IMPACT DAYS – Swiss Focus 2025
Swiss Focus is a new Impact Days event launching in March 2025. It’s a space for connection and dialogue between Swiss impact stakeholders of all language regions, our international Impact Days guests and Swiss filmmakers.
For this first edition we will showcase four Swiss film projects open to impact collaborations both on a national and an international level. After a brief presentation of the projects, the Impact Days team will make informal networking introductions. The film teams will mingle with our audience of impact producers, NGO representatives and foundations.
Members of the Swiss industry with an Industry Accreditation or an Impact Days Daily Pass are welcome to join us.
SELECTED FILMS
A Satellite for Burulaï
Producer: Emmanuel Gétaz, Dreampixies
In production, expected completion: May 2026
Length: 80’ & 52’
Issue areas: Women & Girls’ Rights, Technology, Social Justice
Zhibek, 28 and founder of the Kyrgyz Space Program (KSP), fights for women’s rights in Kyrgyzstan. The KSP women want to change mentalities and open up a meaningful discussion about violence against women in Kyrgyzstan. They aim to launch the country’s first satellite, named after 20-year-old Burulai Turdaaly Kyzy who died a victim of Ala Kashuu, a forced marriage tradition involving abduction and rape. The whole of Kyrgyzstan will know that the Burulaï-1 satellite was made by women, and women only.
Chess Behind Bars
Producer: Kaleo La Belle, La Belle Film
In production, expected completion: November 2026
Length: 92’ & 6×25’
Issue areas: Civil rights, Social Justice, Incarceration, Rehabilitation
If an individual in incarceration was given a second chance, what essential tool would society want them to possess before reintegration? Chess masters argue that chess serves as the ultimate bridge between a prisoner, their personal growth, and their readiness to re-enter the world. From the Philippines to Norway, the USA, Mongolia, and Armenia, Chess Behind Bars documents prison chess players—whether beginners or seasoned masters—as they study the game and prepare to compete in the prison chess world championships.
Nathalie
Producer: Madeleine Corbat, Recycled TV
In production, expected completion: May 2024
Length: 72’
Issue areas: Poverty, Debt, Mental Health
Nathalie (56) reflects the fate of the many people who, despite their best efforts, live on minimum subsistence in Switzerland. Various circumstances have placed her in a difficult situation, making everyday life complicated for her and her children. This leads to health problems, particularly psychological ones, which create a vicious circle for her professional and family survival. Through her tireless struggle and dark humour, Nathalie shows that there is always a way forward. The film highlights her ongoing struggle as a single mother and domestic worker, and tackles the often-overlooked issue of poverty and debt in Switzerland.
Priceless Forests
Producer: Orane Burri, Les Regardiens
Completed in September 2024
Length: 75’
Issue areas: Business & Human Rights, Environment & Climate Crisis, Children & Education
Priceless Forests immerses us in the heart of local Swiss forests and their sustainable management spanning over 150 years, focusing on the people who bring them to life daily. Gradually, the film reveals the limitations of this ideal example by confronting it with the needs of its citizens, which impact other forests like the Amazon. It offers a critical perspective that connects the local to the global, challenging Western values and certainties in the face of the urgent need to preserve this treasure of our planet.