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In development

 

"I am not Stiller." It is this very first sentence with which Max Frisch begins his novel "Stiller" that is difficult to get out of the minds of his readers. We learn everything and at the same time nothing about the hero who will lead us through the rest of the story. Because the character makes it clear: he is not the Stiller we think he is, he has given himself a new name, a new history, a new nationality, a new identity.

 

The film version of this important novel by Max Frisch is a voyage of discovery into the depths of human identity: perhaps we will get to know this Stiller after all along the way, and thus, hopefully, a little bit about ourselves as well...

In development

 

The drama 111 tells the story of the tragic crash of Swissair 111 into the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 2 September 1998. The catastrophe itself is never shown, but is subliminally always palpable. The film follows several fates affected by the tragedy and paints a bigger picture: the crash had a profound impact not only on those directly affected, but also on Switzerland and people around the world, and changed the environment around Halifax forever.

 

111 is a tragic film, but one that celebrates life. This fateful crash changed so many different lives in an instant, uniting them through the shared grief and shock of this sudden, incomprehensible tragedy. But ultimately, the film highlights how such a loss changes our perspective on life and what is important. That is the story we want to tell.

In development

 

Francis Lee Bailey is perhaps the most famous and at the same time most controversial lawyer in the USA.  He defended, among others, the "Boston Strangler", the doctor "Sam Sheppard" and the publisher's daughter Patty Hearst. His most famous client, however, was certainly O.J. Simpson. He says of himself: "I have defended as many innocent defendants who were convicted as guilty ones who were acquitted".

In development

A fatal train accident destroys the idyll of a peaceful holiday region. While survivors crawl out of the wreckage, disoriented and in shock amids dead passengers, blue-light units race in, seal off the damage site and begin their rescue. A battle against time. Onlookers capture the scene on their mobile phones just as quickly as the media, who report explosively on the event – and rumours of a possible terrorist attack are already going around. A care team arrives at the scene of the tragedy. It provides first-aid for the soul.

In development

 

German billionaire Paul Sigmar Welsch does not return from a tour on the Matterhorn. It is the job of mountain rescuer Ive to search for him. But the longer this job goes on, the more questions arise and Ive's profession becomes an obsession that also allows her buried demons to surface. Rumours swirl around Welsch's disappearance and the question of whether he even wants to be found. Will the reason for his disappearance remain buried under the ice forever?

In development

 

Lésia, a 17-year-old girl and granddaughter of cycling legend Jacques Anquetil, heads to Rouen, France with her single hippie mother Sophie and the rest of the Anquetil clan to celebrate Sophie's 50th birthday at the cycling legend's former chateau.

A special occasion that happens to coincide with the renaming of a square in Rouen in honour of Jacques Anquetil, who died prematurely of stomach cancer in 1987.

Lésia, who does not feel much like celebrating her grandfather, nevertheless wants to understand the history and motivation of her grandfather and the women around him.

In development

 

Basel in the year 1477.

A conspiracy threatens the community of the headstrong 

sisters of the Klingental convent. 

The nun Magda, persecuted the child of a witch, and the noble novice Pia fight against the dark forces - and have to face their own demons. 

In development

 

Betty Bossi is still the "cook of the nation" today.

 

"Hello Betty" is set in Switzerland in the 1950s and tells the story of the life of the advertising copywriter EMMI CREOLA, who is supposed to market the products of a cooking oil company and invents the fictional character Betty Bossi in the process. The "nation's cook and housewife" quickly becomes popular and receives lots of fan mail and questions about family and cooking. Many people believe that Mrs Bossi really exists and the rather reserved Emmi thus unexpectedly finds herself in the public spotlight. The new celebrity life as a Swiss cooking icon is exciting, but also exhausting. Emmi has to fight resistance from her male colleagues at the advertising agency and at the same time she continues to try to be a loving mother and wife at home - following the example set by her fictional character. Emmi thus becomes more and more torn between her job and her family and gradually loses herself in her fictional alter ego. With touching moments and subtle humour, " Hello Betty" paints a colourful picture of Swiss mores in the 1950s.

In development

 

The woman who set out to save psychoanalysis

 

On the one hand Emma is a story based on true events that deals with major issues such as the role of women at the beginning of the 20th century and the breakthrough of psychoanalysis. On the other hand, it is a story about the role of women at the beginning of the 20th century and the breakthrough of psychoanalysis. On the other hand, EMMA is an intimate portrait of a woman who fearlessly confronts her complex inner life and dares to go her own way by questioning all role models.

In development

 

Swiss television, ZDF and the "Washington Post" revealed in 2020 that the CIA and the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND), through the Swiss front company CRYPTO AG, had been selling allegedly tap-proof crypto devices halfway around the world for decades. What nobody suspected: the Americans and the Germans were able to use them to decrypt all secret communications. The Swiss intelligence service also profited from this. And recently we know that the CIA owned a second company in Switzerland, OMNISEC. One of its clients was the major Swiss bank UBS. However, the Swiss government knew nothing about this when they negotiated with the USA about Nazi gold and banking secrecy.

 

"The CIA calls it the "Largest Espionage Operation of the Century"

In development

 

MELANIE (35) lives with her two children TIMO (6) and EILEEN (11) in a cheap social housing flat on the outskirts of Zurich. She works for an hourly wage in a laundry a little outside the city and lives below the Swiss subsistence level despite the additional monthly supplement from the social welfare office. Life takes its toll on her. The balancing act between the relentless struggle to survive financially and living up to her role as a mother is getting bigger and bigger. She has no time for herself. And so she increasingly staggers through her everyday life until the child and adult protection authority KESB intervenes.

In development

 

Marie Tussaud is the story of a woman who breaks out of the conventions of her time. A time that was not comfortable for women and artists. Behind the rise of her successful career is a personal story of love and survival, happiness and unhappiness and life-threatening moments at the time of the French Revolution.

In development

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THE MUSICIAN is the true story of Andrei Medvedev, the only Wagner defector who managed to escape Russia. 

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By refusing to serve as cannon fodder in Bakhmut, the Russian power apparatus and ultimately his own inner turmoil drive him across Russia. It is a wild Odyssey that leads Andrei all the way to the NATO border, into Norway.  

 

In the "West" everything is supposed to be different - but Andrei is still himself, victim and perpetrator at once. But does he even want to leave his past behind him?

In development

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After a severe stroke of fate, PAULA KEREZ (43) turns away from society and takes care of a large flock of sheep in the Swiss Alps. She befriends a wild wolf that prowls around her sanctuary. These almost mystical encounters, as well as the hard but fulfilling work with the herd, makes Paula forget her past. She is happy and content in the seclusion of the archaic mountain landscape.

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But when a worldwide blackout brings life as we know it to a standstill, her past catches up with her. Society is collapsing and she is forced to defend her sanctuary against invaders, both to survive and to protect the unborn life inside her.

In development

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No other disease claims more lives than Malaria. The pathogen is tiny, barely bigger than the tip of a needle. Its scientific name: Plasmodium, its preferred habitat: the bloodstreams of mosquitoes and humans. Malaria is on the rise: in Africa a child dies of Malaria every two minutes - and the trend is rising. While visitors from the northern hemisphere know how to protect themselves with modern medicine, residents in the malaria areas have to find a way of dealing with the daily threat themselves. For them, the disease remains fatal. Eyes are on science: will it succeed in stopping the parasite and freeing people in the Global South from this burden?

In development

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100 million viewers worldwide and, thus, the most successful German film series of all time. These are the schoolgirl reports. And yet, nobody wants to admit to have seen them. MADE IN GERMANY tells the story of the beginnings of the German erotic industry in the 1970s and its fight against censorship in the best dramedy style. We follow Wolf C. Hartwig building up his business and his perfidious idea: the development of sex films disguised as reportage under the guise of sexual education.