The Newt Congress
TITLE
The Newt Congress
DIRECTOR
Matthias Sahli, Immanuel Esser
COUNTRY
Switzerland
YEAR
2022
DURATION
16′
GENRE
Fiction
The Newt Congress
For years now, giant talking newts have been used both for their labour and as laboratory animals. The Newt Congress takes place at a conference building surrounded by nature where participants have come together to optimize the exploitation of the animals. The short film is a free adaptation of Karel Čapek’s “War with the Newts”.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY - Matthias Sahli, Immanuel Esser
Born in 1988 in Winterthur, Switzerland. Matthias Sahli graduated with a BA in Film in 2017 followed by a MA in directing, both from ZHdK (Zürcher Hochschule der Künste). His short HAUSARREST (2015) was part of the official selection of the Festival del Film Locarno. His Bachelor graduation film INTERVENTION IN A BANK (2017) screened at the Warsaw Film Festival. THE NEWT CONGRESS (2022) premiered at the Locarno Film Festival where it won the Pardino d'argento.Born in 1990. German citizenship. He studied Philosophy at Humboldt University in Berlin before turning to film. Focusing on thought experiments and political philosophy he wrote his thesis on stylized worlds and their potential for enlightenment. He is studying fiction film at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. His first feature PARADISE (2020) premiered at the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis.
- DirectorMatthias Sahli, Immanuel Esser
- ScreenplayMatthias Sahli, Immanuel Esser
- Cinematography Miriam Rutherfoord
- Cast
- EditingMatthias Sahli
- Producer/s Filippo Bonacci
- Production Company
- Distributor/s
- Project TitleThe Newt Congress
- Project Type Fiction
- Completion Date03 Aug 2022
- Country of originSwitzerland
- Country of filmingSwitzerland
- LanguageGerman
- First-time Filmmaker No
- Student ProjectNo
Matthias Sahli, Immanuel Esser
Born in 1988 in Winterthur, Switzerland. Matthias Sahli graduated with a BA in Film in 2017 followed by a MA in directing, both from ZHdK (Zürcher Hochschule der Künste). His short HAUSARREST (2015) was part of the official selection of the Festival del Film Locarno. His Bachelor graduation film INTERVENTION IN A BANK (2017) screened at the Warsaw Film Festival. THE NEWT CONGRESS (2022) premiered at the Locarno Film Festival where it won the Pardino d'argento.Born in 1990. German citizenship. He studied Philosophy at Humboldt University in Berlin before turning to film. Focusing on thought experiments and political philosophy he wrote his thesis on stylized worlds and their potential for enlightenment. He is studying fiction film at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. His first feature PARADISE (2020) premiered at the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis.
