by Hugues Hariche
Locarno Film Festival 2023

by Anna Novion
Sélection officielle Cannes 2023

by Anna Luif
Chicago Film Festival 2023

by Luka Popadic
Prix du Public Solothurner Filmtage 2024

by Nicole Vögele
Visions du Réel 2024

by Daniel Zimmermann
in postproduction

by Sayaka Mizuno
in postproduction

by Michele Pennetta
in postproduction

by Valentin Rotelli
in financing

by Arami Ullón
in development

by Flurin Giger
in development

by Arne Kohlweyer
in development

by Maurizius Staerkle Drux
released 2022

by Ophélie Giomataris & Mikael Zikos 
released 2022

by Ramon & Silvan Zürcher
released 2021

by Manuel von Stürler
released 2021

by Frédérique de Montblanc
released 2022

by Aya Domenig
released 2021

by Nicole Vögele
released 2018

by Daniel Zimmerman
released 2018

by Samara Grace Chadwick
released 2018

by Matthias Günter & Andy Herzog
released 2016

Released:

MICHEL COMTE New Light

A TV-Doc by Ophélie Giomatris in collaboration with Mikael Zikos (CH 2022 / 51′)

Michel Comte had played in the big league when all the stars posed for his camera. But for several years now, he has been reinventing himself as a committed contemporary artist. The independent documentary MICHEL COMTE NEW LIGHT is an updated portrait of this passionate adventurer.

World Sales: Magnet Film

Broadcasted in 2022 on SRF Sternstunde & 3 Sat

The Swiss director Ophélie Giomataris and Mikael Zikos (B) are two polyglot filmmakers. While Ophélie is in charge of directing and cinematography, Mikael is responsible for editorial content and sound. They have worked for various television stations (ARTE, M6, TV5 Monde).

Sírírí

THE CARDINAL & THE IMAM

A documentary by Manuel von Stürler (CH 2021 / 76′)

Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic. Rebels are instrumentalizing religion and pushing Christians and Muslims to kill each other. Together with Imam Kobine Lamaya, Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga implores the people not to succumb to the trap of this repetitive scenarios. A film about an unusual duet that strikes realities not only in Africa.

World Premiere at the Vatican on September (2021) / 57e Journée de Soleure (2022)  Human Rights Film Festival Berlin (2021) / Festival Ciné Droit Libre – Ouagadougou (2021) 44. Biberacher Filmfestspiele (2022) / Filmoteca Vaticana (2021)

 

Director of WINTER NOMADE, film presented at the Berlinale in 2012 and winner of many awards, (including the prize of the European Film Academy), Manuel von Stürler presented his latest film LUST FOR SIGHT / LA FUREUR DE VOIR at Visions du Réel 2017 in Nyon, at the festivals of Locarno, Belgrade, Sydney, New York etc.

l’art du silence

 A documentary by Maurizius Staerkle Drux (CH 2022 / 81′)

With his gestures and facial expressions alone, the mime Marcel Marceau captured audiences around the globe for decades. But the tragic background behind his work has remained hidden for a long time. THE ART OF SILENCE sheds new light on his life and unique art form, which his family and companions keep alive to this day.

In coproduction with Lichtblick GmbH (GER) (ZDF/ARTE)
Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF/RTS)

Maurizius Staerkle Drux (CH/GER) has graduated at the Zurich University of Arts. His debut film THE BÖHMS – ARCHITECTURE OF A FAMILY is presented in more than 30 countries, has won several awards and is one of the five most successful documentary films in Germany in 2015.

Das Mädchen und die Spinne
The Girl and the Spider

A fiction feature by Ramon & Silvan Zürcher (CH 2021 / 98′)

Lisa is moving out. Mara is left behind. As boxes are shifted, walls painted and cupboards built, abysses begin to open up, yearnings fill the room and an emotional rollercoaster is set in motion. A tragicomic catastrophe film. A poetic ballad about change and transience.

Coproduction with SRF
Released 2021 / Theatrical Release Switzerland (2021)
BEST DIRECTOR AWARD / ENCOUNTERS BERLINALE 2021
FIPRESCI AWARD / ENCOUNTERS BERLINALE 2021 

The Swiss twin brothers Ramon and Silvan Zürcher compose a poetic panopticon of forms of human relationships, that meanders between a study of everyday life, a fairy-tale and a psychological portrait of a brittle world. After their Berlinale-hit “The Strange Little Cat” (2013), “The Girl and the Spider” is the second instalment of a trilogy about human togetherness. A ballad about the need for closeness and the pain of separation.

Dragon Women

Un documentaire de Frédérique de Montblanc (B) (CH/BE/DE/KR / 83′)

Encore stigmatisées comme des « dragon women », les femmes gravitant dans les hautes sphères de la finance sont en infime minorité. Tourné à New-York, Londres, Genève et Paris, ce documentaire dresse une série de portraits intimistes de dirigeantes du milieu de la banque d’investissement, âgées de 26 à 58 ans. Filmées au travail, chez elles et durant leurs loisirs, elles nous montreront la face cachée du pouvoir, leurs mécanismes de survie et les stratagèmes dont elles usent pour se frayer un chemin dans l’un des secteurs les plus compétitifs qui soient.

En coproduction avec Savage Film (B), Seesaw (Corée du Sud), RTBF et RTS

Distributeur international Rise & Shine

Festivals: Docville, Visions Du Réel, Dock.Fest Munich 2022

Released 2022

Frédérique de Montblanc est née à Bruxelles et a étudié à l’Université Concordia à Montréal (BFA) puis à CalArts à Los Angeles (MFA). Son court métrage MALTA KANO, TX, créé avec le chorégraphe Dominic Walsh, a été présenté en première au Festival du court métrage de Bruxelles en 2015 ainsi qu’au Festival Tous Courts (Aix-en-Provence) et au Dancescreen Festival (Londres).

WALDEN

by Daniel Zimmermann (CH 2018 / 106′)

In the forest of the Catholic Monastery of Admont in Austria, a fir tree is felled and processed into planks of wood. By train, truck, boat and finally by hand, the stack is transported to a mysterious destination right in the heart of the Brazilian rainforest. The wooden planks’ trajectory corresponds to one of the central, raw materials trade routes, however in reversed direction of transport.

The film is a meditative and subtle comment on the absurdity of the economic rationale that underlies our globalised world. Each sequence of shots corresponds to a stage in the process. By means of thirteen 360-degree shots, the Swiss filmmaker Daniel Zimmermann clears a paradoxical pathway into the logic of globalised trade routes.

Coproduction with Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen

Special Jury Award Karlovy Vary Festival 2018 / Emerging Swiss Talent Award Zurich Film Festival                           Festivals: Sundance / Rotterdam / Solothurn / etc.

 

also available: WALDEN  – Ein Kunstprojekt (2018 / Doc TV 52′)
Broadcasted: SRF Sternstunde / 14.10.2018

Die Arbeiten des Schweizer Künstlers Daniel Zimmermann basieren auf fiktionalem Aktionismus im Bereich der visuellen und der performativen Kunst. Seine Kurzfilme DOWNHILL SKIING (2007) und STICK CLIMBING (2010) wurden mehrfach ausgezeichnet und zu Filmfestival-Lieblingen. Sein Debütfilm WALDEN (2018) gewann den Special Jury Award in Karlovy Vary und den Emerging Swiss Talent Award am Zürich Filmfestival und lief weltweit an rund 50 Festivals.

Closing Time

by Nicole Vögele (CH 2018 / 116′)

Mr. Kuo and his wife Mrs. Lin cook for the city’s sleepless. They work all night and sleep during the day, like many others in buzzing Taipei. One morning, riding back from the market, Mr. Kuo takes a different exit on the highway and journeys to the sea.

CLOSING TIME is a cinematographic meditation on the in-between moments – a kaleidoscopic journey that relies on colours, sensations, animals, typhoons and a dark lilac sky – the materials of life. An attempt at capturing time, an exercise in seeing.

Coproduction with Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg


Special Jury Award, Concorso Cineasti del presente, Festival Locarno 2018
Festival Scope Award 2018
Festivals: IDFA / Art of the Real / RIDM / etc.
Cinema release Switzerland: Mars 2019, by Xenix Filmdistribution

1999 – Wish you were here

by Samara Grace Chadwick (CAN/CH 2018 / 90′)

Une cinéaste retourne dans sa ville natale pour découvrir les souvenirs d’une vague de suicides qui a secoué son lycée en 1999. Aucun de ses anciens camarades de classe n’en a parlé jusqu’à présent – bien que chacun d’entre eux ait gardé ses archives personnelles de l’époque. Leurs souvenirs révèlent une histoire beaucoup plus complexe et convaincante que ce à quoi elle s’attendait. 1999 est une invitation à traverser le silence du chagrin.

Coproduction with Parabola Films (CAN), NFB/ONF (CAN) and Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen

Compétition Vision du Réel 2018, Hot Docs 2018

Cinema release Switzerland: August 2018, by Xenix Filmdistributin

Typiquement suisse ?
Typisch Schweiz?
Tipicamente svizzero?

de Matthias Günther & Andy Herzog (CH 2016 / 2 x 52′)

Qu’est-ce qui est typiquement suisse ? Les mauvaises langues prétendent que le fait de poser inlassablement cette question est, justement, typiquement suisse. Dans la mini-série documentaire Typiquement suisse ?, trois reporters sillonnent le pays dans le cadre d’une mission cruciale : à l’aide de statistiques, ils veulent savoir ce que signifie être typiquement suisse. Ce documentaire en deux parties (2 x 52’) est une recherche empirico-ironique de la spécificité suisse.

Une commande de la Radio Télévision Suisse / en coproduction avec Lomotion Bern

Diffusion sur SRF, RTS, RSI, RSR 2016
Festival de Soleure 2017

STILLE ÜBER FUKUSHIMA

Ein TV-Dokumentarfilm von Aya Domenig (CH 2021/ 52′)

Ten years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the Summer Olympics in Tokyo are just around the corner. On this occasion, the country wants to show itself in the best light. But what has happened to all the people who ten years ago not only ran along in the streets, but fought on the front lines for a ” new Japan ” ?

Broadcasted on:
SRF /  RTS / RSI /
3 Sat

Aya Domenig schloss graduated in Film Studies, Ethnology and Japanese Studies from the University of Zurich. Her thesis film HARU ICHIBAN was screened at various international film festivals and was awarded the Prix Cinécinéma at the Premier Plans film festival in Angers. Her first feature-length documentary ALS DIE SONNE VOM HIMMEL FIEL celebrated its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival (Semaine de la Critique) in 2015 and was awarded the Swiss Film Prize for ” Best Film Score ” in 2016.

Work in progress:

ECHTE SCHWEIZER

Saâd, Thuruban und Andrija sind Schweizer Bürger und somit wehrpflichtig. Wie tausende andere Schweizer rücken sie jedes Jahr vier Wochen ein, um den Ernstfall, die Verteidigung des Schweiz, zu üben. Man nennt sie oft “Secondos”, Kinder von Migranten. Der Film gibt einen längst überfälligen cineastischen Einblick in die Schweizer Armee und bringt die Begriffe Heimat und Identität auf den neusten Stand.

Prix du Public Solothurner Filmtage 2024

Luka Popadić wurde 1980 in Baden geboren und wuchs dort auf. 2014 hat er die Filmregieausbildung  in Belgrad abgeschlossen. Als Regieassistent arbeitete er in Chicago und Berlin und als Offizier der Schweizer Armee nahm er an Einsätzen in Bosnien & Herzegowina teil. Seine Spiel- und Dokumentarfilme wurden an über 100 Festivals weltweit gezeigt und mehrfach ausgezeichnet.

 

 

Rivière

A feature film by Hugues Hariche
Screenplay by Joanne Giger and Hugues Hariche

Manon, 17, leaves the Swiss mountains to head out in search of her father, who is nowhere to be found. As she forms new bonds and encounters her first love, she is de- termined to follow the path she has set herself on the ice: to become a professional hockey player.

In coproduction with Les Films d’Argile (F) and RTS

International sales: Outplay
Swiss distributor: Outside the Box

Locarno Film Festival 2023

sft_logo_fr_cmyk_pos

Hugues Hariche is a French-Swiss writer-director. His previous short films METROPOLIS (2015) and FLOW (2012)  were selected and awarded in several international festivals. Hugues has been a resident at the “Premiers Plans” workshops in Angers and at the Berlinale Talent Campus.

LES HISTOIRES D’AMOUR DE LIV S.

A fiction feature by Anna Luif

Liv Sandor (40), following an argument with her boyfriend, sets off to wander the city, observing passers-by and reminiscing about her past loves. In all her relationships, there was always a turning point, when things started going downhill. LES HISTOIRES D’AMOUR DE LIV S. is about Liv’s tragic-comical trajectory and learning to love on life’s emotional rollercoasters.

In coproduction with SRF and blue+
Swiss distribution: Xenix

Release: June 2024

Chicago Film Festival 2023

Anna Luif (CH ) completed her film studies in Zurich. Her short film SUMMERTIME won more than 20 awards. She then directed the feature films LITTLE GIRL BLUE, released in cinemas in 2003 after a large festival success. 2010 followed MADLY IN LOVE.

CHARMING MARY

A fiction feature by Arne Kohlweyer

17-year-old Amish girl Hannah and her family cross the Ocean aboard the Queen Mary II. They plan to visit Switzerland (the origin country of their religion). Hannah is forced to confront her expelled older sister and make the choice of her life: staying with the rest of her family or live freely… 

In development

Arne Kohlweyer was born in 1981 in Wolgast (D). In 2008 he finished film directing at FAMU in Prague. He has made various short films, directed for German television and got nominated for the Grimme-Award.

The White Club

A fiction feature by Michele Pennetta

Marco is barely more than a kid when Ofelia, the owner of the luxury White Club near Trieste, asks him to drive to Belgrade to smuggle two Albanian girls through the Balkan route.

In coproduction with :

  • RADIOTELEVISIONE
  • SVIZZERA RSI
  • INDYCA Torino (I)
  • NEFERTITI FILM (I)
  • VERTIGO Lubiana (SLO)

In postproduction

Born in Varese (Italy) in 1984, Michele Pennetta obtained a master in filmmaking in the university of Art and Design of Geneva (HEAD) and of Lausanne (ECAL) in 2010. In 2013, he directed the medium-lengh documentary ‘A IUCATA which won the Pardino d’Oro in Locarno Film Festival, the Best Film Award in Festival dei Popoli in Florence and was nominated as best swiss short film by the Swiss Film Academy.

SPHERES

Ein Nonfiction-Kinofilm von Daniel Zimmermann

A man throws a wooden slat up into the sky. It vanishes on the horizon as the camera slowly rotates once on its own axis. The slat circles the earth and strikes him in the back of the head. What appears to be an act of deliberate self-destruction is in fact the metaphorical dissolution of the ego and the beginning of a metaphysical journey. In collaboration with renowned artists and performers, Daniel Zimmermann (WALDEN) stages across 10 tableaux a series of mind-expanding practices for the big screen.”

In coproduction with Mischief Films, Vienna

In postproduction

Die Arbeiten des Schweizer Künstlers Daniel Zimmermann basieren auf fiktionalem Aktionismus im Bereich der visuellen und der performativen Kunst. Seine Kurzfilme DOWNHILL SKIING (2007) und STICK CLIMBING (2010) wurden mehrfach ausgezeichnet und zu Filmfestival-Lieblingen. Sein Debütfilm WALDEN (2018) gewann den Special Jury Award in Karlovy Vary und den Emerging Swiss Talent Award am Zürich Filmfestival und lief weltweit an rund 50 Festivals.

A year without summer

A film by Flurin Giger

1815 – The Indonesian volcano Tambora erupts. The ejected ashes create an invisible veil that slowly envelops the globe. One year later. Somewhere in Europe lives Anna (16), the oldest daughter of a large peasant family.The young peasant girl and her family face a year without summer.

Selected at Cinéfondation Cannes Résidences 2022, Torino Film Lab 2022
White Mirror Award (at Torino film Lab)

In development
In co-development with Match Factory Production

FLURIN GIGER, born in 1995, grew up in the Swiss mountains as part of a big family, being one of seven siblings. At the age of 16, he studied to become an actor and starred in several films. After finishing his degree, he began to work as a writer and director. His first short film RUAH premiered at the Venice International Film Festival 2016. In 2018, his second short film SCHÄCHER premiered in the Critics Week at the Cannes Film Festival. A Year Without Summer is his first feature film.

The Landscape and the Fury

A documentary by Nicole Vögele

The region around the Bosnian-Croatian border near Velika Kladuša is the starting point for this cinematographic essay on questions of displacement, violence and also everyday life and coincidence. It is about scars that break open, war memories that are awakened, profound encounters between people. A kaleidoscope of landscape and fury.

In coproduction with SRF

International Competition Visions du Réel 2024

Nicole Vögele is an independent filmmaker and journalist, based in Zurich and Berlin. In 2017 she graduated at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. For Swiss television SRF, she directed various TV reports in Switzerland and on the European borders. Her short films, FRAU LOOSLI (2013), INTO THE INNARDS (2014) and the middle-length feature NEBEL were premiered at international film festivals (Berlinale, Visions du Réel, etc). Her first documentary feature CLOSING TIME was awarded at Locarno Film Festival in 2018 and screened around the globe.

Le théorème de Marguerite

Un film de Anna Novion

L’avenir de Marguerite, brillante élève en Mathématiques à l’ENS, semble tout tracé. Seule fille de sa promo, elle termine une thèse qu’elle doit exposer devant un parterre de chercheurs. Le jour J, une erreur bouscule toutes ses certitudes et l’édifice s’effondre. Marguerite décide de tout quitter pour tout recommencer.

Avec Ella Rumpf et Jean-Pierre Darroussin
 
En coproduction avec TS Productions Paris / France 2 Cinéma / RTS Radio Television Suisse 
 
Sélection officielle Cannes 2023 
 

Née le 29 novembre 1979 à Paris, Anna Novion est une réalisatrice française d’origine suédoise. Elle commence la réalisation dans les années 2000 avec plusieurs courts-métrages comme, Frédérique est française, Chanson pour deux et On ne prend pas la mer quand on ne la connaît pas. La réalisatrice s’attaque ensuite aux longs-métrages et signe, Les grandes personnes en 2007. Plus tard, en 2012, elle réalise Rendez-Vous à Kiruna et dirige Jean-Pierre Darroussin, son compagnon, dans la pièce Rimbaud en feu en 2022.

Poissons

Un film de Valentin Rotelli

L’humanité a frôlé la catastrophe, l’état d’urgence écologique permanent a été décrété. Edsger, la trentaine, spécialiste en algorithmes chez “Océan Vert”, est muté sur la côte atlantique où se prépare l’optimisation d’une réserve naturelle. A son arrivée, on lui annonce qu’il n’y a aucune trace de lui dans le système. En attendant que ce malentendu inexplicable soit levé, il découvre “Onde Amère”, un campement sauvage peuplé de personnes mystérieuses. Tiraillé entre ces deux mondes, Edsger va devoir faire des choix.

En financement

photo Valentin Rotelli

Valentin Rotelli est un réalisateur et monteur qui vit et travaille à Genève. Il a coréalisé plusieurs courts métrages présentés dans des festivals nationaux et internationaux, dont Big Sur, nommé au Prix du cinéma suisse (Quartz) en 2009. Son long-métrage, All That Remains, co-réalisé avec Pierre-Adrien Irlé, reçoit le Quartz 2011 de la meilleure actrice. Poissons est son premier long métrage.

colostrum

Un film de Sayaka Mizuno

Pascal, 45 ans, éleveur de vaches laitières à Val d’Illiez (VS) doit s’occuper seul de l’entreprise familiale.Sa mère âgée Nelly lui prête main forte avant l’arrivée de l’aide d’urgence des bénévoles de l’association Caritas-Montagnards qui se succèdent durant l’été.

En post-production

Née en 1991 à Genève, Sayaka Mizuno a obtenu un master à l’ECAL/HEAD en 2018. Son moyen-métrage documentaire Kawasaki Keirin (2016) a été lauréat de plusieurs prix (Vision du Réel, Nara, Clermont Ferrand). En 2016, elle est lauréate du Prix d’Excellence Hans Wilsdorf en cinéma et en 2017, elle participe à la Locarno Filmmakers Academy. Son projet de premier long-métrage documentaire Colostrum a remporté le Prix RTS Perspective d’un Doc 2021.

Call me when the wind blows

A documentary by Arami Ullón

After his cousin’s death, Itaru Sasaki decided to build in his garden a phone box, which is not connected to anything. Although he knew that his voice would not travel through the phone, he trusted that the wind would carry his words to the dead man’s ears. “Call me when the wind blows” in a poetic and profound way sheds light on how we deal with grief. 

In development

Arami Ullón was born in Asunción, Paraguay, in 1978 ans lives in Basel (CH). She directed the multi-awarded feature documentary EL TIEMPO NUBLADO  (CH/PAR – 2014)  The film was the first Paraguayan entry to the Oscars (2016). Her second feature documentary APENAS EL SOL (CH/PAR – 2020) was the Opening Film at IDFA (2020) and also represented Paraguay at the Oscars (2021) in two categories. The film received a FIPRESCI Prize, among other 14 international awards.

logo beauvoir

Beauvoir Films was founded in 2016 in Geneva. The company produces author-driven documentary and fiction features for festival and theatrical releases as well as TV. We work with directors who have a distinct visual narrative approach and strive to push the boundaries of storytelling in compelling and creative ways.

Beauvoir Films
14, Rue des Cèdres
CH-1203 Genève
info(at)beauvoirfilms.ch

Aline Schmid (Producer)

After graduating from the University of Freiburg, Aline Schmid studied scriptwriting in Stuttgart. With Intermezzo Films she has produced several creative documentaries and fiction features, such as SONITA (Sundance / IDFA), BROKEN LAND (Locarno / Rotterdam), CANTOS (Dok.Munich /Mostra Sao Paulo) and HORIZONTES (KVIFF). She participated in the programs Emerging Producer (Jihlava 2013) and Producer on the Move (Cannes 2015). She was tutor at Eurodoc in 2023/24 and part of the ACE Programm 33.

Adrian Blaser (Producer)

Adrian Blaser works for international productions since 2001. In 2007, he produces at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade. He becomes 2011 executive producer of Bande à part Films in Lausanne with Ursula Meier, Lionel Baier, Jean-Stéphane Bron and Frédéric Mermoud (THE PARIS OPERA, THE BLOCHER EXPERIENCE, MOKA, BRIDGES OF SARAJEVO etc.). He joins Beauvoir in 2017.

Office administration

Samuel Bezençon, administrator (since 2023)
Magali Nino, production assistant (since 2023)