When life shatters reality
10 films by the Swiss group “BANDE ÀPART”

From January 27th to February 3rd
online.tainiothiki.gr

The Greek Film Archive and Swiss Films, with the support of the Embassy of Switzerland in Greece; provide a unique opportunity to the Greek public, to familiarise itself, with the still largely unknown, body of work of the Swiss Cinema, by presenting the tribute “New Swiss Cinema—When Life Shatters Reality”. From January 27^th till February 3^rd, through the Greek Film Archive’s platform: online.tainiothiki.gr, it introduces, to the Greek audience, 10 films (three documentaries and seven narrative fiction films) by the Swiss group BANDE À PART, signed by Ursula Meier, Lionel Baier, Jean-Stéphane Bron, Frédéric Mermoud and Alain Tanner. Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Bruno Ganz, Nathalie Baye, Emmanuelle Devos, Bulle Ogier and other important European actors.

The Swiss film production company “BANDE À PART" was founded in Lausanne in 2009. It brought together four film-directors: Ursula Meier, Lionel Baier, Jean-Stéphane Bron and Frédéric Mermoud. The group’s cinematic work has received numerous awards and has left a lasting impact on Swiss filmmaking. Despite differences in individual aesthetics, their films reveal to have common features—a strong interest in the social conditions in Switzerland and its marginalised groups. These filmmakers, as Baier puts it: “view the world through the filter of the unreal".

Essentially, their work leaves genre boundaries behind them, and as the title of the company "Bande à Part” implies, by referring to the famous movie by Jean-Luc Godard, the aftermath of the Nouvelle Vague is palpable in the work of these four directors. That's the reason why the program also presents two films by Alain Tanner, who was Godard’s assistant when he took the first steps of his career. The prominent Swiss director, who developed his filmmaking under the influence of the Nouvelle Vague, is a role model for the group Bande à Part. Ursula Meier even assisted Tanner twice.

According to the curator of the tribute, Ingo Starz: “In the recent past, the filmmakers from Bande à Part have made a significant contribution to bringing a diverse and critical image of Switzerland to the public. In their films, they show realities far from alpine idylls. The filmic works portray a country that is not a special case, but rather resembles its European neighbours in many ways. For this, the Swiss filmmakers received a lot of international attention and recognition”.
The production company Bande à Part, which later also took over the distribution of its films, became a model to be followed by others, as for example the “Zurich collective 2:1 Film testified”.

With their engagement at the École cantonale d`art in Lausanne, Lionel Baier and Frédérik Mermoud also influenced the work of the next generation of Swiss filmmakers, whilst the team (Baier, Bron, Meier and Mermoud) directed four episodes of the television series: “The Shock Waves” (2018), based on real crimes that shocked Switzerland—underlining the teamwork of the group and making their intentions clear: bring moments to light, when life shatters reality.

Useful Infomartion

Ticket per film: 3 €
5-film bundle: 5 €
10-film bundle: 8 €
All films will be screened with Greek subtitles
Create your account on our platform, online.tainiothiki.gr and from the 27th of January, buy your tickets for the films that spike your interest! After pressing Play, you will have 30 hours to complete your film.

Greek Film Archive
48, Iera Odos & Megalou Alexandrou, Kerameikos, Tel. +30 210 3612 046

Credits

Head of Programme: Maria Komninos – President BoD Greek Film Archive | Curation: Ingo Starz, Marcel Müller (Swiss Films) | General coordination: Marcel Müller (Swiss Films), Phaedra Papadopoulou (Greek Film Archive) | Program Coordination-Texts: Ingo Starz | Production manager: Katerina Koutsoyannaki | Websites & social media: Ioanna H. Pipides | Digital film trafficking, format check, and file conversion: Tassos Adamopoulos | Communication & publicity manager: Evanna Venardou | Public relations & hospitality manager: Eliza Soroga | Coordination, production and organization of web/online platform: Savvas Karelis | Video production: Stefanos Minoglou | Assistant production manager: Michalis Astras | Administration: Smaro Stavropoulou | Accounts department: Vassilis Bibas
We thank Electra-Errika Haidouli for her precious assistance.

The tribute NEW SWISS CINEMA -When life shatters reality -10 films of the Swiss group “BANDE À PART” is organised by the Greek Film Archive and carried out in the context of “Cinephilia in the New Age II” which is funded by the European Union — European Regional Development Fund (Operational Programme ROP ATTIKI of NSRF 2014-2020).