Leipzig – major showcase for films from Switzerland
An impressive number of documentary and animation film productions from Switzerland will be screened at the tradition-steeped International Leipzig Film Festival.
25.10.2012
Three Swiss films will be screened in competition at the 55th International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film (October 29 - November 4, 2012). Ten further Swiss film productions will be presented in other international programmes. The Swiss director Olivier Zuchuat, who is an instructor at the FEMIS film school in Paris, will present his film “Comme des lions de pierre à l'entrée de la nuit” in the International Competition Documentary Film. Also competing in this section is the cinematic essay by the Swiss-Canadian director Peter Mettler “The End Of Time,” which premiered in Locarno. In addition, the short film “Not About Us,” which was produced as part of an exchange project between the Lucerne School of Art and Design HSLU and the Estonian Academy of Art, will be screened in the International Competition Animated Film.
Swiss Alpine and winter tales
Following the premiere of his film “Mein erster Berg – Ein Rigi Film” in Zurich, Erich Langjahr will celebrate the international premiere of the film in Leipzig. Langjahr has been a welcome guest for decades at the Leipzig Festival, where his films have been honoured numerous times: for example, “Hirtenreise ins dritte Jahrtausend” won a Golden Taube in 2002. The Leipzig Festival will present a second spectacular Alpine film from Switzerland with the documentary film “Die Wiesenberger” by Bernard Weber and Martin Schilt. Mirjam von Arx will present her film “Virgin Tales” in the Saxon metropolis. Her film about virginity cult in the USA has attracted a great deal of international attention. Furthermore, three of the five works from Switzerland selected for the children’s animation film programme are winter fables: “A Snowy Tale” by Christian Indermauer; “Au coeur de l'hiver” by Isabelle Favez; and “Brüderchen Winter” by Charlotte Waltert.
Important film market for Swiss documentary films
SWISS FILMS will present a selection of ten new Swiss film productions at the Dok Market, a sales platform for documentary film productions organised by the festival. The selection includes works discovered at the Festival Visions du Réel in April: “A Home Far Away” by Peter Entell; “Forbidden Voices” by Barbara Miller; “Hiver Nomade” by Manuel von Stürler; as well as Christian Labhart’s film “Appassionata,” which was honoured with the Audience Award at the Zurich Film Festival.
Zurich, October 25, 2012