Berlinale 2023

In 2022, the red carpet was rolled out for THE LINE by Ursula Meier and A PIECE OF SKY by Michael Koch. This year again, two coproductions from Switzerland will premiere in the most prestigious section of the Berlinale. The Swiss-Austrian-German-Luxembourg coproduction INGEBORG BACHMANN – JOURNEY INTO THE DESERT was produced by Katrin Renz (tellfilm, Zurich). It was directed by German director Margarethe von Trotta, who received a European Film Award for her lifetime achievement in Reykjavik in December. In 2017, Katrin Renz presented the Swiss coproduction ANIMALS by Greg Zglinski in the Berlinale Forum. The tellfilm coproduction SWING RIDE by Italian director Chiara Bellosi screened in the Berlinale Panorama 2022.

Also celebrating its world premiere in the International Competition is the French-Swiss coproduction THE PLOUGH by Philippe Garrel. The film was coproduced by Joëlle Bertossa (Close Up Films, Geneva), with cinematography by the renowed Swiss D.O.P. Renato Berta. For Close Up Films, this is the second competition film in Berlin, after 2020's THE SALT OF TEARS, also by French director Philippe Garrel. In the same year, their film YALDA, A NIGHT FOR FORGIVENESS, which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, screened in the Panorama. Close Up Film's last film THUNDER by Carmen Jaquier screened at TIFF in 2022 in the prestigious Platform section.

Producer Elena Tatti (Box Productions, Lausanne) is presenting two films at the Berlinale: The Swiss-French coproduction MY WORST ENEMY by French-Iranian director Mehran Tamadon is selected for the Encounters section. WHERE GOD IS NOT by the same director is screening in the Berlinale Forum. Tatti's fiction film LAST DANCE by Delphine Lehericey won the Audience Award at the 2022 Locarno Film Festival and is currently playing in Swiss cinemas.

The German-Swiss-Austrian coproduction SISI UND ICH by Frauke Finsterwald, coproduced by Anne Walser (C-Films, Zurich) premieres in the Panorama. In the Generation section, four Swiss directors will present their latest films: In the Generation Kplus Competition, Jenna Hasse presents her first feature L'AMOUR DU MONDE, produced by Langfilm - Bernard Lang AG (Olivier Zobrist, Anne-Catherine Lang) and Eva Rust and Lena von Döhren will show their animated short film POND, produced by Catpics (Sarah Born, Rajko Jazbec, Dario Schoch). Ella Rocca's experimental documentary short film CRUSHED, produced at the Lucerne School of Art and Design (HSLU), is selected for Generation 14plus Competition.

Two Swiss short films are in the selection of the Berlinale Shorts: BEAR by Morgane Frund (HSLU) and the Swiss-Rwandan coproduction TERRA MATER – MOTHER LAND  directed and produced by Kantarama Gahigiri.

Valentin Merz' first feature DE NOCHE LOS GATOS SON PARDOS (Andrea Film), honoured with a Special Mention for Best Debut Film at Locarno 2022, will celebrate its German premiere in the independent section Berlin Critic' Week.

Switzerland is also present at the Berlinale Series Market. The lavishly produced historical series DAVOS (Contrast Film, Ivan Madeo, Stefan Eichenberger) will be presented in the Up next: Germany section after its participation in the Berlinale Co-Pro Series 2019. The six-part series was produced together with German Letterbox Filmproduktion, in coproduction with Amalia Film, Swiss Radio and Television SRF and ARD Degeto, directed by Jan-Eric Mack, Anca Miruna Lăzărescu and Christian Theede. Four new series from Switzerland, also including DAVOS, will be presented in the first time showcase Swiss Series Previews, funded by SRG SSR in collaboration with SWISS FILMS.

A highlight of Swiss film history will be shown with the digitally restored version of the 1941 classic ROMEO AND JULIA AT THE VILLAGE by Valerien Schmidely and Hans Trommer, which has been restored by the Cinémathèque suisse. DORA OR THE SEXUAL NEUROSES OF OUR PARENTS by Stina Werenfels which premiered in the Panorama in 2015 (Dschoint Ventschr, Samir) will screen again in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section as part of a Special Screening at the Berlinale Talents. Krzysztof Kieslowski's 1994 landmark TROIS COULEURS: BLEU, coproduced by CAB Productions SA, Lausanne will be part of the Retrospective. 

An update on the film programme as well as information on SWISS FILMS industry activities during the European Film Market will follow.