23/09/2005

Despite fluctuations in its production, French-speaking Swiss cinema has always occupied pride of place at the Namur international French-speaking film Festival (Belgium). It will do once more for the 20th edition, 23 - 30 September, since Swiss-French production, particularly well represented, has infiltrated every section! Beginning with the feature competition where Winter without a fire by Greg Zglinski (CAB Productions, Lausanne), competes, and as for documentaries, we find Exit by Fernand Melgar (production Climage, Lausanne) – which is enjoying a success with the public in Roman Switzerland– and finally among the shorts Le cri du sapin by Samuel Vuillermoz and Raphaël Michoud has been selected.

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Ryna [+see also:
trailer
film profile], original first fiction feature by Ruxandra Zenide, is on the bill in the Panorama section, and Clandestins (1997) by Denis Chouinard and Nicolas Wadimoff, previously selected for Namur, figures in the retrospective programme concocted for the festival’s 20th celebration. Nicolas Wadimoff also sits on the jury for the documentary competition and presents L’accord, film co-directed with Béatrice Guelpa dedicated to the Geneva Initiative, Swiss proposition in favour of peace between Palestine and Israël. Other Roman documentaries, such as Les hommes du tunnel byMarcel Schüpbach and Monotone, mon automne? by Marie-Jeanne Urech, also represent French-speaking colours at Namur.

For its 20th anniversary, the festival has also invited several Swiss directors to express themselves on topical subjects: Lionel Baier and Denis Rabaglia at a round-table dedicated to cultural diversity, Patricia Plattner, Elena Hazanov and Xavier Ruiz at the forum concentrating on production, and Pierre-Alain Meier and Denis Rabaglia discussing literary adaptation.

(Translated from French)