Michael Steiner had several years of waiting for last night’s world premiere of his much-anticipated fourth feature Sennentuntschi.

Zurich-based Steiner, who previously made hits like Grounding and Mein Name Ist Eugen, shot the film back in the autumn of 2008 before funding problems ground the production to a halt. Luckily, Constantin Media chief executive Bernhard Burgener stepped in via Constantin Film Schweiz with a reported cash injection of CHF 3.4m to bail out the production earlier this year. Disney will release it in Switzerland on Oct 14.

“It was a big production for Switzerland,” explained festival director Karl Spoerri. “The government, the local subsidies — everyone was involved and it was a big political thing, too. It was a natural for us to programme it because everyone was happy it was finally rescued by Constantin.”

The story is based on an Alpine fable about a beautiful mute woman who wreaks revenge on the herdsmen of a small Alpine village in 1975.

Spoerri added: “The film itself is really something special, its a mix between a Western and a mystery horror. Michael Steiner is still a young hot director.”

Steiner, who lives and works in Zurich, told Screen he was proud of the film, “because it shows a different side to how modern Zurich people think.”

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