Welcome

  2. Synopsis

    CHRIS THE SWISS by Anja Kofmel

    Anja Kofmel already admired her cousin Chris as a little girl. His mysterious death in the midst of the wars in Yugoslavia in 1992 still keeps her occupied. Especially as the young Swiss journalist wore the uniform of an international mercenary group at the time of his death. What happened?

    As an adult, Anja decides to follow his story. She tries to understand what Chris' actual involvement in this conflict was and takes us on a quest to Croatia. She tells of her journey in a fine mix of documentary and animated film. Meanwhile the film already won several awards.

    "In war, the choice is not between good and bad; it is between bad and very bad."

    -- Gaston Besson, Mercenary --
  3. image

    Crew

    CH, HR, DE, FIN

    Directed by: Anja Kofmel
    Written by: Anja Kofmel

    Production: Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion AG, Nukleus Film, MA.JA.DE. Filmproduktion, IV Films
    Producers: Samir, Siniša Juricic, Heino Deckert, Iikka Vehkalahti
    Executive Producer: Sereina Gabathuler

    Cinematography: Simon Guy Fässler
    Editing: Stefan Kälin
    Animation: Simon Eltz (Head of Animation), Serge Valbert (Art Director)
    Music: Marcel Vaid
    Sound Design: Markus Krohn

  4. Production

    Chris the Swiss was created as a co-production between Switzerland, Croatia, Germany and Finland. The overall lead of this 7-year-old journey lies with Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion and producer Samir, in cooperation with executive producer Sereina Gabathuler.

    The animations were brought to life by a team of over 30 people. For their production, an animation studio was founded in Zagreb under the direction of the Croatian co-producer Siniša Juricic from Nucleus Film, supported by the animation producers Vanja Sremac and Lado Skorin. The compositing of the individual animation layers was performed by Balance Film – monitored by our German co-producer Heino Deckert and his production manager Tina Börner of Ma.ja.de.

    In order for the animation to really come to life and to be able to develop its full potential, extensive work on the foleys was necessary. Here the lead was with our Finnish co-producer Iikka Vehkalahti and the great Foley artist Heikki Kossi.

    Together we have succeeded in creating a unique cinematic experience that not only impresses with its appearance and hybrid form, but is also of the greatest relevance in terms of content. We are proud that the prestigious Film Festival in Cannes premiered the film.