Winterthur 2023
Prominent presence for short films from Switzerland
06.11.2023
With approximately 40 works, Swiss short film productions will have a prominent presence at the 27th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur (November 7-12, 2023). Seventeen works will be screened in the Swiss Competition, five of which have also been selected for the International Competition. In addition, SWISS FILMS is hosting its annual Previews event for the industry audience and is also a partner of the Industry Lab.
Four of the five films screened in both the Swiss and International Competition will celebrate their world premiere in Winterthur: in Jadwiga Kowalska’s animated road movie THE CAR THAT CAME BACK FROM THE SEA, a group of friends drive to the Polish Baltic coast and back. During their trip, their car and their country fall apart. The 22-minute fiction film RUNNY RUN RUN by Marie de Maricourt and Thomas Goguelin is about a teenager who gets caught up in a suicidal game on social media.
Morgane Frund’s graduation film BEAR was screened at this year’s Berlinale and became an award-winning festival favourite. Now her new experimental video essay OUT OF THE BLUE will be screened in Winterthur. Jela Hasler, who has also garnered festival success with her last film ON SOLID GROUND, will present her new 15-minute fiction film LA GRAVIDITÉ. Basil da Cunha will present his new short film 2720, which was shot in Lisbon and premiered at Visions du Réel in Nyon.
Swiss short films can also be seen in other sections: for example, in the Züri Shorts and Death by Sport programmes, as well as in the Sparks Competition. The Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur is an Oscar-, Bafta and EFA-qualifying festival, which means that winners of specific sections are eligible for these international awards.
You can find an overview of all Swiss films being screened in Winterthur here.
Industry Events
The annual Swiss Film School Day showcases Switzerland’s five major undergraduate degree programmes. ECAL (Lausanne), HEAD – Geneva, ZHdK (Zurich) and HSLU – Lucerne School of Art and Design (Animation/Video) each present a selection of their current short films.
As part of the Industry Lab, SWISS FILMS is hosting its annual SWISS FILMS Previews at the Cameo cinema. Directors and producers will present four soon-to-be-released short films. The invited sales agents and festival delegates have the exclusive opportunity to discover new Swiss productions with international potential.
In cooperation with the festival, SWISS FILMS has organised a panel discussion to examine audience design more closely. The international speakers include Paul Rieth (expert in audience design, Film University Babelsberg, Potsdam), Inga Diev (content acquisitions & sales, Ouat Media) as well as Swiss producers Olivier Zobrist (Langfilm) and Gabriela Bussmann (GoldenEggProduction). Sylvain Vaucher, short film consultant at SWISS FILMS, will moderate the panel discussion.
In collaboration with Unifrance, Wallonie Bruxelles Images and SODEC Québec, SWISS FILMS has invited international festival delegates to the Industry Brunch, providing the opportunity to network with Swiss and international filmmakers and producers.