Management and administration
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Rachel Schmid |
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Rachel Schmid is the Director and Head of Studies of FOCAL. She began her career as a production manager of stage plays in 1986 and later moved towards film production. In 1999 she attended an international training course and specialised in project development. In this capacity, she counselled countless screenwriters, production companies, film funds, training programmes and festivals in Switzerland and abroad. |
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Justine Duay After completing her film studies at the University of Lausanne in 2013, Justine Duay worked in various capacities, including as programme coordinator at the Visions du Réel International Film Festival. From 2016 to 2019, she worked as a production assistant at Octuor Films and DOK MOBILE. In parallel, from 2014 to 2020, she contributed to the development and programming of local film events such as the VIFFF – Vevey International Funny Film Festival and Ciné-Doc. |
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Angela Rohrer Angela Rohrer studied film at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). After completing her studies, she worked for several years as first assistant director and script supervisor for Swiss film and advertising productions. From 2008 to 2016, she was a lecturer at the ZHdK, teaching directing and assistance/production at the Bachelor of Arts in Film section. Angela Rohrer made several short films of her own in her capacity as author/director and editor. From 2010 to 2020, she worked at FOCAL as a freelance course manager and organiser of various seminars, workshops, and other events. |
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Anne Perrenoud General administration; administrative coordination of the European training programs. |
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Cécile Verpoorten
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Sandrine Oberli
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Translations, Stage Pool Administration |
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Nicolas Monguzzi Websites administration, IT, graphic design. |
Departments
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Fred Guillaume Fred Guillaume was born in Fribourg (Switzerland) in 1976. After obtaining a Baccalaureate in Literature in 1998, he turned to the animated film realm, producing a first film, jointly with his brother Samuel, in 1998: Le petit manchot qui voulait une glace [The little penguin who wanted an ice cream]. The two went on to fulfill several film orders, advertisements, scientific films and shorts for "Cinemagination", their own production company. From 2003 to 2007, they embarked on their first full-length feature film Max & Co (Switzerland, France, UK), which travelled to over 20 countries and won, most notably, the Audience Award at the Annecy Festival. In parallel with their movies, Fred Guillaume collaborated on several projects for shows and installations; he also invited public interest through a children's film club, La lanterne magique, setting up various workshops and lectures as well. He is highly interested in the latest technologies, for which he has developed several tools and joined various research projects in a narrative vein. |
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Britta Rindelaub Britta Rindelaub was born in Schaffhausen and grew up in Belgium. She then returned to Switzerland where she studied ethnology, philosophy and art history at the University of Neuchâtel, and anthropology at the Universitat Autonoma in Barcelona. She then embarked on the study of Fine Arts, first in Barcelona at La Massana, then at the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ESBA, now Geneva University of Art and Design – HEAD), where she followed an eclectic training programme in photography, video and performance. In 2003, she completed her studies at the HEAD with a Master's degree in film studies. Her first short fiction film, Le bord de la table, was selected as a world premiere in Locarno in 2004. In 2006, she joined Alva Film, a group of film directors that was founded in Geneva in the preceding year. In addition to directing documentary films, she contributes to designing contemporary pieces for the stage and works on film sets. In 2010, she made Zurück, her first feature documentary, and then Loin des yeux, which she completed in 2013 and which was selected at Visions du Réel. From 2010 to 2015, she was a lecturer at the HEAD in the Film Department before starting to focus on production at Alva Film from 2014. Within six years, Britta Rindelaub has produced a dozen short fiction films, two feature films and three documentaries, most of which were made by Switzerland’s younger generation of filmmakers. At the same time, she has been fully involved in developing series projects with RTS (Swiss French public television channel). |
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Anna Luif Anna Luif is of Hungarian descent. She was born in Zurich in 1972. |
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Head of the Acting Department for French-speaking Switzerland / Assistant in the Department Directing Fiction Film for French-speaking Switzerland Born in 1966. After her film directing studies at INSAS (Brussels), she initially worked as a production assistant and as a first assistant. |
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Edgar Hagen Edgar Hagen studied philosophy and German philology at the University of Basel and at the Free University of Berlin where he obtained, in 1987, a Master of Arts. He then worked as a journalist and dramatic advisor. He has been an independent documentary filmmaker and author since 1989. Among his cinema documentaries: Markus Jura Suisse - The Prodigal Son (1997), The Time of the Titans (2001), Someone Beside You (2007), Journey to the Safest Place on Earth (2013) and Who are we? (2019). Since 2000, he has also carried out various teaching activities in the field of cinema and documentary narration. Besides, he was a member of the Swiss Filmmakers Association’s Board (ARF/FDS) from 2010 to 2018. In 2016 he founded the production company Vollbild Film Ltd. His latest feature length documentary project is entitled On the Trail of Madness. |
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Carlotta Holy-Steinemann Carlotta Holy-Steinemann was born in Locarno in 1978 and grew up in Zurich. After a few internships, a.o. with Dschoint Ventschr in Zurich/CH and Factory Film in Rome/IT, she started studying film at the “Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne” (ECAL). In 2006 she completed her studies and graduated from the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK) with a specialisation in photography. She has been working since as a freelance director of photography on documentary films (a.o. SONÈ, Cinedokke/RSI), fiction films (a.o. VERLIEBTE FEINDE, Dschoint Ventschr), series (a.o. STATION HORIZON, Jump Cut Production/RTS), commercials and commissioned films. She shoots in French, Italian and the German-speaking Switzerland as well as abroad. For some years now, she has also been teaching image design at the «F+F Schule für Kunst und Design Zurich». |
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Head of the Acting department for German-speaking and Italian-speaking Switzerland Barbara Terpoorten, born in 1974 in Visp/CH, obtained her acting degree from the ZHdK (Zurich University of the Arts). She subsequently acted in several theatres in Switzerland and Germany such as the Schauspielhaus Zurich, Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin and the Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. From 2000 to 2008, she was a member of the artist group 400asa. |
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Head of the Acting Department for French-speaking Switzerland / Assistant in the Department Directing Fiction Film for French-speaking Switzerland Born in 1966. After her film directing studies at INSAS (Brussels), she initially worked as a production assistant and as a first assistant. |
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Carola Stern
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Jacqueline Surchat Jacqueline Surchat began her career with the 7-minute feature Au bout du fil, which obtained the school’s best film award in 1989. Her Utopie hors-jeu received the 1992 Award of the Public at the International Comedy Festival in Vevey. Her 30-minute feature Le bonheur à cloche-pied (1994) received the Golden Unicorn at Bludenz and the Best Short Film Award at Upsala. |
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Lea Gerber Born in Solothurn in 1982. After training as a professional photographer, she made her debut in the film industry in 2004. She worked on 30 features, including DER FREUND (2007), DER VERDINGBUB (2010), EINE WEN IIG, DR DÄLLEBACH KARI (2011), and on various commercials, always as a production manager. From 2015 to 2018, she organised technical seminars and workshops on behalf of FOCAL. During her professional career, she also supervised several internships on film shootings. She is now involved in FOCAL’s STAGE POOL where she promotes sustainable young talents.
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Board
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Foundation Council President |
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Séverine Barde Born in 1966 in Geneva, Switzerland. After obtaining her higher education entrance qualification (Latin section) from Collège Sismondi in Geneva, she studied film between 1987 and 1989 at the “Institut des Arts de Diffusion” (IAD) in Belgium. She first worked as a 2nd and then 1st assistant camera. From 1998 she has been a director of photography in feature and documentary projects. In 2018 she directed her first documentary film, GRETA GRATOS. |
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Anke Beining-Wellhausen Anke Beining-Wellhausen was born in Germany and studied Law and Political Sciences in Bonn (DE), Geneva and at Ohio State University (USA). She holds a PhD in law and is admitted to the bar in New York and Germany. |
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Ivan Madeo Born in 1976 in Berne (CH). After graduating as a film journalist and psychologist at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, he worked as a creative director and producer for some of the largest advertising agencies in Switzerland and Italy. He then directed short films until he co-founded the two production companies Contrast Film Berne and Contrast Film Zurich which produced several award-winning fiction films and documentaries since 2010: THE CIRCLE (2014), WONDERLAND (2015), MIDNIGHT RUNNER (2018), STORM (2019) and many others. Ivan was a jury member at several prestigious film festivals (Biennale Venice, Molodist Kyiv, FICG Guadalajara, Filmfest Hamburg), was Switzerland’s ‘Producer on the Move’ in Cannes and is an EAVE graduate. Besides, he is a board member of the Swiss Filmproducers’ Association SFP as well as a member of the European Film Academy, the Swiss Film Academy and the Expert Commission for Documentaries of the Swiss Federal Office of Culture (BAK). |
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Gianclaudio Meyer Born in 1960 in Bellinzona, Switzerland, Gianclaudio Meyer studied electronics, marketing, communication, and finance in Zurich, St. Gallen and Klagenfurt/Austria. He holds a degree in electronic engineering from ETH, a License in economics and a Master of arts in banking and finance from the University of St. Gallen. Later on, he taught telecommunication as well as image and sound technologies at the University of Applied Sciences of St. Gallen, created and produced animated films and was one of the experts of the Swiss Federal film fund’s grant committee. Today, he is as partner and executive producer at the animation studios Animagination Sàrl in Lausanne and Megaron Animation in St. Gallen. Besides, Gianclaudio is a Board member of the Swiss Animation Film Group GSFA/STFG. |
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Bettina Oberli Bettina Oberli was born in Interlaken in 1972 and studied filmmaking at the Zurich University of the Arts. Thereafter she worked in New York for the directors Hal Hartley and Steve Buscemi. After her awarded debut with IM NORDWIND (2004) she wrote and directed LATE BLOOMERS in 2006. The film became the most succesful Swiss film over the last 30 years and was sold all over the world. In 2009 she directed TANNÖD – THE MURDER FARM in Germany. The film was shown in theatres and at festivals around the world and won several awards. In 2013 she directed her first theatre play, ANNA KARENINA, at the Theater Basel. Back on the film sets, she directed LOVELY LOUISE (2013), the two-part TV movie PRIVATE BANKING (2017) and her first French speaking feature film LE VENT TOURNE, Her last film, WANDA, is currently in production. |
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Michael Steiger Michael Steiger was born in Berne in 1965. After receiving his degree (Matura) at the Ecole de Commerce in Neuchâtel, he studied business at the European Business School in Reichhartshausen (D) and enjoyed exchange semesters in London and Paris. In 2005, he became general manager of C-Films in Zurich and co-owner in 2006. In July 2015, Michael Steiger and Anita Wasser joined Hans Syz’ Turnus Film as producers and partners. Michael Steiger produced many box office hits like NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON by Bille August, YOUTH by Paolo Sorrentino, I AM THE KEEPER by Sabine Boss, THE FOSTER BOY by Markus Imboden as well as many TV Movies, like TATORT, DIE AKTE GRÜNINGER by Alain Gsponer and UPLOAD by Tobias Ineichen. The productions RASCALS ON THE ROAD, GROUNDING – THE LAST DAYS OF SWISSAIR, THE FOSTER BOY and NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON count among the biggest box-office successes in recent Swiss film history. |
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Sven Wälti Born in 1972 in Fribourg, Sven Wälti studied law at the University of Fribourg and completed further training in political communication and cultural management. Thereafter, he worked a collaborator of the legal advice service of SUISSIMAGE (Swiss Authors' Rights Cooperative for Audiovisual Works) and became managing director of Cinésuisse, the umbrella organisation of the Swiss film and audiovisual industry. From 2007 to 2010 he also worked as a correspondent for Cinébulletin. Since April 2012, Sven Wälti has been in charge of SRG SSR’s co-productions at a general management level ( SRG SSR – Swiss broadcasting corporation). He coordinates all of SRG's film funding activities within the framework Pacte de l'audiovisuel, the coproduction agreement between SRG SSR and the independent Swiss film industry. Besides, he is a member of the Federal Film Commission and of the ARTE’s Programme Committee. |
Members of the Foundation Council
Founders
- ARF/FDS Association suisse des scénaristes et réalisateurs de films
- GSFA Groupement suisse du film d'animation
- SSFV Syndicat suisse film et vidéo
- ASITIS Association suisse des industries techniques de l'image et du son
- SFP Swiss film producers association
- SFA Swissfilm Association
- ASJC Association suisse des journalistes cinématographiques
- ACS Association cinématographique suisse
- fds filmdistribution suisse
- PROCINEMA Association suisse des exploitants et distributeurs de films
Further members
- SSM Syndicat suisse des mass media
- Cinélibre Association suisse des ciné-clubs et des cinémas à but non lucratif
- Fonction : Cinéma Association professionnelle pour le cinéma indépendant
- GARP Groupe Auteurs, Réalisateurs, Producteurs
- IG Groupe d'intérêt des producteurs indépendants de films suisses
- HEAD Haute école d'art et de design, Genève, Département cinéma
- écal École cantonale d'art de Lausanne, Unité cinéma
- ZHdK Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Departement Darstellende Künste und Film
- SSA Société Suisse des Auteurs
- SUISSIMAGE Coopérative suisse pour les droits d'auteurs d'œuvres audiovisuelles
- SRG SSR Société suisse de radiodiffusion et télévision