Industry Lab

Lagerplatz 19

An exclusive opportunity for industry professionals from the distribution, sales, and festival sectors to see excerpts of new Swiss shorts and discover new talents from Switzerland.

By invitation only

Technikumstrasse 8

The Swiss Industry Information format provides insight into current, politically relevant issues in the Swiss shorts scene. This year, we bring together (former) members of various Swiss funding committees to discuss their experiences, the work of the committees, and the role of shorts in film funding. Different funding agencies incorporate shorts into their structures in different ways. While funding opportunities created specifically for short films exist in some cases, shorts and feature-length productions are usually dealt with in the same committees, which are often subdivided by genre. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages, which this panel will explore from the perspective of the people working in the committees.

Moderator: Teresa Vena, Cinébulletin (CH)

Speakers: Maya Fahrni, Script Editor & Development Producer (CH); Bruno Quibilier, Base-Court (CH); Anna Thommen, Filmmaker & Director (CH)

In this keynote, Libertad Gills shares her experience of co-founding and working with the Guayaquil Analógico film collective in Ecuador, a group dedicated to researching analogue filmmaking practices in Guayaquil. From the Ruta sin cine guided walks through the cemetery of closed movie theaters, to found Super 8mm film community screenings, to experimental film practices of reappropriation or cachinería, and artisanal practices of film processing, the collective has proposed ways to think through cinema as a community-centered, practice-based, living research project.

Speaker: Libertad Gills, filmmaker, researcher, writer

In our first roundtable, we will discuss the significance of film collectives in various political and cultural contexts. What are the motivations behind the decision to work collectively? What conditions make this possible, but also necessary? And what impact can collectives have that would not be achieved otherwise?

Moderator: Giuseppe di Salvatore, Filmexplorer (CH)

Speakers: Eugene Rachkovsky, Tabor Productions (UKR); tba

A warm invitation to soup, bread, conversation, and brownies.

Co-hosted by Pro Short

Our second roundtable focuses on the opportunities and challenges that arise from the specific organizational forms of collectives. Working in a collective promises flexibility and independence, but how is this implemented in practice? How to assign responsibilities and how to handle conflicts? Representatives of Swiss collectives talk about the evolution of their organizations, discussing hurdles and the solutions they’ve found.

Moderator: tba

Speakers: Simon Jaquemet, 8horses (CH); Benoît Dietrich, Abordage (CH); Marwan Adballa Eissa, Team Tumult (CH)

Filmmaking and viewership are not isolated experiences. Under the often-misinterpreted term «community engagement», film festivals and other organizations are exploring how to increasingly involve their audiences and create a shared sense of ownership of their activities. Alchemy Film & Arts, based in the rural town of Hawick, Scotland, offers an innovative approach in this regard, providing a strategically intersecting year-round programme that includes artist residencies, a creative learning and skills development project, and its flagship event, Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, the UK's festival of experimental film. After a presentation by Alchemy, the discussion will be opened to the audience.

Speaker: Milo Clenshaw, Alchemy Film & Arts (UK)

The Market Meetings offer filmmakers and international professionals a low-threshold opportunity to make contacts and exchange ideas in short meetings. 25–30 invited experts from the festival, distribution, and Swiss film funding sectors are available to guests as conversation partners.

Lagerplatz 18