Calabria

A road movie in a hearse. After the death of a calabrian emigrant who came to Switzerland to find work, two undertakers, Jovan and José, who are themselves emigrants, travel from north to south of Italy to repatriate the dead body into his home village. Jovan, a gypsy who was a singer in Belgrad, believes in life after death. While José, a portuguese who is passionate about culture, believes only what he sees. Together, they face the contingencies and the surprises of the trip. Their journey is an opportunity to pay a tribute to the dead person and to enjoy life.

Main Festivals & Awards

Festival del Film Locarno (2016)
RIDM, Montréal, International Competition (2016)
Solothurner Filmtage (2017)
Krakow Film Festival (2017)

Doclisboa: Award for Best International Competition Film (2016)
Visions du Réel: Special Jury Mention (2016)

Director's Biography

Calabria is Pierre-François Sauterʼs second feature film. In 2009, he directed Facing the Judge, a documentary which was screened in 30 theatres in Switzerland. Earlier projects include working for the television program Strip-tease put on by the RTBF (French Community of Belgiumʼs Public Broadcasting Company), and directing some fifty documentary portraits on behalf of the Voilà program on the Swiss (German) – SF1 DRS. Earlier still, Mr. Sauter worked at two printmaking studios in respectively Lausanne and Milan and his prints were shown in several galleries in Switzerland. Pierre-François Sauter spent his childhood in Mozambique, then he lived and worked in Lisbon, Paris, Brussels and Lausanne. Since 2003, he devoted himself to producing and directing his own films.