08/08/2003

Any Way The Wind Blows [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Tom Barman was the principle subject of discussion when producers and distributors met at yesterday evening’s cocktail sponsored by the Turin Film Commission and Regione Piemonte. The dEUS frontman’s directorial feature debut was a surprise hit in Belgium and rumours were rife about negotiations underway with the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
“It’s a unique film where music and pictures come together in an unprecedented way,” said Thierry Decourcelles, head of acquisitions at Océan Films. A number of European (France) and north-American (Canada) distributors are said to be very interested in this title.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Locarno is not just a showcase for feature films, and both the “Present-day Filmmakers” and “Leopards of Tomorrow” short film sections revealed appetising line ups. Swiss productions in particular were outstanding and not for the obvious reason that they’re playing at home.
“It may be paradoxical but we Swiss are better at producing shorts than feature films,” said Philippe Clivaz, head of the Swiss Short Film Agency (an institution that is partly funded by the Federal Culture Office). “I cannot hide the importance of money. Finding the cash for a feature film is a long and difficult process, and it’s even worse for a short. The fact that Swiss audiences do not exactly go overboard for domestic productions means that quality films simply don’t get made. And we prefer to put our energy and resources into making good shorts.”
Clivaz, who is in Locarno with four short films, including L’escalier, a Franco-Swiss co-production that Arte France has already bought, continued by saying: “We mainly produce short films by young innovative talents and Locarno often reveals a number of interesting novelties.”