Co-Production Boost and Sturdy Funding System Fuel a Healthy Crop of Swiss Films at Visions du Réel

Those looking for homegrown talent and stories at the largest documentary film festival in Switzerland, Visions du Réel, will be spoiled for choice in 2025. This year's edition, which runs April 4-13, features a whopping 31 Swiss productions or co-productions, including the festival's opening film, Christian Frei's 'Blame.' Veteran Frei, the first-ever Swiss filmmaker to be nominated for an Oscar back in 2002 for 'War Photography,' stands alongside a crop of new talent in feature debuts such as Agostina Di Luciano and Leon Schwitter's 'The World Upside Down.'
On the healthy crop of Swiss productions and co-productions this year, Charlotte Ducos, documentary and marketing strategies consultant at the country's national agency Swiss Films, says it is 'incredibly important to have Swiss films across the program and to have the opening film of the festival not only be Swiss but also a very expected title by a renowned filmmaker.' Ducos also emphasizes how 43% of Swiss films are currently co-productions, a testament to the importance of collaborating with their European neighbors such as Italy, Germany and Austria. Last year, Switzerland was the Country in Focus at Cannes's Marché du Film, another possible booster.
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Frei praised the support available to filmmakers in his home country, saying that he is 'deeply grateful for the subsidy system we established in Switzerland.' It was thanks to that that the director raised enough to spend the time needed on such an ambitious project as his denouncement of COVID-19 misinformation. 'I was able to do so without having to speculate on box office or commercial interest,' he highlights.
Financing-wise, Switzerland offers various sources of funding at national and regional levels and from the private sector. The main avenue is the Film Investment Refund Switzerland (PICS), which primarily focuses on Swiss-international co-productions and is administered by the Federal Office of Culture. PICS refunds between 20-40% of eligible film production expenses if a project shoots for a minimum of five days in the country.
With topics that range from AI's relationship with human creativity to the woes and joys of modern fatherhood, the Swiss films at this year's Visions du Réel look into the world of yesterday, today and tomorrow through classic journalistic investigations, hybrid docu-fiction, and first-person narratives to showcase the best of national talent. With such a wealth of titles, Variety has selected a handful of films to look out for, which you can find below:
'Blame,' dir. Christian Frei
Frei, who made history as the first Oscar-nominated Swiss filmmaker with his searing investigation of war photography in the eponymous 2002 doc, returns to Visions du Réel with just as controversial of a proposition: a deep dive into the wave of misinformation that turned the scientists fighting the spread of SARS and subsequent COVID-19 pandemic into social pariahs. The festival's opening film, 'Blame,' poses a vital investigation into the relationship between politics, science and the media. Rise and Shine handles world sales.
'The World Upside Down,' dir. Agostina Di Luciano and Leon Schwitter
This Swiss-Argentinian co-production taps into magical realism, mysticism and popular folklore to blend documentary and fiction as it follows the inhabitants of a small village nestled in the Argentine countryside. It is there that Omar, a village elder and farmer, witnesses a strange light in the sky. Curious, he embarks on an inquisitive journey alongside his grandson, just as Roxane and Lily prepare a holiday home for a family in Buenos Aires, where they make a discovery that will open a path to new forms of knowledge. Indox Films handles festival sales.
'Wider Than the Sky,' dir. Valerio Jalongo
Veteran Italian filmmaker Jalongo, whose work has played widely at festivals such as Venice and Rome and who has collaborated with the likes of Brendan Gleeson and Valeria Golino, returns to Visions du Réel with a film looking at how AI interacts with human emotion and creativity. 'Wider Than the Sky' parades scientific labs and artists' studios with those working close to the intersection of AI and neuroscience to pose the question: can AI positively shape the future of humanity?
'Colostrum,' dir. Sayaka Mizuno
Mizuno's 2016 mid-length documentary 'Kawasaki Keirin' won the Prix du Jury at Visions du Réel for most innovative Swiss film of all competitive sections. She returns to the festival with 'Colostrum,' a look at the relationship between a farmer in the Swiss Alps and his seasonal volunteer, a thirty-something woman from the city who is passionate about animal welfare and ecofeminism. The film zooms into the characters' differences to find their commonalities, as well as pay homage to the rhythms of traditional farming. Stranger Films Sales handles world sales.
'Dads,' dir. David Maye
After screening his feature debut 'Les Grandes Traversées' at Visions du Réel in 2017, Maye is back at the festival with a close look at modern fatherhood. The film follows four fathers or fathers-to-be as they talk through expectations, fears and taboos around fatherhood, such as questions about abandonment, raising daughters, and perpetuating harmful masculine stereotypes.
'Sons of Icarus,' dir. Daniel Kemény
On his third feature documentary, Kermény goes personal by sharing the story of his family: the director is European, and his brother is Cuban, with their father having left West Germany in the 1970s to escape the ghosts of fascism and finally settling in Cuba years later. In 'Sons of Icarus,' the filmmaker sets off to North America in search of his family, eventually struggling to connect with his reserved father. Through the medium of film, Kermény finds a space to mend old wounds and tell a visual story where words would fail.
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USA Today

2 hours ago

• USA Today

'Elio' star Zoe Saldaña lives for winning 'cool mom points' with her kids

How does Zoe Saldaña follow up an Academy Award win? By starring in a Pixar animated movie. Her kids think one is cooler than the other, and it might not be the one you expect. 'Definitely winning an Oscar, because they're playing soccer right now,' Saldaña says. 'They're like, 'Mom! Oscar is like the World Cup!' And then my third son was like, 'What? You got it for supporting actress, right?' And I'm just like, 'Oh, Zen. Thank you for keeping me on my toes.' 'But they're always proud of the fact that I'm making an effort in wanting to cater to films that they can watch right now.' Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox Saldaña has starred in big franchises like 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and 'Avatar' but also stayed busy in the animation space, with roles in the 'Maya and the Three' miniseries, 'Missing Link,' 'My Little Pony: The Movie' and now Pixar's 'Elio.' Saldaña voices Olga Solis, the aunt and guardian of an 11-year-old boy named Elio (Yonas Kibreab) who wishes he could be abducted by aliens and is picked up by a spaceship full of colorful creatures. The "Emilia Pérez" star always wants her sons – twins Cy and Bowie, 10, and Zen, 8 – to be proud of her, and 'my kids are absolutely revelations to me every single day,' Saldaña says. 'They're my biggest teachers. And obviously I say that behind their backs. I never want them to feel completely responsible for my growth, but they are teaching me a lot by just growing around me and evolving and setting their boundaries and claiming their space and revealing themselves to themselves.' By being in stories that appeal to younger audiences, 'it just contributes to my deeper education on wanting to know how to be a better mom to my kids,' she adds. 'I just want to be cool for a longer time than possible. In my mind, I feel like that this gives me cool mom points.' Her character in 'Elio,' though, has to figure out how to be a mom. Olga is an Air Force major who's put her dreams of being an astronaut on hold to care for her nephew, and they struggle to get along. When Elio gets beamed up to space and goes on his adventures there, a clone Elio is sent back to Earth to take his place. And this one, Elio 2.0, is agreeable, generally compliant and overall 'too perfect,' Saldaña says. 'That sounds in theory like a perfect Mother's Day, where the mom has a yes day,' Saldaña says. 'Can I make you some broccoli with that? Yes. Do you want to pick up after yourself? Absolutely. But if that were to happen in reality in my life, I would be like at the hospital with my kids, like there's something wrong with my child. Why he's saying yes to everything I'm proposing?! 'With Olga, even though everything on the surface was fine, something was unsettling. That woke up that maternal instinct in her to, to really say, 'OK, I may not understand my kid, but I love my kid so much so that I know when he's off, I know when he's not being himself.' ' Saldaña, who next stars in "Avatar: Fire and Ash" (in theaters Dec. 19), enjoys collaborating with kids on movie projects. 'It's shorter work hours when you work with children,' she says. 'You don't have to do those long 14-hour days. If all your scenes are with that child, you get to go home when they go home and I kind of love that. 'It's easier for me to work with other kids than to work with my own. I can't really imagine ever being able to work with my own kids because I wouldn't be able to separate being their mom at all times.' A couple of Saldaña's sons have expressed some interest in acting. She and husband Marco Perego 'would support our children if this is what they would want to pursue," Saldaña says. "But so far, the moment we go, 'Well, come on, let's wake up at 4 o'clock in the morning, let's get on the road for two hours, let's memorize these 10 pages,' they're like, 'Uh, I don't think so.' '

Buzz Feed

4 hours ago

• Buzz Feed

Lesser-Known Movie Facts You Might Not Know

Before The Devil Wears Prada was even published, Fox 2000 snapped up the film rights in a preemptive deal after reading 100 pages and an outline. The manuscript by Lauren Weisberger, a former assistant to Vogue editor Anna Wintour, was generating significant industry buzz. Studio exec Carla Hacken recognized its cinematic potential and moved quickly to option it in 2003. Tasked with writing was Aline Brosh McKenna, who found it hard for anyone in the fashion world to talk to her because they feared being blackballed by Anna. According to McKenna, she did find someone (whom she will never name) who spoke to her, and then read the script. After reading the script, they told her, "The people in this movie are too nice. No one in that world is too nice. They don't have to be, and they don't have time to be." McKenna took the note and made "everyone a bit busier and meaner." The Devil Wears Prada isn't just one of the most iconic fashion films of the 2000s — it's a landmark in fashion cinema, period. But despite it being set in the fashion world, the film had a modest wardrobe budget of just $100,000, pushing legendary costume designer Patricia Field (who is best known for work on Sex and the City) to tap into her deep fashion Rolodex. Field envisioned Andy Sachs as a "Chanel girl" and personally reached out to the fashion house, leveraging her longtime relationship and sharing the script. Chanel eagerly came on board, excited to see their designs on a younger character. This partnership, of course, famously led to Andy's iconic Chanel boots moment. Field ended up pulling about a million dollars worth of clothes for the film. Her work on the movie was also recognized with an Oscar nomination for Best Costume in case you're wondering, Field imagined Miranda Priestly as someone who wore Donna Karan. She ended up pulling many archival pieces from Donna Karan for the film. After seeing a very rough cut of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977, directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Brian De Palma were skeptical, with Coppola saying that they were concerned for George Lucas. The early version lacked finished visual effects, had scenes of WWII dogfights as place holders for space fights, and had no music. All added up, it made it hard for viewers to grasp what Lucas's full vision was. Steven Spielberg, however, was one of the few who believed in the film from the beginning and predicted it would be a massive hit. Wicked was always meant to be a movie. Before it became a Broadway phenomenon, Universal had already acquired the rights to Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel with the intention of turning it into a film. However, producer Marc Platt struggled to adapt it into a screenplay, saying, "[It] felt that it was missing something." One day, he got a call from composer Stephen Schwartz, who knew he had the rights, and Schwartz asked him if he had ever thought of making it into a musical. That's when the "lightbulb went off" in his head, and Platt decided to work with Schwartz to make it into a musical. He thought that if the musical was successful enough, it could be turned into a movie. The term "prequel" is often associated with the Star Wars prequel films. However, those weren't the first movies to use the word. The 1979 movie Butch and Sundance: The Early Years is credited as being the film that helped popularize the term. The movie was a prequel to 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In 1988, when it was announced that Michael Keaton was cast as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's Batman, fans were outraged and very skeptical, reportedly sending over 50,000 protest letters to Warner Bros. At the time, Keaton was best known for comedic roles like Mr. Mom, and many felt he lacked the physicality and gravitas required to play the Dark Knight. Critics and fans also feared that, because of his casting, the film would be too campy or repeat the tone of the 1960s TV series. Similar to Michael Keaton, fans were not happy that Heath Ledger had been cast as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Today, it's hard to even imagine anyone else in the Oscar-winning role. However, when it was first announced that he would be playing the role in 2006, people online lost their collective shit, thinking he was too much of a "pretty boy" for the role, wouldn't have the chops to do it, and overall just a really bad choice. Some even campaigned for him to be removed from the part. After Chris Farley's death (who was originally cast as the voice of Shrek), Nicolas Cage was offered the role by his friend and the head of DreamWorks, Jeffrey Katzenberg. However, Cage turned down the role because he didn't want to play an ugly green ogre. In a 2013 interview with Today, he clarified what he meant by that when he turned down voicing the character, saying, "Truth is, I'm not afraid to be ugly in a movie.... When you're drawn, in a way it says more about how children are going to see you than anything else, and I so care about that." In All About Eve, Bette Davis as Margo Channing wears an off-the-shoulder silk cocktail dress in the party scene that is not only one of the most iconic dresses in film history, but has also become synonymous with Davis herself. Legendary costume designer Edith Head designed the dress; however, it was not meant to be off the shoulder — it was supposed to be a square neckline. The dress was made late and delivered to the set right before filming the scene. According to Head, she came to the studio to find Davis wearing a dress that "didn't fit at all... Someone had miscalculated, and the entire bodice and neckline were too big." Horrified, Head prepared to go tell the film's director that the dress was not ready, but Davis shrugged it off, pulled it down around her shoulders, and quipped, "Don't you like it better like this anyway?" As part of her contract, Glenn Close got to keep all her Cruella de Vil costumes from 101 Dalmatians and 102 Dalmatians. However, according to Close, when Disney "found out how expensive they were, they were unhappy that it was in my contract." Disney then offered to create replica outfits for her to take instead of the originals, but she said no. It's hard to imagine anyone other than Emma Thompson as the deliciously wicked Baroness in Cruella — her performance was pitch-perfect and effortlessly commanding. But surprisingly, she wasn't Disney's first pick for the role. The studio initially eyed Nicole Kidman to play the icy fashion designer. Also, the original live-action Cruella de Vil, Glenn Close, is an executive producer on Cruella. Elton John's journey with Disney began when lyricist Tim Rice was tapped to help complete Aladdin following the death of Howard Ashman, who passed away from complications related to AIDS in 1991, just months before Beauty and the Beast was released. Rice had been brought in to collaborate with composer Alan Menken (who had had a musical partnership with Ashman), but when Disney began work on The Lion King, Menken was unavailable. Looking for a new musical partner, Rice suggested none other than Elton John. The pairing proved legendary, resulting in one of the most iconic and beloved soundtracks in Disney history. The two had worked together in 1982 on John's song "Legal Boys." The Wizard of Oz may be a beloved classic today, but it wasn't a box office hit when it premiered in 1939. With a massive budget for its time, the film struggled to earn back its production costs. Despite critical acclaim, its initial theatrical run fell short financially. It wasn't until years later — thanks to frequent re-releases and television broadcasts — that the film finally turned a profit. Also, the reason the film has become such an iconic piece of pop culture is that starting in 1956, it began having yearly TV showings that helped introduce it to new generations of kids over the decades. The first gay kiss in a film was in 1927's Wings. The movie is about two World War I combat pilots and close friends fighting for the same woman's affection. But many have pointed out over the decades that the film has a subtle gay subtext about the two being more than just friends. Wings is also noted as the first film to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Truman Capote, who wrote the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's, disliked Audrey Hepburn's performance as Holly Golightly in the film adaptation. He had really wanted Marilyn Monroe (who turned down the role after being advised against it) to play the character. In fact, Hepburn wasn't even a second, third, or fourth choice to play Holly. After Monroe turned down the role, the producers considered casting Debbie Reynolds, Doris Day, and Elizabeth Taylor in the part before finally settling on Audrey. And for the record, Capote didn't just hate Hepburn's performance; he hated the entire movie in general because it steered away from the darker themes in his book. In the original script for The Addams Family, it was supposed to be revealed at the end that Uncle Fester truly was an imposter. However, Christina Ricci voiced her concern about that ending to the film's director, Barry Sonnenfeld, who decided to change the scene after talking to her. According to Sonnenfeld, the entire cast was unhappy with that ending during the first table read, except for Christopher Lloyd. In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Sonnenfeld explained how, with some nudging from Anjelica Huston, Ricci made a really thoughtful case: "Christina explained to me how the audience would be left emotionally adrift if it wasn't the real Fester. Does that mean the real Fester is still out there? And how could Gomez just give up his search for his brother after all these years just because this impostor came into their family?" Contrary to popular belief (internet lore?) Leonardo DiCaprio never turned down the role of Max in Hocus Pocus because he couldn't have accepted even if he wanted it. It's a bit convoluted, but he was asked to come in to read for it, but with director Kenny Ortega being fully aware that he was unavailable to do the movie because he was already committed to filming What's Eating Gilbert Grape and This Boy's Life. According to Ortega, DiCaprio was brought in to read for the role because the casting people knew he would be very good and that it would inspire Ortega to find the right guy to play Max. Tom Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis paid for two Forrest Gump scenes (one was the scene where Forrest runs across the US) to be filmed out of their own pockets. According to Hanks, Paramount refused to increase the film's $55 million budget, and just the running scene alone would be very expensive to shoot. Hanks and Zemeckis agreed to pay for the scenes in return for a larger percentage of the film's box office gross. He said that they both put in a lot of money, but it paid off! Reportedly, Hanks earned $65 million from his percentage of the box office gross. The iconic boulder-rolling scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark is an homage to a very similar thing that happened in the 1954 Scrooge McDuck comic "The Seven Cities of Cibola." In the comic, Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, and Louie travel to a lost city, where they find an emerald idol. However, noticing it is booby-trapped, they decide not to take it. What they don't realize is that they have been followed by the Beagle Boys, who decide to steal the idol, which sets off a giant boulder that chases after them. George Lucas — who came up with Indiana Jones — was a big fan of the Scrooge McDuck comics (which were created by Carl Barks) growing up and told Edward Summer, a writer who put together a book of Barks' Scrooge comics, that the boulder scene in Raiders was a "conscious homage" to "The Seven Cities of Cibola." In a sort of full-circle moment, the Raiders logo would go on to inspire the DuckTales one (which of course is a classic cartoon series about Scrooge McDuck's adventures): Whitney Houston was originally supposed to sing a cover of Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" as the main theme song for The Bodyguard. However, they decided to switch the song after they found out that Paul Young was doing a cover of the song for the soundtrack to Fried Green Tomatoes. Kevin Costner then suggested to David Foster (who was producing The Bodyguard soundtrack) that it should be "I Will Always Love You." They also almost ended up doing a slightly different cover of "I Will Always Love You," since the only version Foster could find was Linda Ronstadt's cover. But when Foster spoke with Dolly Parton (who, of course, wrote it), she told him they needed to do her version because it included the "And I wish you joy and happiness" final verse. In the original script for Back to the Future, Marty McFly was supposed to return to 1985 by driving the DeLorean into a nuclear test site in the Nevada desert, where a nuclear explosion would generate the 1.21 gigawatts of power needed. However, they were ordered by the studio to cut a million dollars from the budget. As a result, Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis rewrote the climax to take place at the Hill Valley clock tower, using a lightning strike to power the time machine instead. This change not only saved the budget, but it became one of the most iconic scenes in movie history. And lastly, prior to its release in 1997, many critics and Hollywood insiders predicted that Titanic would be a box office bomb. And there were several reasons why it was predicted to be a failure. One of which was that, at the time, it was the most expensive movie ever made and was getting compared to the costly Waterworld, which had been released a couple of years before and had not managed to be a huge success because it, like Titanic, was the then–most expensive movie ever made. Another was that Titanic also took a long time to film. Going way over schedule delayed the release of the movie, as it was originally meant to be released during the summer (the blockbuster movie season). Moving its release date to December set off red flags and only added to the "doomed film" narrative.

Tom's Guide

5 hours ago

• Tom's Guide

'The Life of Chuck' star discusses screening film with director Mike Flanagan, his favorite performances from the Stephen King adaptation and more

"The Life of Chuck" is a 2025 summer movie I've long been anticipating. Directed by horror icon Mike Flanagan, this movie is adapted from a Stephen King short story about a man, Chuck (Tom Hiddleston), whose death seems to coincide with the end of the year, it won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and since then, it's been on my radar as a potential Oscar contender. But it only just debuted in the U.S. earlier this month, with select theaters premiering it on June 6 and a wide release on June 13. That made it one of seven must-watch movies to come out on June 6, and it also means you might not have yet had a chance to see it. Lucky for you, I managed to sit down with "The Life of Chuck" star David Dastmalchian. He plays a grieving parent named Josh in the film, and I got to talk to him about the movie — which, for the record, I saw and loved — and why it needs to be the next reason you go to your local cinema. Now, while "The Life of Chuck" might not be a familiar name to you, Mike Flanagan probably is and Stephen King almost certainly is. And if you know anything about those two, you'd likely go into this movie expecting an eerie horror/thriller. It was a really special night, and there was not a dry eye in the house." But that's not what this movie is about. Instead, it's a deeply emotional film, at times uplifting and at times heartbreaking. So I wasn't entirely shocked to learn that when Flanagan screened the movie for some close friends, including Dastmalchian, it made several members of the cast and crew tear up. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. "I cried twice when I saw the movie for the first time," Dastmalchian recounted. "[It] was at Mike's house. He showed a group of us close friends from the game night, showed us "[The] Life of Chuck," and we also, that same night, watched [writer/director] Bryan Fuller's [upcoming movie] "Dust Bunny." It was a really special night, and there was not a dry eye in the house." As for what made Dastmalchian tear up? An incredible performance from Matthew Lillard in the first act of the movie. "When Matt Lillard tries to, you know, encapsulate what it is that's going on with him and why things are starting to feel almost pointless in the day-to-day activities of what people are trying to do. It's such a beautiful speech. It's such a beautiful moment. And I just, I don't know, that's one that will always stand out, very special in my mind." Lillard's performance isn't the only one to watch in "The Life of Chuck" — though it is incredible. In fact, I don't think that there's a single bad performance in the movie, something Dastmalchian was quick to agree with me on. "Every single performance, from Rahul [Kohli] to Sam [Sloyan], Karen [Gillan], it's just a wealth of incredible, incredible work." But when I pressed Dastmalchian for a performance that stood out above the rest, he had a clear answer, and one I couldn't argue with, having seen the film myself. "Chiwetel [Ejiofor], in many ways, carries this film. Dastmalchian declared as I nodded in agreement. "I know that Tom [Hiddleston] is Chuck, and Tom embodies Chuck. And what he does is so wonderful, and it's like a centerpiece of the film. But Chiwetel really carries on his shoulders the weight of what's happening in the world." The Olivier Award-winning actor was also Dastmalchian's scene partner for the film, and as David was quick to point out, that was an incredible experience in its own right. "He's the person in these moments of consultation and conversation with characters like mine, like Karen's, like Matt's, and — my god — can I just say what an incredible scene partner that guy is? Like when I got to give that monologue about the internet and Pornhub and all that stuff, as silly as some of that is, it's also very heartbreaking. And getting to make eye contact with such a fine and deep, resonant actor was really cool." As I already mentioned, "The Life of Chuck" stars Tom Hiddleston as Charles "Chuck" Krantz, whose death seems to coincide with the death of the universe. The story is told in reverse chronological order, starting with the end of Chuck's life and working its way back to Chuck's childhood as an orphan living with his grandparents (Mark Hamill and Mia Sara). Alongside Hiddleston, the movie also stars Jacob Tremblay, Benjamin Pajak and Cody Flanagan as younger versions of Chuck. Watch 'The Life of Chuck' in theaters now Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made. Here's what he's been watching lately: