Europe’s longest night with Swiss short films
The shortest day of the year, December 21, has become the Short Film Day in many countries. Not only is the special event, Le jour le plus court, initiated in France in 2011, celebrating its fourth year; it has become truly international, with such names as The Shortest Day to El Día más corto and Kurzfilmtag for events in 50 countries worldwide which drew inspiration from the French model.
19.12.2014
Short films from Switzerland are also well represented in many countries. For instance, the two animation films “The Smortlybacks” by Ted Sieger and “Der kleine Vogel und das Blatt” by Lena von Döhren will be presented in a programme comprised of European short films for children in more than ten countries. The programme was curated by Short Circuit – the European network for short film distributors of which SWISS FILMS is also a member. Oliver Schwarz’s award-winning film “Traumfrau” will be screened in Holland. Sarah Arnold’s “Totems” and Anthony Vouardoux’s “Yuri Lennon’s Landing on Alpha 46“ will be presented in two programmes called C’est quand la paix? in France.
Many TV stations throughout Europe have also joined the initiative. During the night from Saturday to Sunday, for instance, Arte will host its Black humour compilation featuring a plethora of black comedies from all over the world. The Swiss production “Kavinsky” by Daniel Schraner is among the selected films.
Switzerland, too, is celebrating the short genre: Xenix cinema in Zurich will screen two programmes curated by the Kurzfilmtage Winterthur: Das Universum Giger includes documentary films and presents rare copies of short films by and about Giger; and Modern Love gathers together six short films on the theme of love in the digital age. Highlights from the Short Film Night Tour as well as festival hits from the past year will be revisited in Cinématte in Bern: for example, “The Kiosk,“ “Timber” or “Buumes.” Furthermore, Pathé cinemas throughout all of Switzerland will feature a short film as a run-up to all films screened between December 19 and 21.
Switzerland: Xenix & Cinématte
France: www.lejourlepluscourt.com
Germany: www.kurzfilmtag.com
The Netherlands: www.eyefilm.nl
Canada: www.theshortestday.ca
Spain: eldiamascorto.com
Serbia: www.najkracidan.com
Arte: cinema.arte.tv/de/artikel/der-kuerzeste-tag
SWISS FILMS, December 19, 2014