20/12/2007

The early 2008 releases of two Swiss features and two documentaries are being backed to the tune of €63,000 by the funding body for cinema exports launched this year by the national promotional agency Swiss Films and the Federal Office of Culture (OFC).

Imagine Film Distribution is receiving €10,000 for the release of Vitus [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Davi
interview: Fredi M. Murer
film profile] in Belgium (March 19) and Luxembourg (January 9). Winner of the 2007 Swiss Film Prize, Fredi M. Murer’s film is also being released in France in early January by Océan Films, who are receiving €25,000.

With €12,000 in financial backing, Aquelarre Servicios Cinematográficos are launching the successful comedy Late Bloomers [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Bettina Oberli on Spanish screens on February 8.

Austrian distributor Polyfilm has also secured €7,000 for the February 22 release of Stefan Schwietert’s Echoes of Home [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – which will vie for the 2008 Swiss Film Prize for Best Documentary – and €3,000 for the January 4 release of Edgar Hagen’s Someone Beside You. The latter, which will be added to the Ventura Film catalogue with €6,000 in financial backing, will also hit German screens on February 7.

An annual sum of €181,300 is allocated to the international distribution of Swiss films and majority Swiss co-productions. Distributors are entitled to receive up to €25,000 per title and per country.

(Translated from French)