„Verflixt verliebt“ by Peter Luisi

Swiss day at Cannes Film Festival - 2 short films in competition

At the 59th Cannes Film Festival, taking place from May 17-28, 2006, Switzerland presents up-and-coming talents of Swiss filmmaking as part of the official «All the Cinemas of the World» event. Among them are «Mein Name ist Eugen» by Michael Steiner, «Garçon Stupide» (Stupid Boy) by Lionel Baier, «Straehl» by Manuel Flurin Hendry, and «Verflixt verliebt» (Why We Try) by Peter Luisi. Switzerland will be represented in the official program (released today at a press conference in Paris) with the animated short film «Banquise» by Claude Barras and Cédric Louis, which will participate in the international short film competition. An additional short film, «Hunde» (Dogs) by Mathias Huser (School of Art and Design, Zurich) will compete in the Cinéfondation section exclusively for school productions. The sections «Semaine de la critique» and «La Quinzaine des réalisateurs», in which the co-production «Ca brûle» (It burns) by Claire Simon (Co-production: Vega Film, Zurich) will be shown, are held in parallel. Final selections for these two festival sections will be announced on April 26th and May 2nd, respectively. Swiss Federal Councilor Pascal Couchepin will be in attendance at Cannes for the first time. He has been invited to a conference for European Ministers of Culture.





No less than four films which were co-produced by Swiss production companies will be shown in the festival’s main sections: «Juventude em marcha» directed by Pedro Costa and co-produced by the Ticino-company Ventura Films, will participate in the international competition. Also co-produced by Ventura Films and having a special showing as part of the official program is the Italian film «Volevo solo vivere» by Mimmo Calopresti. In the «A certain regard» section, the French-German-Swiss co-production «To Get to Heaven First You Have To Die» by Tajikistan director Djamshed Uzmonov (Production: Saga Films, Lausanne) will be played. Finally, the film «Ca brûle» by Claire Simon will be presented in the parallel section «La Quinzaine des réalisateurs» (Production: Vega Films, Zurich).

During the “Swiss Day”, taking place on May 23rd, the following feature films will be shown, with directors and main actors and actresses in attendance: “Mein Name ist Eugen/My name is Eugen” (Kontraproduktion/C-Films, Zurich), “Garçon Stupide/Stupid Boy” (Saga Production, Lausanne), “Straehl” (Dschoint Ventschr, Zurich), and “Verflixt verliebt/Why We Try” (Spotlight Media, Zurich). Featured in the short film program are winners of the 2005 and 2006 Swiss Film Prize: “Chyenne” by Alexander Meier (Fama Film, Zurich), and “Terra Incognita“ by Peter Volkart (Reckfilm, Zurich), along with “Frohe Ostern/Happy Easter” by Ulrich Schaffner, “La Limace” (The slug) by Tania Zambrano-Ovalle and Anthony Vouardoux, “Visite médicale” (Medical visit) by Felix von Muralt, “Wir sind dir treu” (We will be faithful to you) by Michael Koch, “Fledermäuse im Bauch” (Bats in the stomach) by Thomas Gerber, “30 Sekunden Schweiz/Switzerland in 30 Seconds” by Chris Niemeyer, and “Nouvel Ordre” (New order) by Jean-Daniel Schneider, Gregory Bindschedler, and Ausonio Tavares de Sousa. The “All the Cinemas of the World” program is in its second year and will present new trends in filmmaking from Russia, Singapore, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Israel, Venezuela, and Switzerland. Serge Sobczynski selected the films for this festival program.



At the “Ateliers du Festival”, an event where new film projects can be further developed, Ursula Meier will participate to work on her feature film “Home” (Box Productions, Lausanne).



SWISS FILMS nominated Christof Neracher, producer of the film “Vitus”, for the “Producers on the move” event, which is organized by the European Film Promotion. Together with 21 European film producers who have already realized more than one film. Neracher will have a chance to promote his young production company “Hugofilm” and to build an international network of contacts.



For the fourth time, the Swiss Pavilion will be located in the International Village. SWISS FILMS, Film Location Switzerland, and the Locarno International Film Festival are taking part in this showcase of Swiss filmmaking. Located directly at the beach, the information and promotion platform allows Swiss participants at the International Film Market to engage in business transactions in a pleasant atmosphere.



Zurich, April 20, 2006