Anne-Frédérique Widmann’s Shewit, produced by Luc Peter and Katia Monla, tells a very 21st century tale of migration, exile and perseverance.
“We wanted to discover the changes in Shewit, who arrived in 2015 very weakened by her 3-year journey from Eritrea to Switzerland,” Peter tells BDE. “And who, little by little, gains self-confidence and becomes a fighter in the face of the administrative difficulties linked to her refugee status, and finally emancipates herself to become a free woman.”
With an expected release date of October 2025, Peter and Monla are looking to close finances on the project during VdR-Industry, as well as pique international sales interest. The expected running time is 80 minutes.
“We feel that this project is important because it tackles immigration issues, which are currently the subject of much debate, but above all because the film focuses on the fate of the women, and their lives once they arrive in Europe, rather than during their perilous journey,” Peter continues.
“For the audience, it’s not about discovering the tragedy of exile – that is often covered by the media – but about meeting a person and discovering the human aspects of these tragedies of the contemporary world.”
As we will see in the film, Shewit’s first battle is to legalise her status in Switzerland. Eight years after arriving in Geneva, she remains a migrant without papers, threatened with deportation, feeling disillusioned. Her second battle is personal. Shewit wants to live freely, independently, without depending on a man. Furthermore, she wants to forge her own path and break the cycle that condemns the women of her country to genital mutilation. She has also harboured a secret throughout her life. At the age of 14, Shewit was assaulted by a man, her community siding with her aggressor. Wounded, she took the road to Europe, looking to create a new life.
“Taking part in the Swiss Films Previews pitching session is the first step towards getting this film distributed,” Peter tells BDE. “Our aim, before the editing is completed in June, is to get relevant feedback and proposals for the film’s world premiere from Autumn 2025, as well as interest from international sales agents and TV channels.”
“We are actively involved in the distribution of our films in Switzerland, with the help of the directors, in order to reach a wide audience. Films with a politically committed theme, such as Shewit, always enable us to forge partnerships with associations working on similar issues,” he adds of the film’s Impact potential.
Filmmaker Anne-Frédérique Widmann previously made the multi award-winning feature doc Free Men (2018), a documentary about the resilience of an American death row inmate. “She is a very committed and courageous director,” says Peter. “She’s always committed to telling the stories of resilient people, taking the time to get to know them and accompany them with her camera during their journey. For this film [Shewit] she mixed footages shot during 10 years with a small camera with footage shot nowadays in a more cinematographic way.”
“Intermezzo Films’ strength lies in taking the time necessary to accompany the filmmaker through every creative phase (from development to editing) to ensure that the film is as strong as possible, both artistically and narratively,” he adds of the production company he runs with Katia Monla. “We only produce independent films, often socially or artistically engaged, and help them to be made and distributed thanks to professionals and a network built up over 30 years.”
