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Set on a forgotten Russian island in the Caspian Sea and playing out like a window to another world, doc feature “Ostrov – Lost Island” has been acquired for world sales by London-based Taskovski Films.

Premiering at Swiss doc fest Visions du Reél in its main International Feature Film Competition, the documentary chronicles a community forced to fish illegally to feed their families, and the traditions which endure.

In “Ostrov” directors Svetlana Rodina and Laurent Stoop are expertly invisible. Ivan, a quiet fisherman, and his wife Anna are given enough screen time to live and, spaced out among the creaking boats and sagging wallpaper, the island comes to life.

“‘Ostrov – Lost Island’ is a visually stunning, lyrical film made with a clear passion for its characters and the vast landscape they inhabit. With an exquisite sense for detail the film takes the viewer on a journey to create a wider picture...

Two debut features in writer-director Antoine Russbach’s “Those Who Work” and Anja Kofmel’s animated documentary “Chris the Swiss,” were the big winners at Friday night’s Swiss Film Awards, notching three plaudits each.

Sold by Be For Films, “Those Who Work,” stars Belgian actor Olivier Gourmet, who has appeared in every single film by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne since 1996’s “La Promesse,” to winning a Cannes best actor award for 2002’s “The Son.” In Russbach’s film Gourmet plays Frank, a 50-something fixer for a company which rents out cargo ships. On a busy day, to prevent a ship being put into quarantine, he rashly orders a stowaway be thrown overboard to certain death. The decision gets him fired, not for moral reasons, but in the hopes of avoiding a media scandal.

The film scooped the awards for best fiction feature, best screenplay and best performance in a supporting role,...

Kolkata, Moods of the characters determines the music in Bollywood films, and the songs are often forcibly included in the films, probably to meet the demands of the market, said Swiss musician Marcel Vaid Monday said at the 14th Kolkata Film Festival here. "During research for my Indo-Swiss film 'Tandoori Love', I noticed that songs in Bollywood films are forcibly included... they are mostly either meaningless or out-of-context," said Vaid, who has given music for the Swiss film "The Friend", which was screened here."In European films, we don't have a 'happy' song to make the audience aware that a character is 'happy'. But in Hindi films there is a song for every mood... perhaps this is the demand of the market," Vaid said."Of course there are ...