoured with two awards in the Pardi di domani in Locarno this year.

The Swiss Film School Day showcases Switzerland’s five major undergraduate degree programmes with a presentation of their recent short films to an international jury.

SWISS FILMS at Industry Lab and Market Preview

The Industry Lab is a venue provided by Kurzfilmtage for the international short film industry to foster networking between directors, producers and international industry representatives. SWISS FILMS has organised a roundtable discussion on “Defining the Potential of Blockchain Distribution for the Film Industry” for the Industry Lab. The following speakers have been invited: Vladimir Cip (legal expert for Blockchain, CH/US), Manuel Stagars (filmmaker, CH), Ozan Polat (Dezentrum, Zurich, CH) and George Raikes (Livetree, UK).

In partnership with the online industry portal Festival Scope, SWISS FILMS will present a Focus programme comprised of Swiss short film productions at the Kurzfilmtage.

This year marks the second time SWISS FILMS has organised the Market Preview at the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur. Four promising short film projects from Switzerland about to launch their festival career are presented as a work-in-progress. The Market Preview is an exclusive event offering festival delegates, sales and festival agents the opportunity to discover these new films with the films’ producers and directors in attendance. Furthermore, in collaboration with UniFrance, Wallonie Bruxelles Images and SODEC Québec SWISS FILMS has invited a select number of international festival delegates, filmmakers and producers to the Industry Brunch, a networking event.

SWISS FILMS, November 5, 2019