When East Meets West

After Switzerland was in the spotlight as the guest country at festivals and film markets in France in 2024 and Germany in 2025, a number of festivals in Italy have invited Switzerland to participate as the focus country in 2026.

At the When East Meets West (WEMW) film market, representatives of the film industries from Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Baltic States will take centre stage at the film market’s East & West Focus and exchange insights on their projects, coproductions and financing possibilities, for example, at the Meet the GAS Spotlight Countries – Networking Session (January 19), among other things.

The Spotlight on GAS Countries panel, led by Tamara Tatishvili (MEDICI – The Film Funding Journey), will examine financing models and prospects in German-speaking countries (January 20). Lisa Barzaghi from the Switzerland Film Commission and Susa Katz from the Film Commission Zurich will participate in the panel discussion on behalf of Switzerland.  

Networking for producers

Several Swiss producers will take part in the various workshops of the Inspirational Labs offered at the WEMW film market: Michael Graf, Cloud Fog Haze Pictures (Unlocking Capital); Jean-Marc Fröhle, Point Prod (Amazing Intelligence); Azra Djurdjevic, Filmgerberei (Cold Open); Dea Gjinovci, Astrae Productions (Sustainable Leadership).

New projects in the Co-Production Forum

As part of the Co-Production Forum, two Swiss productions will be presented among the 22 selected projects in development: the third feature-length documentary PEARLS by Hanka Nobis, produced by First Hand Films and Maja Gehrig’s short animation film SOLITAIRE, produced by Langfilm.

This is IT is a work-in-progress section exclusively dedicated to feature films and hybrid works with a strong visual and artistic approach from Italy and the focus countries.

The teams will have the opportunity to pitch their work-in-progress projects to international sales agents and festival programmers. The feature film SEVDA by Ufuk Emiroglu, produced by Akka Films, has been selected as the Swiss production.

Three films will be screened at the Trieste Film Festival, which takes place parallel to the film market: SILENT REBELLION by Maria-Elsa Sgualdo and NO ONE WILL HURT YOU by Dino Hodić (both out of competition), as well as the short film ALL OTHER THINGS EQUAL by Anya Tsyrlina in the retrospective. Swiss actress Luna Wedler performs an award-winning leading role in the film SILENT FRIEND.

The partnership with the WEMW film market in Triest was initiated by SWISS FILMS in collaboration with MEDIA Desk Suisse, Switzerland Film Commission and the Film Commission Zurich. Deputy director at SWISS FILMS Andreas Bühlmann will participate in the industry programme in Triest.