TIFF 2022
World premiere for Carmen Jaquier’s THUNDER
30.08.2022
The 47th Toronto International Film Festival (September 8-18, 2022), one of the most important festivals in North America, will screen a total of seven Swiss films and coproductions this year, three of them as world premieres – a record-breaking Swiss presence!
THUNDER (FOUDRE) is the first feature-length film by Geneva director Carmen Jaquier. The film will celebrate its world premiere in the renowned Platform Competition, which spotlights films with original and strong directorial vision. THUNDER was produced by Close Up Films (Flavia Zanon, Joëlle Bertossa), with world sales acquired by WTFilms, Paris.
Director Carmen Jaquier studied Film at ECAL and HEAD in Lausanne and Geneva. Like in her earlier short films, she tells in THUNDER the story of a young, emancipated woman’s search for identity. The film is set in a mountain village around 1900, but interpreted in a contemporary manner. The young French talent Lilith Grasmug stars in the leading role.
Producer Michela Pini with three films at TIFF
The Discovery section will screen two Canadian-Swiss coproductions as world premieres: Luis De Filippi’s feature film debut SOMETHING YOU SAID LAST NIGHT is a subtle observation about a trans person’s coexistence with her family. The film was coproduced with Cloud Fog Haze Pictures (Michael Graf), Lido Pictures (Rhea Plangg) and Cinédokké (Michela Pini). The psychodrama UNTIL BRANCHES BEND, Sophie Jarvis’ first feature-length film, was also coproduced with Cinédokké (Michela Pini, Olga Lamontanara).
The North American premiere of Cyrill Schäublin’s award-winning Berlinale film UNREST (Seeland Filmproduktion; Linda Vogel, Michela Pini) will be screened in the Wavelengths section. Also screened in this section will be the documentary film DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA by Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor. The film, coproduced by Rita Productions (Max Karli, Pauline Gygax), celebrated its premiere in Cannes.
From Cannes to Toronto
The feature-film debut THE WATER (EL AGUA) by Swiss-based Spanish director Elena López Riera will celebrate its North American premiere in the Contemporary World Cinema programme. It was produced by Alina film (Eugenia Mumenthaler, David Epiney), with world sales acquired by Elle Drive, Paris. Also screened in the same programme will be UNDER THE FIG TREES by Erige Sehiri, a Tunisian-French-Swiss feature film (world sales Luxbox), coproduced by Akka Films (Palmyre Badinier). Both films celebrated their world premieres in Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes.
THUNDRE as well as UNREST and THE WATER have also been selected for the San Sebastian Film Festival, which immediately follows TIFF.
TIFF Industry
SWISS FILMS will participate in European Film Promotion’s EUROPE! UMBRELLA market presentation. This platform is considered an important gateway to the North American film market for the member organisations of EFP and European world sales.