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SOLOTHURN 2020

Anita Hugi is named the new director of the Solothurn Film Festival

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- After helming the Solothurn Film Festival for eight years, Seraina Rohrer gives way to Switzerland’s Anita Hugi

Anita Hugi is named the new director of the Solothurn Film Festival
The new director of the Solothurn Film Festival Anita Hugi

Formerly the head of programming at the Montréal International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA), the editor in charge of the SRF-produced TV programme Sternstunde Kunst and a jury member and expert on various Swiss and international festival committees and boards, Anita Hugi would seem to be the perfect fit for the Swiss Solothurn Film Festival.

Born in German-speaking Switzerland in 1975, Anita Hugi’s CV boasts vast experience in the fields of Swiss and international cinema, as well as excellent knowledge of the Solothurn Film Festival. After studying translation in Zurich and Strasbourg, she completed her training in cultural communications and journalism, working freelance for various Swiss media organisations. In 2005, she became the editor of Sternstunde Kunst, a radio and TV programme produced by the German-speaking Swiss corporation SRF. Until 2019, Anita Hugi was in charge of SRF programming, production and co-production, as well as wielding editorial control over more than 130 programmes across all regions of Switzerland. She further created the Perspektive Sternstunde Kunst Award, which is handed out yearly at the Solothurn Film Festival.

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Anita Hugi also works as an expert, a jury member and a teacher, as well as developing her own cinematic projects from within her production company Narrative Boutique. Her filmography as a director and a producer includes the interactive documentaries Hanna la Rouge (illustrated by Anja Kofmel, 2018) and DADA-DATA (co-directed with David Dufresne in 2016 and the winner of a Grimme Online Award in Cologne), as well as the portrait of the German writer and poet Undine Gruenter (which was handed the LiteraVision Award in Monaco in 2016 and crowned Best Film on German Literature).

As of 1 August 2019, therefore, Anita Hugi will take over the role held by Seraina Rohrer (who will be moving to Zurich to join the Pro Helvetia management team, heading up their new “innovation and society” department), becoming the second woman to have directed this pivotal festival which showcases the very best of Swiss cinema.

“Of all the festivals, the Solothurn Film Festival is the most authentic and dynamic event in terms of the Swiss audiences and Swiss film creations it draws. That’s why I’ve loved this festival for such a long time, and I intend to get fully involved: for the good of the festival, for Swiss film, but also for its distribution”, the new director explained to the press. It’s a statement which drives home Anita Hugi’s determination and her desire to ensure the Swiss event continues to be welcoming and that it remains open to exchanges between the public and film industry professionals.

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(Translated from Italian)

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