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Swiss productions and co-productions are on the rise, driven in part by federal and regional funders that offer attractive opportunities for domestic and international filmmakers.

Quickly recovering from the impact of the pandemic, the local film industry has gotten off to another strong year with local films and international co-productions.

Elie Grappe’s Swiss-Ukrainian-French title “Olga” premiered at this year’s Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, while unspooling in Locarno were Lorenz Merz’s “Soul of a Beast” and Swiss-international co-productions like Stefan Jäger’s “Monte Verita” and Laurent Geslin’s nature documentary “Lynx.” Venice saw such Swiss co-productions as “Ariaferma,” by Italian helmer Leonardo Di Costanzo, and Bolivian director Kiro Russo’s “El Gran Movimiento.” And opening this year’s Zurich Film Festival (Zff) was Michael Steiner’s Swiss-German Taliban thriller “And Tomorrow We Will Be Dead.”

The upswing in Swiss cinema is due in no small part to Zurich as a film location,...

Firouzeh Khosrovani’s “Radiograph of a Family,” the story of an Iranian family divided by secularism and religion, Western culture and Islamic revolution, found an ideal co-producer in Zurich-based company Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion.

The film, which premieres in the feature-length competition of the documentary festival IDFA, focuses on the filmmaker’s parents, a secular progressive father and devout Muslim mother. It recounts the family’s life in Switzerland, where her father Hossein studied radiology in Geneva and where Khosrovani spent her early years. While he was very much at home in the French-speaking city, her mother Tayi remained a stranger in a strange land, yearning to return to her native country, and increasingly active in the revolutionary fervor that would soon usher in a new political reality in Iran.

The film’s subject matter and connection to Switzerland made it a perfect fit for Dschoint Ventschr. Established in 1994 by filmmakers...

Apple TV+ has debuted a new trailer for the espionage thriller series ‘Tehran’.

The eight-episode series tells the thrilling story of a Mossad agent who goes deep undercover on a dangerous mission in Tehran that places her and everyone around her in dire jeopardy.

Created by Moshe Zonder (“Fauda”), Dana Eden and Maor Kohn, and co-created and directed by Daniel Syrkin, the show stars Israeli actress Niv Sultan; Shaun Toub; Navid Negahban; Shervin Alenabi (“Baghdad in My Shadow”); Liraz Charhi (“A Late Quartet”); and Menashe Noy.

Also in trailers – Neon release uncut trailer for Brandon Cronenberg’s ‘Possessor’

The series premieres globally on Appl TV+ September 25th.

The post Apple TV+ drop trailer for espionage thriller series ‘Tehran’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Apple is preparing to enter thriller territory with “Tehran,” one of Apple TV+’s first forays into the genre. The company released the trailer for the upcoming espionage series on Wednesday.

Per Apple, “Tehran” tells the thrilling story of a Mossad agent who goes deep undercover on a dangerous mission in Tehran that places her and everyone around her in dire jeopardy. The series is created by Moshe Zonder (“Fauda”), Dana Eden and Maor Kohn, and co-created and directed by Daniel Syrkin. Zonder also serves as writer alongside co-creator Omri Shenhar. “Tehran” stars Niv Sultan, Shaun Toub; Navid Negahban, Shervin Alenabi (“Baghdad in My Shadow”), Liraz Charhi (“A Late Quartet”), and Menashe Noy.

Though the series’ new trailer doesn’t offer much in the way of new plot details, the various scenes of interrogations, hacking, and spurts of gritty violence suggest that whatever undercover mission is happening, it will indeed...

Eight-episode series from Fauda creator to debut in late September.

Apple has set a September 25 global premiere for its Israeli spy series Tehran from Fauda writer Moshe Zonder.

The eight-episode series will debut on Apple TV+ with the first three episodes, followed by new episodes every Friday.

Tehran centres on a Mossad agent who goes undercover in the Iranian capital on a mission that endangers her and everyone around her.

Israeli actress Niv Sultan (Flawless) stars alongside Shaun Toub (Homeland), Navid Negahban, Shervin Alenabi (Baghdad In My Shadow), Liraz Charhi (A Late Quartet), and Menashe Noy (Big Bad Wolves).

Apple...

Apple TV+ is preparing to release one of its first thrillers with “Tehran,” a series that centers on an undercover Mossad agent. Set to premiere September 25 on the streaming service, the eight-episode series will debut with the first three episodes, followed by new episodes every Friday.

Per an official synopsis from Apple, the series revolves around a Mossad agent who goes deep undercover on a dangerous mission in Tehran that places her and everyone around her in dire jeopardy. The series stars young Israeli actress Niv Sultan; Shaun Toub; Navid Negahban; Shervin Alenabi (“Baghdad in My Shadow”); Liraz Charhi (“A Late Quartet”); and Menashe Noy.

Apple partnered with Cineflix Rights and Israeli network Kan 11 to co-produce “Tehran.” The series is created by Moshe Zonder, Dana Eden, and Maor Kohn, and directed by Daniel Syrkin. Omri Shenhar serves as writer alongside Zonder. The series is executive produced by Moshe Zonder, Dana Eden,...

Forceful characters and a realistic setting save a complicated thriller from disintegrating into its many parts in Baghdad in My Shadow. The voices sound authentic and the dramas are as involving as headline news. Directed by the mononymous Samir, the veteran producer, writer and director of the Swiss production house Dschoint Ventschr, the story covers too much ground to be a smooth or easy watch, yet the Switzerland-Germany-u.K. co-production is gripping enough to have some crossover potential between Arab and Western audiences. The film bowed at the Locarno and Cairo festivals.

If Samir's documentary Forget Baghdad: Jews and ...

Iraqi actress and filmmaker Zahraa Ghandour, who stars in the Locarno Festival screener “Baghdad in My Shadow,” by Iraqi-born Swiss filmmaker Samir, is making her first independent feature documentary about one of Iraq’s leading women’s rights advocates.

The film will explore the life of Hanaa Edwar, known as a fearless champion of human rights in Iraq since the 1960s. Edwar, who was forced to flee Iraq during the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein after campaigning against human rights abuses, returned in 2003 and today continues her work as co-founder and chair of the Iraqi Al-Amal Association, a human rights organization, and co-founder of the Iraqi Women’s Network.

“I decided that my first independent film should be about something I fully believe in, so I chose a woman that has inspired me for many years,” Ghandour told Variety.

The documentary will focus on Edwar, who is now in her mid-70s,...

Exclusive: Switzerland-Germany-uk co-pro’s cast includes Zahraa Ghandour [pictured].

Baghdad-born, Swiss-based director Samir’s latest feature Baghdad In My Shadow, a thriller about Iraqi exiles living in north London, starts shooting on June 8.

Written and directed by Samir, the film will shoot over eight weeks in Baghdad, Zurich, London and Cologne, Germany.

The film is produced by Joël Jent, who also produced Samir’s Iraqi Odyssey.

The film is a Switzerland-Germany-uk co-production produced by Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion with Coin Film and Ipso Facto Productions. The latter’s credits include Nicolas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising.

The cast includes Haytham A. Ali Al Jadah (also a professor at the University of Baghdad), Iraqi newcomer Zahraa Ghandour, Kerry Fox, Meriam Abbas, Daniel Adegboyega and Felix Scott.