Fifteen-year-old Selma feels crushed: by her mother's expectations, by those of the Catholic village in the Swiss mountain where she lives, and ultimately by her own. On the night before a religious procession, she encounters a group of teenagers hidden in the dark of the local sports hall. Year of production 2025 Length 20' CountrySwitzerland Shooting Format 2K digital Aspect Ratio 1:1 Dialogue Swiss German
DirectorStefania Burla Producer Fabiana Seitz Production Company Zurich University of the Arts Writers Johannes Jordan, Fabiana Seitz, Stefania Burla CinematographerBalz Auf der Maur Editor Laura Rodríguez Pérez Production DesignerNura Eissa Costume DesignerSarah Bigler Hair and Make-Up Ksenia Ignatenko Sound DesignersMara Miccichè, Marco Peron Sound Recordist Anna-Maria Bühlmann Line Producer Filippo Bonacci MusicKsenia Ignatenko & Yanick Herzog Cast Anouk Petri, Sarah Bahmou, Aira Venzi, Keira Jöhr, Ruben Otth, Nicolas De Peri, Barbara Terpoorten
Director's Statement NEST tells a story of a young woman who feels she cannot meet the opposing expectations placed on her from various sides. She feels the weight of her mother's ideals, the pressure of society, and the strict norms of the conservative Catholic community in the Swiss mountains. Expectations placed on women, however, are often contradictory, even outside religious contexts. I can deeply empathise with our main character, Selma, and I clearly remember what it was like to be a teenager. As an adolescent woman, it is especially difficult to discover who you are when you are constantly confronted with the expectations of the outside world. The tension of trying to fit into society's rigid image of a woman while also breaking free from it is something that I really wanted to explore in this film. With NEST, I wanted to look into exactly this area of tensions. This also includes questioning how female bodies, sexuality and attraction is often portrayed and which images are excessively reproduced and how to break them. The representation of sexuality is still very much characterized by a male and heteronormative gaze. It is very important to me to tell stories that are far removed from this rigid gaze and to co-create new perspectives.
