On Scuole Senza Frontiere day, Saturday August 6, the Film Department will be presenting 3 films by students at Bachelor’s and Master’s level. Organized by the CISA Film Academy, in collaboration with the BaseCamp, this day invites the 6 Swiss film schools to present a selection of their best short films.

Bitter September by Sophia Farantatou (alumna Bachelor Cinéma), edited by Olivia Frey (alumna Master Cinéma) (CH, 2022, 27’)

Synopsis: After the murder of Greek activist Zak Kostopoulos, his childhood friend Sophia Farantatou finds herself in the middle of a stalemate between media storytelling and the archive footage she shot with him. Only time can give her the space to mourn and come to terms with her friend’s absence.

Le Misanthrope by Noa Epars (Bachelor Cinéma student) (CH, 2022, 7’)

Synopsis: Captured and then released, a pike develops a fascination for humans. Made from content collected online (netfootage), the film takes an absurd and humorous look at human nature, exploring its best qualities as well as its worst failings.

Mountain Flesh by Valentina Shasivari, sound by Marine Maye (alumnae Master Cinéma) (CH, 2022, 19’)

Synopsis: As the hikers pass by, the village fountain gently laps and the church bells echo through the valley. But the summer idyll is disrupted by recurring noises. Will the mountain come or not? As a mountain village loses its foundations, the crumbling becomes stronger and stronger.

For the 4th year running, 15 Bachelor and Master students from the Film Department are taking part in BaseCamp, the Locarno Film Festival’s creative residency. In this 11-day program, students have the chance to meet almost 200 other young talents and take part in numerous meetings, workshops, screenings and events organized by the Festival.

The film Manga D’Terra directed by Basil Da Cunha (Bachelor alumnus and teacher) has been selected in International Competition at the Locarno Film Festival.

Synopsis: Rosa leaves her two children in Cape Verde and moves to Lisbon in the hope of offering them a better life. Victim of harassment by gang leaders and daily police violence, she tries to find comfort in the women of the community and through music.

The films of several Bachelor and Master cinema graduates are presented in the section Panorama Suisse. The short fiction film Flores del otro patio by Jorge Cadena, Bachelor and Master graduates, the first feature film by Carmen Jaquier Foudre, and that of Fisnik Maxville The Land Within were selected for this section by a commission made up of representatives from the Journées de Soleure, SWISS FILMS and the Swiss Film Academy.

Vuk Vukmanović, alumnus and teacher in the Film Department, also collaborated on the sound editing and mixing of Alexx196 & La plage de sable rose by Loïc Hobi, as well as the sound editing of Big Little Women by Nadia Fares and the final mix of Polish Prayers by Hanna Nobis. Gabriel Gonzalez (Bachelor Cinema alumnus) edited the film Night Shift directed by Kayije Kagame and Hugo Radi.

Finally, La Passion d’Aline, a project by Rokhaya Marieme Balde, Bachelor and Master Cinema alumna, has been selected for Alliance Locarno.

Born in Dakar, Senegal, Rokhaya Marieme Balde began her studies at Sup Imax Dakar (Institut Supérieur des Arts et Métiers du Numérique). After gaining experience in China and Montreal, she will complete her Bachelor’s degree in directing at HEAD - Geneva in 2020 with the film À la recherche d’Aline, followed by her Master’s degree in screenwriting at HEAD/ECAL in 2022. Rokhaya is currently working on her first feature film.

Alliance 4 Development (A4D), the co-development program for film projects from Europe and Switzerland organized by Locarno Pro, has announced the 11 projects selected for its 8th edition. The aim of the program is to ensure the commercial potential of the projects and foster long-term creative and commercial links between the various states.