EXCLUSIVE: Spain’s Bendita Film Sales has picked up international sales rights for Swiss writer-director Jan-Eric Mack’s A Happy Family ahead of its world premiere in the Crystal Globe Competition at next month’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF).
The debut feature is the first Swiss production to be selected for the main competition.
Described as a social drama with thriller elements, A Happy Family explores themes of poverty and social inequality in Switzerland, focusing on the precarious situation of single mothers. It is about a woman with two children, two jobs, and no money. After a fire turns her life upside down, her children are placed in foster care. Banned from contact, she assumes a new identity, risking everything to stay close to them.
Co-writer Anna Schinz also stars in the film with Julia Jentsch, Bettina Stucky, Michael Neuenschwander and Martina Apostolova.
A Happy Family is produced by Martin Joss and Peter Reichenbach, a C-FILMS AG Production, in collaboration with DCM, in coproduction with SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen and SRG SSR, with the support of Zürcher Filmstiftung, Bundesamt für Kultur (BAK), Valais Film Commission, Film Commission Zurich, Focal Stage Pool, Suissimage.
The project was part of the 2025 Work In Progress Selection of the Les Arcs Film Festival where it won the music award.
DCM Film Distribution has Swiss rights.
“What struck us about A Happy Family is the way it combines emotional authenticity with compelling narrative momentum,” explained Luis Renart, CEO at Bendita Film Sales. ”Jan-Eric Mack approaches complex social realities without simplification, crafting a film that is as suspenseful as it is compassionate.”
Mack has previously directed several award-winning short films. Facing Mecca won the Student Oscar in 2017, the Swiss Film Award in 2018, and was shortlisted for the 90th Academy Awards in the “Live Action Shorts” category.
He also co-directed the international co-production and historical spy series Davos 1917, which world premiered at the 19th Zurich Film Festival and aired on SRF, ARD, and ORF in 2023.
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