ABSOLUT - pressroom
Team
script-writers:
 Romed Wyder
Yves Mugny
Maria Watzlawick
director of photography:
 Denis Jutzeler
sound design:
 Martin Stricker
editing:
 Orsola Valenti
music:
 Bernhard Trontin, The Young Gods
art directon:
 Yannis Borel
costumes:
 Carole Favre
executive producer:
 Romed Wyder
producton director:
 Xavier Grin
director's assistant
 Nicole Borgeat
set director:
 Gilles Rieder
cast:
 Vincent Bonillo (Alex)
Irene Godel (Tarkova)
François Nadin (Fred)
Delphine Lanza (Lucie)
Véronique Mermoud (König)
Ulysse Prévost (Luca)


Teaser

WHAT IF, ONE DAY, TWO HACKERS MANAGED TO PENETRATE INTO THE HEART OF A FINANCIAL NETWORK?

AND WHAT IF THEY DECIDED TO PLANT A VIRUS THERE?

AND WHAT IF, THE SAME DAY, ONE OF THE HACKERS HAD A STRANGE ACCIDENT?
AN ACCIDENT THAT WOULD MAKE HIM FORGET THE LAST TWENTY-FOUR HOURS...

AND WHAT IF THE HUNT WAS ONLY JUST BEGINNING, IN HIS LIFE, IN HIS HEAD?

AND WHAT IF NO ONE HAD EVER HEARD ABOUT ALL OF THIS?

AND WHAT IF IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED, IN SWITZERLAND, NOT SO VERY LONG AGO...

WWW.ABSOLUT-FILM.COM


Synopsis

The day Alex tries to put a virus in the computer system of a bank, a car accident makes him lose his short-term memory.

When he wakes up in hospital, he discovers that he has been lying in coma for two days. What has happened?

Alex follows a therapy in order to recover his memory of the day of the accident. For him, visions and reality are thrown together in a confusing maze.

Alex tries to escape from this muddle but what he discovers turns out to be rather frightening...

The film ABSOLUT is based on real events.


Director's statement

The adversaries of the capitalist system and its defenders very often use the same methods to reach their goals. An act may be considered both as a terrorist act or as a necessary defence.  Therefore, the question of who is the terrorist is only a matter of point of view.

Implanting a computer virus which disrupts financial transactions is generally considered a terrorist act. ABSOLUT is the story of Alex, the hacker who plants the virus. By identifying with him, the audience places itself on the "terrorist's" side without ever thinking of defining him as such.

In order to make the audience active, the plot of this political thriller is non-linear. Like a puzzle, it obliges the spectator to put pieces of information together. This also makes the film engaging and entertaining.

However, the story told in ABSOLUT is serious because one based on a terrible testimony.  In order to protect the witness and for legal reasons, the plot has been adapted so that individuals and institutions involved cannot be identified.

In spite of all the research done, no definitive evidence has been found. But eventually, truthfulness looses importance when considering that such a story is absolutely possible and that it would certainly have been hushed up.

The film ABSOLUT also proposes a very complete Website with explanations on the origins of the project, some of the research done to verify evidence and links to other contextual sites.  The site connects the film to everyday reality and invites the audience to take parts.


Production and rights

production: Blow-up Film Production
coproduction: Télévision Suisse Romande (SSR SRG Idée Suisse), Almaz Film Productions SA, Laïka Films, Teleclub SA
financial support: Office fédéral de la culture, DAC de la Ville de Genève, Fonds Régio, DIP du Canton du Valais

production and world rights:
Blow-up Film Production SA, 8 rue de la Coulouvrenière, CH-1204 Genève
Phone +41 22 321 24 51, Fax. +41 22 321 24 52, www.blow-up.ch, info(at)blow-up.ch

 swiss rights:
Frenetic Films, Bachstrasse 9, CH-8038 Zürich
Phone. +41 1 488 44 00, Fax +41 1 488 44 11, www.frenetic.ch, mail(at)frenetic.ch

german rights:
Neue Visionen Filmverleih GmbH, Schliemannstrasse 5, D-10437 Berlin
Phone. +49 30 44 00 88 44, Fax: +49 30 44 00 88 45, www.neuevisionen.de, info(at)neuevisionen.de

print for festivals (only with agreement of Blow-up):
Swiss Films, Neugasse 6, Postfach, CH-8031 Zürich
Phone. +41 43 211 40 50, Fax: +41 43 211 40 60, www.swissfilms.ch, info(at)swissfilms.ch


Invitations to Festivals

57. Festival Internazionale del Film Locarno

2005 Bangkok International Film Festival

26. Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis, Saarbrücken

40. Solothurner Filmtage

34th International Film Festival Rotterdam

2005 Filmfest DC, Washington

10th Shadowline, Salerno

2005 Seattle International Film Festival

Festival du Film Romand, Genève

2005 Brooklyn International Film Festival

52nd Sydney International Film Festival

8th Shangahi International Film Festival

20. Alpinale Filmfestival, Nenzing

Libertas Dubrovnik Film Festival

13th Raindance Film Festival, London

2005 Cinemanila International Film Festival, Manila

29a Mostra BR Cinema, São Paulo

19th Leeds International Film Festival

28th Starz Denver International Film Festival

14th Damascus International Film Festival

2e Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente, Mar de Plata

5th Triburon International Film Festival

8. Festival du Film Francophone, Wien

8. Festival du Film Francophone, Bratislava

Festival International du Film pour l'Enfance et la Jeunesse de Sousse

Festival du Film Francophone, Chisinau


Releases

Cinema release in Switzerland (Frenetic Films), Germany (Neue Visionen Filmverleih)
Other releases: Moviemento, Good Movies, Teleclub, Schweizer Fernsehen, ZDF, Etiahd, Korean Air, Astro, Be-TV, R-Film, HBO Central Europe


Biofilmography of the director

Born in 1967 in Brig. 1995, degree from the cinema department of the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux Arts, Geneva. An active member of Cinéma Spoutnik; founded Laika Films with five other filmmakers in 1993. Developed a tape to film system and works as director and producer. Since 2002, member of the Federal Cinema Commission. Founded Blow-up Film Production SA in 2003. Is president of the Swiss Filmmakers Association between 2005 and 2008.

1992 November am Meer, 16mm, 5 min. (fiction)
1995 Squatters, 16mm, 70 min. (documnetary)
1996 Excursion, 35mm, 21 min. (fiction)
1997 Ecran d'argile, 16mm, 53 min. (documnetary, coauthor)
1999 Pas de télé, pas de café, pas de sexe, 35mm, 87 min. (fiction)
2004 Absolut, 35mm, 94 min. (fiction)


Stills

To download a still (JPEG ca. 1.7 Mo), clic on the still and safe it on your computer.
Please mention the rights when publishing: © Frédéric Choffat

Vincent Bonillo Vincent Bonillo V. Bonillo, I. Godel
V. Bonillo, F. Nadin V. Bonillo, F. Nadin V. Bonillo, D. Lanza
R. Wyder (director)
 Vincent Bonillo R. Wyder (director)


Downloads

pressbook (pdf/640 Ko)
team list (in french) (rtf/10 Ko)

dialog list in french (rtf/56 Ko)
english sub-titles (xls/84 Ko)

poster A5 (jpg/1.8 MB)

trailer petit 240x135 (mov/2.9 MB)
trailer moyen 320x180 (mov/4.3 MB)
trailer grand 480x270 (mov/7.3 MB)
trailer très grand 1024x576 (mov/30.1 MB)