Films about Daniel Schmid, Berlusconi and Muhai Tang at festival in Biarritz

Three Swiss documentary film productions will be screened at the 24th International Festival of Audiovisual Programs (FIPA) in Biarritz.

21.01.2011

Three Swiss documentary film productions will be screened at the 24th International Festival of Audiovisual Programs (FIPA) in Biarritz (January 24-30, 2011). The following films have been selected for screening in competition: “Sorelle d’Italia” (Sister Of Italy) by Lorenzo Buccella and Vito Robbiani, a film about what Italian women think of Berlusconi; “Muhai Tang – Ocean Of Music,” the film portrait by Markus Unterfinger about Chinese conductor Muhai Tang’s extraordinary life; as well as the portrait about the late Swiss cineaste “Daniel Schmid – Le chat qui pense.” Moreover, the well-known Swiss documentary filmmaker Richard Dindo is a member of the jury.

The highly topical documentary film "Sorelle d'Italia" (Sister Of Italy), produced by Amka Film (Savosa), will celebrate its premiere in Biarritz, while the film portrait "Muhai Tang - Ocean Of Music" will first be screened at the Solothurn Film Festival before film journalist Markus Unterfinger presents his 60-minute portrait in Biarritz. The film portrays conductor Muhai Tang, who was supported by Herbert von Karajan, at work as chief conductor of the famous Zurich Chamber Orchestra and the nascent Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra.

The film portrait "Daniel Schmid - Le chat qui pense" by Benny Jaberg and Pascal Hofmann will be presented in a festival programme especially devoted to aspects of European production. The film has been invited to numerous festivals during the past year and was honoured with the Babelsberg Media Award 2010.

The International Festival of Audiovisual Programs (FIPA) ranks among the most important in Europe, showcasing outstanding films in terms of content and form for the cinema or television, regardless of their manner of production. The numerous film professionals attending the festival have the opportunity to discover fifteen further Swiss film productions at the television trade fair, FIPATEL, which runs parallel to the festival.

The festival's artistic director is Italian Teresa Cavina, who was responsible both for the film selection and as co-director of the Locarno International Film Festival from 1998 to 2005.

Zurich, January 21, 2011

 

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