Strong Swiss presence in the running for “Max Ophuels Preis”

23.01.2009

Seventeen Swiss film productions will be screened at the 30th Saarbruecken Film Festival “Max Ophuels Preis” (January 26-February 1, 2009). Both “Kleiner Sonntag” by Philipp Ramspeck and “Tausend Ozeane” by Luki Frieden will participate in the fiction film competition; the film “Glorious Exit” by Kevin Merz will run in the documentary film competition; “Alice – Paris” by Stephan Muggli will compete in the short film section. Monetary prizes amounting to a total of more than 100,000 euros will be awarded. Moreover, the film festival, which is dedicated to young German-speaking filmmaking, will open on January 26 with the Swiss fiction film “Happy New Year” by Christoph Schaub. Actor Nils Althaus will attend the festival.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the festival, with Clemens Klopfenstein honoured as the special guest. He will present his film “E nachtlang Füürland” (1981) – made together with Remo Legnazzi and one of the first recipients of the “Max Ophuels Preis” – as well as “Die Vogelpredigt” (2005) to the audience. International premieres of the debut films “Im Sog der Nacht” by Markus Welter and “Tag am Meer” by Moritz Gerber – both of which are produced by HesseGreutert in Zurich – will be celebrated in the “Spektrum” series. Ursula Meier’s “Home”, which premiered last year in Cannes, will be screened in the “Spektrum Europa” section.



Among the films screened in the “Saarbrücker Premieren“ are three further Swiss fiction films: “Der Freund” by Micha Lewinsky; “L’autre moitié” by Rolando Colla; and “Tandoori Love” by Oliver Paulus. In addition, the films “bachab” by Ulrich Schaffner, “Beheading of a Smiling Dog” by Georg Lendorff, “Ich träume nicht auf Deutsch” by Ivana Lalovic and “Max” by Jean-Paul Cardinaux will be screened in the “Sprint” short film programme.



Zurich, January 23, 2009
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