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War
Chrieg
Directed by
- Simon Jaquemet
Switzerland
2014
108 min
- German
Drama
San Sebastián IFF
The whole world is against Matteo. At least that’s how it seems to this fifteen-year-old. He has no friends, his parents appear to live on another planet and his awkward attempts at gaining the respect of his father continually fall flat. One night, Matteo is led away by two men and taken to an isolated Alp, where he is to spend the summer working hard on the fields at a boot camp. But Matteo gets a surprise while up in the mountains: after overpowering their supervisor, the rebellious youths Anton, Dion and Ali take over control and lock the newcomer in a dog pound. Over time, the tortured and humiliated Matteo proves his courage, and is finally accepted by the truculent gang. Together, the youths wage a war - against adults, against society, against everyone and everything. With CHRIEG, director Simon Jaquemet takes us on a journey into the world of an aggressive gang. An intense, atmospherically dense drama that burrows deep under the skin.
Awards
- Jury Award, Best Actor (Benjamin Lutzke) - Marrakech IFF
- Max Ophüls Prize - Max Ophüls FF
Festivals
Labels & Line Ups
Credits
- Cast
- Benjamin Lutzke
- Ella Rumpf-Capron
- Ste
- Sascha Gisler
- Screenplay
- Simon Jaquemet
- Cinematography
- Lorenz Merz
- Editing
- Christof Schertenleib
- Sales
- PICTURE TREE INTERNATIONAL
- Production
- HUGOFILM PRODUCTIONS
- Production
- SCHWEIZER RADIO UND FERNSEHEN
Press
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Jaquemet shines a light on a different side of being young... with a raw and ruthless story in which the reward for confronting one's own inner demons is redemption. Sublime.

Simon Jaquemet
Switzerland
I want my film to be an exploration of the subject through a very personal point of view, which is presented to an audience without delivering the matching moral. It is meant to shake up, rather than to confirm.
Simon Jaquemet (1978) grew up on a farm near Basel in Switzerland. After a short career as a professional snowboarder, he studied film directing at the Zürich University of the Arts. He wrote and directed several short films including FORTRESS (2005), BLOCK (2007) and LAURA'S PARTY (2010), which were invited to various international festivals. He also directed music videos, which won several awards, and worked as a cinematographer for video artists. Jaquemet’s first feature WAR premiered at the 2014 San Sebastian IFF in the New Directors section and was invited to festivals all over the world. WAR won the prestigious Max Ophüls Preis at the Max Ophüls FF and several more awards, including the Jury Prize and the Prize for Best Actor at the Marrakech FF.