Swiss producer Thomas Reichlin, a partner in Geneva-based Alva Film, is one of this year's EFP's Producers on the Move. We chatted with him about producing arthouse films in Switzerland and his goals for developing the company.

Cineuropa: Alva Film was funded by a filmmaker collective initially focused on documentaries. When did you join?
Thomas Reichlin: I joined in 2019. My partner Britta Rindelaub funded the company in 2005 together with some other documentary filmmakers and university colleagues. It was a way to give the collective a legal structure. From there it started to develop as a production company for feature films and shorts, in addition to documentaries.

Was it the collective’s work ethic that inspired you to join it?
I graduated from the same Geneva university (HEAD) as Britta. It's a school with a more interdisciplinary philosophy. As a student, you’re in touch with most of the film departments. Which means it also fosters a more horizontal working practice. Back then, this really resonated with me. I was interested in the kind of films that this approach made possible. Britta and I have similar tastes in cinema, too.

And, in the meantime, you’ve been growing as a company. Are you still able to work without hierarchies?
No, but it's a mindset that still marks my work ethic. It has an impact on all my relationships with employees and collaborators. I try to be as considerate as possible. Exchanges and discussions between the talents and different departments should be as open and participative as possible. I guess this is a typical Swiss way of working, too. Within such a small industry as the Swiss one, we all try to help it to grow and gain strength. So we collaborate, not just on set, but also in a wider sense, to make our projects possible.

Among your most recent projects are Reinas [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Klaudia Reynicke
scheda film] by Klaudia Reynicke and Blackbird Blackberry Blackberry [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Elene Naveriani
scheda film] by Elene Naveriani. Both won the Swiss Film Award for Best Feature Film. They’re both international co-productions, too. How positive is the climate for co-productions in Switzerland?
What I can say for sure is that Switzerland is still a country that supports diversity, regardless of the size of its market. Compared to countries like France, with their Aide aux Cinémas du Monde programme, Switzerland is doing well at championing the need for diverse films.

How do you come across your projects?
Britta and I both mostly work with people whom we have good relations with, and on a long-term basis. Obviously, when you know each other, it’s an advantage: you can do things better, things are easier. You’re also better able to support a vision when you’re familiar with it, as opposed to having to learn it. So, over and above the projects we receive and which are proposed to us, it’s the authors behind them that interest us, because we know that we can draw mutual benefit from a working relationship that can be envisaged over the long term.

Are there any specific goals you’d like to achieve for Alva Film over the medium-term?
We've made films that have done well at international festivals and that have been sold in several countries and won awards. But beyond that, there's a certain frustration when you see the audience results for films. They're very prestigious films but, sometimes, unfortunately, they don't attract enough viewers. Economic interest aside, we're convinced that these films do good to the people who see them. They're films that bring hope and strength. So, compared to three or four years ago, when we were a young company that was very focused on achieving prestige above all else, we're trying to figure out how we can carry on with this while getting more people to see our films, because we think that's important.

Will you be bringing any new projects to Cannes?
I’ll have various feature films, such as Elene Naveriani’s new work. I want to understand what interest there is across the market and whether there are any partners willing to collaborate. Besides that, I’m looking forward to having the occasion to exchange notes with all these professional and highly talented producers. It's such a precious thing to participate in this kind of a programme, because there are people from different fields and different national backgrounds, all grappling with their own particular challenges. It's a chance for me to understand how all of them work. In my group, for example, there’s someone who focuses on genre films. That's something we don't really do in Switzerland. I’m curious to know more about how this is made possible. It's this kind of information exchange, which is often difficult to access and not necessarily quantifiable, that’s so valuable. And maybe we’ll find synergies with people we want to collaborate with.