(Outside the Brotfabrik Berlin, © Lindsay Bellinger 2019)

By LINDSAY R. BELLINGER

The Film:Schweiz 2019 (Swiss Film Festival) had a very interesting mix of films curated this year. Clearly festival director Teresa Vena carefully selected this year's program with a lot of courage, not just going after big names that will please everybody. The mix of feature films, short films, experimentals films, discussions, exhibitions and guest filmmakers were delightful. Switzerland's cinema is one that is rich beyond its borders and is also far-reaching as it has three official languages, Swiss French, Swiss German and Swiss Italian. I laughed a lot more than I was expecting to at Film:Schweiz and I'm not really sure whether that says more about me or about Vena's excellent curatorial skills...perhaps a bit of both. 

There were plenty of delectable chocolates, a variety of yummy Swiss cheese and wine as well as some Swiss schnapps after the opening night film.  

(Lindsay Bellinger and festival director Teresa Vena, © Lindsay Bellinger 2019)