ETÈRA
Two sisters separated by a border, a club with opaque rules, a son torn between revolt and submission: ETÈRA explores the violence of power and the ambiguous ties that unite and tear people apart, in a tale that is both sensual and unrelenting.
Fiction feature by Michele Pennetta
Born 1984 in Varese (I), Michele Pennetta studied cinema at ECAL (École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne), the city where he lives. His first feature-length documentary FISHING BODIES (2016) premiered at Locarno, IL MIO CORPO’s international premiere was in the ACID section of Cannes 2020.
Call me when the Wind blows
to connect with their deceased loved ones. Call Me When the Wind Blows is a poetic invitation to face the fear of death and to embrace life and emotions.
Documentary feature by Arami Ullón
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.
Le Passeur (The Smuggler)
Ali, a 16-year-old hairdresser, suddenly finds himself thrust into the world of smugglers and counterfeiters in Athens.
Fiction feature by Kaveh Bakhtiari
Kaveh Bakhtiari is a graduate of the ECAL film department. As a student, his short film ‘Les mille, mais une nuit’ was selected for Vision du réel in Nyon. In 2013 his first feature-length documentary ‘L’Escale’ was selected for the Quinzaine des cinéastes in Cannes. Since 2010 he has been giving workshops at the ECAL and various talks at the HEAD, UNIL and EPFL. Since 2015 he has been a script consultant on various fiction and documentary films.
A Year without Summer
1815, the volcano Tambora erupts on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. Its ash and dust envelope the globe and make the sun disappear behind a dense, grey veil. One year later, the grave consequences are felt the world over. Unknowingly, humans experience what will become known as the last ‘Little Ice Age’ – or ‘The Year Without Summer’.
Selected at Cinéfondation Cannes Résidences 2022, Torino Film Lab 2022
White Mirror Award (at Torino film Lab)
Fiction feature by Flurin Giger
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.
A World of Images
Documentary feature by Eva Vitija
Born in 1973 in Basel, Switzerland. 2002 Diploma in Screenwriting from the DFFB (German Film and Television Academy Berlin). 2015 Master in Documentary Film Directing from the ZHDK (Zurich University of the Arts). MY LIFE AS A FILM (2015), her first feature-length documentary as a director, was nominated for Best Documentary for the Swiss Film Award and the International Documentary Association IDA Award, Los Angeles, and won the Prix de Soleure, the Basel Film Award and the Zurich Film Award, among others. Her second feature documentary LOVING HIGHSMITH, about the writer Patricia Highsmith, opened the Solothurn Film Festival in 2022, was nominated for the Swiss Film Award, received a Zurich Film Award for dramaturgy and editing and was shown in cinemas in more than 20 countries. THE HEARING (2023) by Lisa Gerig, is Eva Vitija’s first work as a producer, together with Maurizius Staerkle Drux, for Ensemble Film in Zurich, where she was a founding partner from 2018-2022. The film was selected for the European Film Awards in 2023 and received the Prix de Soleure, the Zurich Film Award and the Swiss Film Award in 2024. She lives in Zurich.
Poissons
Humanity is on the brink of catastrophe, and a permanent state of ecological emergency has been declared. Edsger, a 30-something algorithm specialist at “Océan Vert », has been transferred to the Atlantic coast, where preparations are underway to optimize a nature reserve. On arrival, he is told that there is no trace of him in the system. While waiting for this inexplicable misunderstanding to be cleared up, he discovers “Onde Amère”, a wild camp populated by mysterious people. Torn between these two worlds, Edsger must make a choice.
Fiction feature by Valentin Rotelli
Valentin Rotelli is a director and editor who lives and works in Geneva. He has co-directed several short films presented at national and international festivals, including “Big Sur”, nominated for the Swiss Film Prize (Quartz) in 2009. His feature film, “All That Remains”, co-directed with Pierre-Adrien Irlé, won the 2011 Quartz for Best Actress. POISSONS is her first feature film.
Brianza
As the economic crisis tightens its grip on Italy, Giorgio Farina, heir to a prestigious gun shop in Brianza, risks everything on a luxury boutique in nearby Lugano, Switzerland. When the venture collapses, he is buried in debt and drawn into an uneasy alliance with Alberto Fumagalli, a cynical businessman who he rents out a safe-deposit box to. Caught in a web of dependence and compromise, Giorgio slowly erodes his own integrity, until the spiral ends in violence—leaving a dangerous secret behind, poised to resurface.
Fiction feature by Simone Catania
Simone Catania is an italian director and producer, founder of the renowned production company INDYCA in Torino. His films have premiered at major festivals including Venice, SXSW, IDFA, Hot Docs and the Berlinale, and received nominations and awards such as the European Film Awards, Nastri d’Argento and David di Donatello. His recent titles include Samia, The Secret Drawer, Cuban Dancer, We Are the Thousand, Happy Winter, Becoming Zlatan and smoKings. In 2018 he directed his debut feature Drive Me Home, distributed in over 40 countries.
versorgen
VERSORGEN immerses us into the everyday lives of three women working in the care sector in successive episodes of 24 hours each. The focus is not only on the protagonists’ paid work, but also on everyday activities such as shopping, doing laundry and waiting at bus stops. Using haptic sensitivity and unconventional imagery, versorgen focuses on the constant and largerly unnoticed going-ons in the background, thus revealing the materiality of our coexistence.
Fiction feature by Nora Longatti
*1989 in Biel-Bienne in Switzerland, works as an independent filmmaker and artist. She studied Fine Arts and Photography at UMPRUM in Prague and ZHDK in Zurich and Cinéma at Écal in Lausanne.
Her latest short film Chute won the Pardino d’Oro at the Locarno Film Festival and the Golden Puffin at the Reykjavík International Film Festival in 2021 and was screened at numerous international film festivals. Her short film Bloc B, which was shot with residents of the neighbourhood of La Bourdonnette in Lausanne, won the prize for best school film at the International Short Film Festival Winterthur in 2019 and was shown at the Kyiv International Film Festival Molodist and the Kaohsiung Film Festival in Taiwan, among others. versorgen is her first feature film.
Oktroy
A retired Turkish migrant worker returns to Eastern Anatolia with her husband after decades in Switzerland. A construction worker from Bangladesh must return to a homeland that has become foreign to him after twenty years of working in the Arab kafala system. Two lives between departure and return. The film asks what home can be in a globalised world – embedded in reflections on the sea as a place of migration, movement and one of the last spaces without borders.
Documentary feature by Nicole Vögele
Born in 1983 in Olten, Switzerland. She studied journalism in Lucerne and documentary filmmaking at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. She is known for her shorts MRS LOOSLI (2013), awarded at Visions du Réel and FOG (2014), which premiered at Berlinale and screened in competition at many renowned international documentary festivals. Her debut feature-length documentary CLOSING TIME (2018) premiered at the Locarno Festival, was awarded with the Special Jury Prize of the Cineasti del presente competition and screened around the globe. THE LANDSCAPE AND THE FURY (2024) won the Grand Jury Prize in Visions du Réel, was nominated for best documentary film at the Swiss Film Awards and was screened at countless film festivals around the world.