Locarno 2018: Thomas Imbach’s GLAUBENBERG selected for the International Competition, two Swiss films for Cineasti del presente and three Swiss coproductions for the Piazza Grande

Thomas Imbach’s fiction film GLAUBENBERG about an obsessive love relationship between siblings and a journey into the unknown was selected for the International Competition. Imbach’s last screening in competition at the Locarno Festival was with MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS (2013), which was subsequently selected for the prestigious Special Presentations section of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Two Swiss films can be discovered in the Cineasti del presente competition: THOSE WHO WORK, Antoine Russbach’s impressive first feature film (Box Productions) which tells the story of a father of five who unexpectedly loses his job and begins to cast doubt on his current values. Also competing is Nicole Vögele’s documentary film CLOSING TIME (beauvoir films), a cinematographic meditation on the vibrant nightlife in Taipei. Vögele’s first feature-length documentary film FOG (2014) premiered at the Berlinale and won numerous awards.

The Swiss-french actress Lætitia Dosch will be part of the jury Cineasti del presente, Visions du Réel director Emilie Bujés is a member of the Signs of Life jury.

Swiss coproductions on the Piazza Grande
This year three Swiss coproductions will be screened on the Piazza Grande: Bettina Oberli’s WITH THE WIND (Rita Productions), coproduced with France and Belgium; the Italian-Swiss coproduction MY BELOVED ENEMY by Denis Rabaglia (Turnus Film); and the Italian-French-Swiss film THE GUEST by Italian director Duccio Chiarini (Cinédokké).

Thirteen new short films from Switzerland have been selected for the Pardi di domani national competition, including works by Laurence Favre, Claudius Gentinetta, Jela Hasler and Delia Hess. Two Swiss films will be screened in the Fuori concorso section: ISLANDER by Stéphane Goël (Association Climage) and Christoph Schaub’s AMUR SENZA FIN (Zodiac Pictures), SRG’s first film in Romansch for television.

In collaboration with Cinémathèque Suisse, three newly restored films by Swiss director Francis Reusser will be presented in the Histoire(s) du cinéma series.

Two Swiss films in the Semaine de la critique
Two Swiss documentary films will be screened in Semaine de la critique: Nicolas Wadimoff’s THE APOLLO OF GAZA (Akka Films) about the whereabouts of the more than 2,500-year-old Apollo statue discovered in a fisherman’s net in Gaza in 2013; and Barbara Miller’s #FEMALE PLEASURE (Das Kollektiv für audiovisuelle Werke), which accompanies five extraordinary women with different religious backgrounds in their struggle for equality between women and men and for self-determined sexuality.

SWISS FILMS with various activities in Locarno
This year SWISS FILMS is present again with an Info Point in Palazzo Sopracenerina with communication and promotional activities to support the international launch of the Swiss films screened at the Locarno Festival.

One of these activities by SWISS FILMS includes a partnership with the Locarno Festival for Match Me!, the festival’s prestigious three-day networking platform. With the support of SWISS FILMS three Swiss producers will participate: Tolga Dilsiz (8 Horses), Flavia Zanon (Close Up Films) and Olivier Zobrist (Langfilm) have the opportunity to participate in this tailormade matchmaking service in Locarno and introduce their latest projects to international key players, such as world sales.

In collaboration with the Locarno Festival and the Solothurn Film Festival, SWISS FILMS has selected ten Swiss productions for the Panorama Suisse programme, including two successful debut films: Anja Kofmel’s CHRIS THE SWISS (world premiere Cannes 2018) and Lisa Brühlmann’s BLUE MY MIND (three Swiss Film Awards 2018). Also selected are the films which premiered at the Berlinale 2018: FORTUNA by Germinal Roaux and ELDORADO by Markus Imhoof, as well as Christian Frei’s GENESIS 2.0, which was honoured with an award at the Sundance Film Festival.

The 71^st edition of the Locarno Festival will take place from August 1-11, 2018. On August 3, the Swiss Federal Office of Culture will announce Switzerland’s official entry for an Academy Award in the category of Foreign Language Film.

SWISS FILMS, July 11, 2018