catpicS
Contact
SARAH BORN
Co-CEO, Producer
DARIO SCHOCH
Co-CEO, Producer
RAJKO JAZBEC
Co-CEO, Producer
+41 (0) 44 455 99 00
Company Profile
Catpics was founded in 1984 and specialized in quality feature films, documentaries, and high-end drama with commercial appeal. Among other things, it was responsible for the production of the Oscar winner JOURNEY OF HOPE by Xavier Koller and produced two of the most successful Swiss films with LATE BLOOMERS by Bettina Oberli and MANI MATTER - WHY ARE YOU SO SAD? by Friedrich Kappeler, while also preparing for a generation handover with Sarah Born. In 2021 Rajko Jazbec and Dario Schoch merged their former Company CognitoFilms with Catpics and together with Sarah Born, they took over all projects and film rights of both companies. The recent projects include co-productions with Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, and Serbia. The company is dedicated to collaborating with like-minded international and domestic creatives and partners to bring great stories to the screen.
Sarah Born
Dario Schoch
Rajko Jazbec
Company Highlights
DON'T WORRY ABOUT INDIA 2022
Genre: Documentary
Countries: Switzerland, Germany
Director: Nama Filmcollective
Screenplay: Nama Filmcollective
Coproducers/Commissioners: TamTam Film (Germany) , SRG / SRF
An Indian filmmaker returns to his homeland during the national elections. With voting spread over a period of six long weeks, he starts travelling the country, turning the camera towards his family. Their privileged life contrasts starkly with the lives of the ordinary Indian citizens working for them. With a dry sense of humour and eye for the absurd, the director tries to comprehend the India of today, connecting collective and family history, and confronting the recent rise of right-wing populism. A bittersweet and often hilarious tale about the biggest and most chaotic democracy in the world.
THE BUBBLE 2021
Genre: Documentary
Countries: Switzerland, Austria
Director: Valerie Blankenbyl
Screenplay: Valerie Blankenbyl
Coproducers/Commissioners: Golden Girls Filmproduction & Filmservices GmbH / SRF / ORF
Welcome to Florida’s Friendliest Hometown. The Bubble explores senior citizen life within The Villages, America’s largest retirement community; a 32-square mile, sun-drenched, beautifully maintained, gated Floridian paradise housing over 150,000 retirees. Retired life beneath the year-round Floridian sunshine however, is not perhaps as idyllic, or as welcomed, as many ageing Villagers and viewers may imagine. The Bubble reveals how those beyond the community’s sealed gateways are being profoundly displaced by The Villages’ endless desire for land, water, and regional control. Illustrating many of the nation’s most combative dialogues regarding class imbalance, racial inequality, healthcare privatisation, political affiliation, state responsibility, and civic obligation, The Bubble offers viewers an engaging contemplation of American ways of life, ageing, and death.
Visions du Reél 2022
SPAGAT 2020
Format: Feature Film
Genre: Drama
Countries: Switzerland
Director: Christian Johannes Koch
Screenplay: Christian Johannes Koch, Josa Sesink
Cast: Rachel Braunschweig, Alexey Serebryakov, Masha Demiri, Michael Neuenschwander, Nellie
Hächler
Coproducers/Commissioners: SRF Swiss Radio and Television
Winter in a rural region of Switzerland. Marina, a teacher in her mid-forties, leads a quiet life with her husband and daughter. But appearances are deceptive; she is having a secret affair with Artem, the father of one of her students, Ulyana. Although both Artem and his daughter have lived on the edge of this small town for years, neither has a residence permit. Their secret is exposed one day when Ulyana is arrested for stealing. The relatively minor incident has far-reaching consequences; not only are the lives of Artem and Ulyana brought crashing down, but Marina’s involvement in the whole situation is also revealed. Torn between lies, loyalty and passion, the teacher decides she must take a radical step.
San Sebastian International Film Festival 2020, Zurich Film Festival 2020, São Paolo International Film Festival 2020, Solothurner Filmtage 2021, Sofia International Film Festival 2021, Riviera International Film Festival 2021 - Audience Award
WER HAT EIGENTLICH DIE LIEBE ERFUNDEN? 2018
Format: Feature Film
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Countries: Germany, Switzerland
Director: Kerstin Polte
Screenplay: Kerstin Polte
Cast: Corinna Harfouch, Meret Becker, Sabine Timoteo, Karl Kranzkowski, Annalee Ranft, Bruno Cathomas
Coproducers/Commissioners: augenschein Filmproduktion GmbH
The story of 60-year-old Charlotte, who leaves her husband Paul behind at a pull-in station, and says goodbye to her old life. This decision triggers an astonishing chain of events that send Charlotte, Paul, their daughter Alex, and their granddaughter Jo on a journey, where they will come to meet one another, and experience love and life anew.