We are happy to announce that the animated documentary «Chris the Swiss» by Anja Kofmel has been selected for the 71st Festival International de Cannes in the category «Semaine de la critique». The festival takes place from 9.-17. May 2018.

«Chris the Swiss» won the Golden Zagreb Award as the best project in development at  Animafest Zagreb in 2013 and is now celebrating its long-awaited world premiere in Cannes.

The film takes the viewers to Croatia in 1992: In the midst of the Yugoslav Wars, Chris, a young Swiss journalist is found dead in mysterious circumstances. He was wearing the uniform of an international mercenary group. Anja Kofmel was his cousin. As a little girl, she used to admire this handsome young man; now a grown-up woman, she decides to investigate his story, trying to understand what really was the involvement of Chris in the conflict …

The 36-year-old Anja Kofmel made the story behind the mysterious death of her cousin in 2009 the subject of her highly regarded graduation film «Chrigi». With «Chris the Swiss»  she has now realized her first feature film. The famous Swiss actor Joel Basman (Chris) lends Chris his voice and Susanne-Maria Wrage leads through the film as a narrator.

The film was produced by Samir -Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion; Sinisa Juricic - Nukleus Film Croatia; Heino Deckert - ma.ja.de., Germany and Iikka Vehkalahti - IV Films, Finland.

The four-country co-production was financed by the SRF Swiss Radio and Television, the SRG SSR, Teleclub, Eurimages, the Swiss Federal Office of Culture, the Zurich Film Foundation, Succès Cinéma, the Lottery Fund Canton Solothurn, SSA, Suissimage, the Ernst Göhner Foundation, Focal, Verena Josephsohn, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), the MDM Film Commission, the Finnish Film Foundation and YLE.

On Friday evening, March 23, 2018, the Swiss Film Award ceremony took place in Zurich. We are delighted that «Facing Mecca» won the Swiss Film Award in the category «Best Short Film».
There was a also a special surprise that evening: Thomas Nellen was awarded the Special Academy Award for the make-up in the film «Vacuum». The award was presented by the actor Jeff Bridges and screened in the Halle 622 via video.
We congratulate both teams.

The Ticino pre-premieres of «Welcome to Switzerland» take place on the following dates in the presence of the director:

• Locarno, Palacinema di Locarno, February 21, 2018, at 8:30 pm (more showings on February 24, 2018, at 6:00 pm, and on February 25, 2018, at 6:00 pm)
• Lugano, Lux di Massagno, February 22, 2018, at 20:30. Afterwards, it will be taken into the cinema’s regular program.
• Airolo, Cinema Leventina, February 23, 2018, at 20:30 

In March, the film will premiere in the French-speaking part of Switzerland at the 16th Festival du Film et Forum International sur les Droits Humains, which will take place from 09.-18. March 2018 in Geneva. The film is part of the Compétition Grand Reportage.

The feature film «Vacuum» by Christine Repond was nominated for the «Prix de Soleure» by the selection committee of the Solothurn Film Festival. The feature films selected in the competition have convinced the jury due to their pronounced humanism and are impressively cinematographic.
We congratulate the team and wish them good luck.

The following films by Dschoint Ventschr are also included in the program of the Solothurn Film Festival:
«Facing Mecca» by Jan-Erick Mack
«Beyond the Bolex» by Alyssa Bolsey
«Welcome to Switzerland» by Sabine Gisiger

Film screening's:

«Vacuum» by Christine Repond
Sat 27.01.2018, 2.30 pm, Konzertsaal 
Tue 30.01.2018, 2.45 pm, Reithalle

«Facing Mecca» by Jan-Eric Mack
Fri 26.01.2018, 3.00 pm, Capitol
Mon 28.01.2018, 11:45 am, Canva

«Beyond the Bolex» by Alyssa Bolsey 
Sun 28.01.2018, 3:00 pm, Palace
Tue 30.01.2018, 2:00 pm, Uferbau

«Welcome to Switzerland» by Sabine Gisiger
Fri 26.01.2018, 9.30 am, Landhaus
Mon 29.01.2018, 6:15 pm, Konzertsaal

The multiple award-winning Swiss short film «Facing Mecca» by Jan-Eric Mack (production: Joël Jent, Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion, ZHdK, SRF) has been selected for the shortlist of the Oscars in the category Live Action Shorts. This was announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on the December 11. The Oscar nominations will be announced on January 23, 2018.

FACING MECCA celebrated its world premiere in June this year at the Palm Springs International ShortFest, where it won two awards: the «Best of the Festival Award» and the «Best Student Live Short Over 15 Minutes». The next milestone in the international career of the Swiss short film was the presentation of the Student Academy Awards in Los Angeles. There, the director received the Silver Medal in the category «Narrative (International Film Schools)». In November, FACING MECCA also received the audience award at the Kurzfilmtage Winterthur.

Jan-Eric Mack, the 34-year-old director from Zurich realized FACING MECCA as a graduation film of the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) with Joël Jent from Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion and coproduced it with SRF Swiss Radio and Television as part of the «Pacte de l'audiovisuel». The script was written by actress Anna Schinz in collaboration with Mack.

The film tells the story of a Syrian refugee in Switzerland, who has to deal with bureaucratic hurdles after the death of his wife, and is based on a true story. The main roles are played by the Swiss actor Peter Freiburghaus and the Syrian actor Jay Abdo, who has lived and worked in the USA for several years. Other roles include Nicolas Rosat and Ruth Schwegler.

The shortlist includes ten short films from which the Academy will nominate five short films for the category «Live Action Short Film» on Tuesday, January 23, 2018. The 90th Oscars® will be held on March 4, 2018 in Hollywood. SWISS FILMS supports the Oscar campaign of FACING MECCA financially and in aspects of communication.