Luca Guadagnino

©Alessio Bolzoni

GENEVA AWARD

This award recognizes the careers of personalities who have inspired their contemporaries through their artistic choices and the courage of their opinions. Luca Guadagnino, a prolific filmmaker known for Call Me by Your Name and Suspiria, will be on stage at the Théâtre Pitoëff to receive the Geneva Award and give a masterclass. The public will also be able to discover the film adaptation of his series We Are Who We Are.

MASTERCLASS & AWARD CEREMONY FRIDAY 12.11 / PITOËFF THEATER

WE ARE WHO WE ARE, SATURDAY 13.11 / THÉÂTRE LES SALONS

Riad Sattouf

© Marie Rouge

Film & Beyond

Each year, the Film & Beyond Award personally recognizes an interdisciplinary artist for his or her entire career, presented in the form of a retrospective. The French-Syrian author of successful comics (Les Cahiers d’Esther) but also filmmaker (Les Beaux Gosses), Riad Sattouf will be presented with this award after a Masterclass. The cult films Les Beaux Gosses and Jacky au Royaume des Filles, and the first season of the web series adaptation Les Cahiers d’Esther will be (re)discovered in cinema at GIFF.

MASTERCLASS, AWARD CEREMONY & SIGNING SATURDAY 13.11 / PITOËFF THEATER

Sabine Süsstrunk

Tales of Swiss Innovation

The GIFF is opening a new honorary section to pay tribute to Swiss personalities who have contributed to the progress of the audiovisual industry. This year, Professor Sabine Süsstrunk of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) will be honored for her scientific career that has revolutionized the engineering of image systems. She will give her lecture Facts, Fakes, and Fiction and will propose to the public to watch again a movie that inspired her: Hugo by Martin Scorcese.

CONFERENCE FACTS, FAKES, AND FICTION FRIDAY 12.11 / FONCTION : CINÉMA

INTERNATIONAL FEATURES COMPETITION

• Ainhoa Rodríguez (director) – Mighty Flash (Destello Bravio)
• Angelique Molina (co-director) – I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking)
• Damien Odoul (director) – Theo and the Metamorphosis (Theo et les métamorphoses)
• Jean Libon (director) – For a Fistful of Fries (Poulet frites)
• Kelley Kali (co-director) – I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking)
• Nicolas Peduzzi (director) – Ghost Song
• Yves Hinant (director) – For a Fistful of Fries (Poulet frites)

INTERNATIONAL SERIES COMPETITION

• Alexander Wood (HBO Europe representative) – The Informant (A besúgó)
• Alina Gvasaliia (actrice) – Dreams of Alice
• Alina Pozdiakova (productrice) – Dreams of Alice
• Anastasiia Volkova (screenwriter) – Dreams of Alice
• Anna Arutyunova (productrice) – Dreams of Alice
• Anna Leonteva (productrice) – Dreams of Alice
• Anna Zackrisson (director) – Snow Angels (Snöänglar)
• Anna Zavorszky (producer) – The Informant (A besúgó)
• Bálint Szentgyörgyi (creator) – The Informant (A besúgó)
• Björn Hlynur Haraldsson (co-creator, co-director, actor) – Blackport (Verbúð), Lamb
• Dalibor Matanić (co-creator) – The Last Socialist Artefact (Područje bez signala)
• David Schalko (creator) – Me and the Others (Ich und die Anderen)
• Ezio Abbate (creator) – Ink Agains Bullets
• Ivan Golomovzyuk (producteur) – Dreams of Alice
• Mette Heeno (creator) – Snow Angels (Snöänglar)
• David Schalko (creator) – Me and the Others (Ich und die Anderen)

INTERNATIONAL IMMERSIVE WORKS COMPETITION

• Audrey Pacart (producer) – Marco & Polo Go Round
• Barry Gene Murphy (co-creator) – Goliath – Playing With Reality
• David Adler (co-creator) – End of Night
• Jakob Kudsk Steensen (co-creator) – Liminal Lands
• Mamali Shafahi (co-creator) – Sacred Hill
• Oriane Hurard (producer) – The Passengers (Les Passagers)
• Ziad Touma (co-creator) – The Passengers (Les Passagers)

EUROPEAN SCRIPT AWARD

• Henriette Steenstrup (screenwriter) – Pørni
• Ida Håndlykken Kvernstrøm (producer) – Pørni
• Matt Baker (screenwriter) – Before We Die
• Patrik Gyllström (screenwriter) – Agatha Christie’s Hjerson

Highlights

• Agnès Boutruche (co-producer) – La Vie de J.C.
• Anna Lena Miano (actress) – Tschugger
• Arsène Junior Page (actor) – Tschugger
• Cyril Thurston (Swiss distributor) – Full Time (À plein temps)
• David Constantin (co-creator, director, actor) – Tschugger
• Dragan Vuijc (actor) – Tschugger
• Emilie Joly (co-creator) – The Legend of Kami (La Légende de Kami)
• Eric Gravel (director) – Full Time (À plein temps)
• Frédéric Baillif (director) – The Fam (La Mif)
• Garance La Fata (actress) – La Vie de J.C.
• Hagai Levi (director) – Scenes From a Marriage
• Izabela Rieben (producer) – Sacha, La Vie de J.C.
• Johannes Bachmann (co-writer, second assistant director) – Tschugger
• Karine Guignard (actress) – Sacha
• Lea Bertucci – Kwai Shing West Estate
• Léa Fazer (co-creator) – Sacha
• Leo Russo (co-writer, second assistant director) – Tschugger
• Lena Furrer (actress) – Tschugger
• Lukas Graf (second assistant DOP) – Tschugger
• Maria Beltran (co-creator) – The Legend of Kami (La Légende de Kami)
• Martin Charrière (creator) – Unframed : Paul Klee’s Hand Puppets (Hors-Cadre : Les Marionnettes de Paul Klee)
• Max Karli (co-producer) – Sacha
• Nicole Castioni (co-creator) – Sacha
• Pascal Greco – Kwai Shing West Estate
• Pauline Gygax (co-producer) – Sacha
• Radu Jude (director) – Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc)
• Rafael Kistler (co-writer, cinematographer) – Tschugger
• Rutgers Reijnders (composer) – Tschugger
• Sophie Broustal (actress) – Sacha
• Sophie Toth (producer) – Tschugger
• Stephan Eicher (musician) – It’s Alive: A Journey into Invisible Cinema
• Sylvain Joly (co-creator) – The Legend of Kami (La Légende de Kami)
• Thibaut Evrad (actor) – Sacha
• Udo Kier (actor) – Swan Song
• Valdimar Jóhannsson (director) – Lamb
• Vanille Lehmann (actress) – Sacha
• Véronique Vergari (co-producer) – La Vie de J.C.
• Vincent Veillon (actor) – La Vie de J.C.
• Yann Marguet (humorist, actor) – La Vie de J.C., Marguet x Nemra : Twilight
• Yacine Nemra (humorist) – Marguet x Nemra : Twilight
• Zep (creator) – La Vie de J.C.

• Agnès Boutruche (producer) – La vie de J.C.
• Annalena Miano (actor) – Tschugger
• Arsène Junior Page (actor) – Tschugger
• Cyril Thurston (Swiss distributor) – Full Time
• David Constantin (screenwriter, director, actor) – Tschugger
• Dragan Vuijc (actor) – Tschugger
• Emilie Joly (creator) – The Legend of Kami
• Eric Gravel (director) – Full Time
• Frédéric Baillif (director) – The Fam
• Garance La Fata – La vie de J.C.
• Hagai Levi (director) – Scenes From A marriage
• Izabela Rieben (producer) – Sacha, La vie de J.C.
• Johannes Bachmann (screenwriter, second assistant director) – Tschugger
• Karine Guignard (actor) – Sacha
• Léa Fazer (co-creator) – Sacha
• Leandro Russo (screenwriter, second assistant director) – Tschugger
• Lena Furrer (actor) – Tschugger
• Lukas Graf (second assistant DOP) – Tschugger
• Maria Beltran (creator) – The Legend of Kami
• Martin Charrière (creator) – Unframed – Hand Puppets, Paul Klee
• Max Karli (productor) – Sacha
• Nicole Castioni (co-creator) – Sacha
• Pauline Gygax (producer) – Sacha
• Radu Jude (director) – Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
• Rafael Kistler (screenwriter, DOP) – Tschugger
• Sophie Broustal (actor) – Sacha
• Sophie Toth (producer) – Tschugger
• Stephan Eicher (creator) – It’s Alive: A Journey into Invisible Cinema
• Sylvain Joly (creator) – The Legend of Kami
• Thibaut Evrad (actor) – Sacha
• Udo Kier (actor) – Swan Song
• Valdimar Jóhannsson (director) – Lamb
• Vanille Lehmann (actor) – Sacha
• Véronique Vergari (producer) – La vie de J.C.
• Vincent Veillon (actor) – La vie de J.C.
• Yann Marguet (humorist, actor) – La vie de J.C.
• Yacine Nemra (humorist)
• Zep (director) – La vie de J.C.

PULSATION

• Abner Preis (creator) – Blowing Through The Curtains
• Adèle Haenel (actress, narrator) – Returning to Reims (Fragments) (Retour à Reims (Fragments))
• Anastasia Budiashkina (actress) – Olga
• Arnaud Parel (creator) – Teatro San Materno, Spirit of the Place (Teatro San Materno, l’esprit du Lieu)
• Basil Dénéreaz (co-creator) – Run
• Bogdan Nastase (co-creator) – Untitled
• Edric Douglas Stanley (creator) – Inside Inside
• Elie Grappe (director) – Olga
• Elodie Anglade (co-creator) – Sonate Mécanique
• Firat Sezgin (co-producer) – Blowing Through The Curtains
• Gaëlle Mourre (co-creator) – (Hi)story of a Painting
• Jamy Herrmann (co-creator) – CAPTIVUS
• Jean-Gabriel Périot (director) – Returning to Reims (Fragments) (Retour à Reims (Fragments))
• Jorge Reis (co-creator) – Mind Box
• Julie Ryser (co-creator) – Run
• Leoni Limbach (co-creator) – Untitled
• Marine Dang (co-creator) – CAPTIVUS
• Mélanie Fontaine (co-creator) – Mind Box
• Mika Pica (co-creator) – Ocytocine
• Nathanaël Vianin (creator) – Heliotrip (Héliotrip)
• Nora Fatehi (co-creator) – Ocytocine
• Sébastien Galera (co-creator) – Run
• Sina Dolati (co-creator) – Säye Skye ADHD: The VR Experience
• Soraya Camina (co-creator) – Sonate Mécanique

FUTURE IS SENSIBLE

• Benoit Renaudin (co-creator) – Des place[s]
• François Desagnat (director) – Zaï zaï zaï zaï
• Isis Fahmy (co-creator) – Des place[s]
• Paulina Zybinska (creator) – Faketual Reality
• Shirin Neshat (co-director) – Land of Dreams

Genève ça tourne redux

• Arthur Jaquier (director) – Avec Calvin
• Camille Uliana (director) – Les Deux Casquettes
• Domenico Lucchini – Le Cinéma d’Alain Tanner entre réalisme et utopie
• Georges Boucard (director) – La Juste vitesse du fleuve
• Jean-François Amiguet (director) – Histoire (résolument) subjective du cinéma et de la télévision suisse romande
• Jeanne Nicolet (director) – Les aimer
• Marine Péris (director) – Ailleurs
• Marie Leeman (director) – Des pets dans l’eau !
• Noémie Ruben (director) – La Suisse n’existe pas
• Raymond Vouillamoz – Histoire (résolument) subjective du cinéma et de la télévision suisse romande
• Stéphane Mitchell – Histoire (résolument) subjective du cinéma et de la télévision suisse romande
• Tabarak Abbas (director) – Les Fantômes du paradis
• Yasmine Bahecha (director) – A l’Ancienne
• Youssef Youssef (director) – Queens

Geneva Digital Market

Find the list of GDM guests here.

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JURYS

Jury INTERNATIONAL FEATURES COMPETITION

© Gabriel Renault

KINOSHITA KAORI – JURY PRESIDENT

Kaori Kinoshita (Tokyo in 1970) living in Paris and working with Alain Della Negra on the relationship between personal identity and avatars : virtual characters, community events … The feature documentary The Cat, the Reverend and the Slave (2010) where they portrayed real life Americans and Second Life avatars in their everyday lives. Their second feature film Bonheur Académie (2016) where they film Raelians (member of the UFO religion) alongside professional actors, during their University of Happiness in Croatia. They directed Tsuma Musume Haha (2019), a short documentary exploring non-reciprocal love story between human and non-human in Japan and just completed their third feature film Petit Ami Parfait (2021) about the phenomenon of dating simulation game.

They regularly collaborate with art centers (Centre Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo in Paris).

• Jihahui Huang – 2nd year Master’s degree in cinema, with a focus on editing at the ECAL and HEAD.
• Nour Labib – 1st year Master in Media Management, Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society à la Università della Svizzera italiana
• Sharon Zeller – 2nd year Master in Media Management, Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society à la Università della Svizzera italiana
• Balthus Kiss – 2nd year Master’s degree in Cinema, screenplay orientation at the ECAL and the HEAD.

Jury INTERNATIONAL SERIES COMPETITION

• Christelle Michel – Executive Producer at Box Productions
• Isabel Jakob – Editorial manager at the publishing house MetisPresses
• Loïc Poli – Actor
• Anne-Isabelle Gomez – Documentalist at RTS
• Victoria Kraeva – Editor and Motion designer

Jury INTERNATIONAL IMMERSIVE WORKS COMPETITION

Jonathan Vinel

Jonathan Vinel was born in April 1988 in Toulouse. and studied editing at the Fémis.
He has directed several short films in collaboration with Caroline Poggi, including Tant qu’il nous reste des fusils à pompe which won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale and the Reflet d’or at GIFF in 2014. Their films straddle the line between video art and cinema, and deal with subjects such as family, community, grief, love and friendship – in a way that is both gentle and brutal. 
Their first feature film, Jessica Forever, was released in 2019. Jonathan also makes films inside video game engines, including Martin Weeps, released in 2017. 

Luc Meier

Luc Meier is the inaugural director of La Becque | Résidence d’artistes, an institution active since 2018 and located in La Tour-de-Peilz. La Becque pays particular attention to artistic projects exploring themes related to nature, the environment and technology, notions of our contemporaneity that both increasingly unavoidable and inseparable.From 2008 to 2012, Luc developed the joint art-technology programme of swissnex San Francisco and the Swiss Cultural Foundation Pro Helvetia. Back in Switzerland in 2013, he coordinated the curatorial development of ArtLab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and was its programme director until June 2018.

© Radio : Christophe Abramowitz

Zoé Sfez

Zoe Sfez is a journalist and radio producer. After working for RFI and France Musique, she joined France Culture in 2014 where she produced the daily Journal de la Culture until 2017. She became a columnist on the programme Soft Power where she followed the news from the cultural and digital industries for four years. In 2017/2018, she joined the team of film critics Canal Plus’ programme Le Cercle. Since 2021, she has produced the weekly programme La Série Musicale on France Culture and, in parallel, has conducted major interviews with creators for the programmes Masterclasses and À voix nue. Since 2019, she regularly collaborates with La Fabrique du regard, a project of image education through short films initiated by the BAL in Paris.

Jury Future Is Sensible

Frederik Peeters

Frederik Peeters is a Swiss comic book author and illustrator born in Geneva in 1974. He has published a multitude of books in all genres, whose work has been translated and awarded worldwide. His work has also been adapted for television, theatre and cinema.

Sarita Christensen

Copenhagen Bombay is an international media house working with storytelling for children, youth, and families, and in 3 areas of business: IP production, sales, and learning products. CEO Sarita Christensen works with a strong focus on the company’s values and vision. The core values are quality content, original design, high ethical standards and humor as the main ingredient, and the vision is to stimulate the inquisitive child to remain curious.

Simon Spiegel

Simon Spiegel is a film scholar at the University of Zurich and the University of Bayreuth. He has worked extensively on science fiction and utopian films and is chief editor of the interdisciplinary academic journal Zeitschrift für Fantastikforschung. His latest book Utopias in Nonfiction Film is due this fall with Palgrave Macmillan. Spiegel also regularly writes about film and related subject for major newspapers and magazines.

JURY European Script Award

Rémi Tereszkiewicz 

Rémi Tereszkiewicz is an expert of OTT services and TV series marketing. Having served since 1994 as VP or SVP in sales and marketing positions  for various companies such as Warner Brothers (2016), Lagardère Studios (2014), Netgem (2004) or Eurosport (1994), he led the creation and launching of numerous TV services and  xVOD offers. He is currently CEO of Betaseries, a media platform  running recommendation services for a community of 5 million monthly TV series fans and analysing TV series & OTT usages for the media industry.

© Ionut Dobre

Paolo Moretti

Since 2001 Paolo Moretti worked for several film festivals and film institutions in Europe, including the Pompidou Center, Filmoteca Española, Cinemateca Portuguesa, the Leeds IFF (UK) and Cinéma du Réel. From 2008 to 2011, he worked as the director’s assistant and program advisor at the Venice Film Festival. Between 2012 and 2018 he was a selection committee member for FIDMarseille and, since 2012, he has collaborated with Visions du Réel, as a selection committee member (2012-2018) and currently as a program advisor. Between 2014 and 2020 he was the director of the La Roche-sur-Yon IFF and of the Concorde arthouse cinema. Since 2019 he is the delegate general and artistic director of the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival and, since March 2020, he also directs the Grütli arthouse cinema in Geneva.

Léa Fazer

Director and co-author of Sacha, Léa Fazer left Geneva to study at the TNS school in Strasbourg. Since graduating, she has written and directed plays and scripts for television before turning to the cinema. She directed the comedy Welcome to Switzerland, presented in the “Un Certain Regard” selection at Cannes in 2004. She followedit up with Notre Univers Impitoyable (2007), Ensemble c’est trop (2010), Cookie (2013), and Maestro (2014), starring Michael Lonsdale, in tribute to her favourite actor Jocelyn Quivrin. She has also directed several one-offs for France 2, including Nadia. Sacha is her first TV series as a director.