Swiss glances on foreign realities in Innsbruck

01.06.2007

The documentary film “Rajas Reise” (transl. Raja’s journey) by Karl Saurer will be the opening film at the 16th International Film Festival Innsbruck, which takes place from June 5 – 10, 2007 and presents six Swiss productions. Also produced by Zurich company Reck Filmproduktion, the film “Sweeping Addis” by Corinne Kuenzli will be part of the competition in the running for the documentary film prize. In the international competition, the feature film “Delwende”, which was co-produced by Pierre-Alain Meier (Thelma Film) and directed by S. Pierre Yameogo (Burkina Faso, France, Switzerland) will be shown. Founded in 1992, the International Film Festival Innsbruck focuses on films from and about Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and counts, along with the Viennale and the Diagonale in Graz, among the most important Austrian film events.
In the “Panorama Mittelmeer” section, “Ein Lied für Argyris/A Song For Argyris” by Stefan Haupt will be presented. The film tells the life story of Argyris Sfountouris, who lost the majority of his family members during a massacre committed by Germans in Distomo in June, 1944. The Argentine-Brazilian-Swiss documentary “La Dignidad de los Nadies/The Dignity Of The Nobodies” by Fernando Solanas (Production: Thelma Films, Zurich), and the feature film “Ryna” by Ruxandra Zenide (Production: Pacific Films, Navarro Films, Geneva), also invite the viewers’ exploration of foreign realities.



“Rajas Reise”, which is the mysterious story of the Indian elephant Raja, who went on an adventurous journey from India via Lisbon to Vienna in 1550, will be released in German Swiss movie theatres in September 2007, after several pre-premiere screenings in Central Switzerland which is the filmmaker’s home. For the fall, a film tour along Raja’s journey from Genoa to Vienna is in the planning.



The documentary film “Sweeping Addis” which features street sweepers in the Ethiopian capital, will initially premiere at the Solothurn Film Festival and then screen in Addis Abeba, at the Rhodos Ecofilms Festival in Greece, and at the International Film Forum St. Peterburg. On June 3, 2007, the Swiss television station is also broadcasting “Sweeping Addis”.



Corinne Kuenzli and Karl Saurer, along with their producer Franziska Reck, as well as Ruxandra Zenide and S. Pierre Yameogo will be in attendance in Innsbruck. The Philippinian actress Evelyn Vargas-Knaebel, who is a consultant for films from the Philippines at the Fribourg Film Festival, is a member of the festival’s international jury.



At last year’s event, “Zwischen den Welten” (transl. Between worlds) by Yusuf Yesilöz (Production: Reck Filmproduktion, Zurich) was awarded the Christian-Berger Documentary Film Prize.



Zurich, June 1, 2007
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