back

Azor

Encounters 2021
Swiss private banker Yvan De Wiel travels with his wife Inés to Buenos Aires in the midst of the military dictatorship. He is searching for his partner René Keys who was in charge of maintaining relations with wealthy Argentinean clients and has mysteriously disappeared. De Wiel encounters a decadent society of landowners, the newly rich, heiresses, aristocrats, army officials, fixers and prelates, all complicit with the regime but concerned with taking advantage of the hypocritical collusion between the Swiss banking system and diplomacy to hide their capital abroad. As he moves from exclusive receptions to private circles and luxury hotels while soldiers arrest bystanders in the streets, the discreet De Wiel must learn to interpret and speak the allusive language of a greater, darker power in order to take on his predecessor’s increasingly unclear role. But as we shift from Roberto Bolaño to Joseph Conrad, exiting the maze will lead the protagonist to the mystery’s heart of darkness.
Fontana’s feature debut, which boasts Mariano Llinás as co-writer and a wonderfully balanced cast, is a glacial collection of ghosts devoted to greed, and a moral investigation into the wrong side of history.

Trailer/Film Excerpt

To view this content, you must enable third-party cookies. >
by Andreas Fontana (Written and Directed by)
with Fabrizio Rongione, Stéphanie Cléau, Carmen Iriondo, Juan Trench, Ignacio Vila, Pablo Torre, Elli Medeiros, Gilles Privat, Alexandre Trocki, Augustina Muñoz, Yvain Julliard Switzerland / France / Argentina 2021 French, Spanish, English 100' Colour

Part of the Berlinale Summer Special

With

  • Fabrizio Rongione (Yvan De Wiel)
  • Stéphanie Cléau (Inés De Wiel)
  • Carmen Iriondo (Mrs Lacrosteguy)
  • Juan Trench (Augusto Padel-Camon)
  • Ignacio Vila (Farrell)
  • Pablo Torre (Tatoski)
  • Elli Medeiros (Magdalena Padel-Camon)
  • Gilles Privat (Decôme)
  • Alexandre Trocki (Frydmer)
  • Augustina Muñoz (Leopolda)
  • Yvain Julliard (Guy Lombier)

Crew

Written and Directed by Andreas Fontana
Cinematography Gabriel Sandru
Editing Nicolas Desmaison
Music Paul Courlet
Sound Design Etienne Curchod
Sound Xavier Lavorel
Production Design Ana Cambre
Costumes Simona Martínez
Make-Up Katrine Zingg
Casting Maria Laura Berch, Alexandre Nazarian
Assistant Directors Marcello Pozzo, Gabriel Azorín
Production Managers Simone Bosshart, Mónica Pérez
Producers Eugenia Mumenthaler, David Epiney
Co-Producers Nicolas Brevière, Violeta Bava, Rosa Martínez Rivero, Françoise Mayor, Izabela Rieben
Co-Production Local Films Paris
Ruda Cine Buenos Aires
Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) Genf

World Sales

Be For Films

Brüssel, Belgium

Produced by

Alina film

Genf, Switzerland

Photos

Andreas Fontana

© Marina Palacio

Born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1982, he studied comparative literature at the city’s university and then moved to Buenos Aires to work as a production assistant. He attended the ECAL in Lausanne and the HEAD in Geneva and graduated with an MA in film production in 2010. His first short film, Cotonov Vanished, won a prize at Visions du Réel while Pedro M, 1981 was nominated for the Swiss Film Award. He has worked as a production assistant for Jean-Stéphane Bron and Ingrid Wildi and has written screenplays for Zahra Vargas and Maryam Goormaghtigh.

Filmography

2008 Va le chanter a Gardel; short film 2009 Cotonov Vanished; short film 2011 Dans nos campagnes; documentary, co-directors: Marie-Eve Hildbrand, David Maye 2015 Pedro M, 1981; short film 2021 Azor

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2021