DIRECTOR - WRITER : DAN THORENS

 

My red passport with a white cross and I have lived abroad most our lives. 

Then, life's scenario got me interested to explore my Swiss roots from the outside in. 

 

With Switzerland's super complex history, things were bound to get complicated very fast. Very few Swiss people (if any) really know or understand their own history and I started interviewing dozens of Swiss people whether Artists or with 9 to 5 jobs. And that's where I strangely connected and knew there was something there to be explored.

 

The Swiss are diverse, introvert, ambivalent. Switzerland's federal state is a blend of stability and secrecy.

 

Swiss Made goes to the heart of these intricacies, as we follow Arnold Weber's journey, an American Writer, who returns for personal reasons​ to a small village​ deep in the Valais.​

 

I would like to abolish the psychological frontiers & cultural preconceptions of a country smack in the middle of Europe, yet that keeps holding on to its own currency thanks to the people's vote but more over I would like to develop the notion of the illusion of our sense of identity.

 

Through the characters I've developed, coming from all corners of this tiny country, 

as their stories​​ unravel​ when stuck in a Chalet​ due to Mother nature, I challenge the status quo, to prove how different yet eerily similar these people are​ in the face of adversity.​

 

My intent is to push and foster debates that think outside of the preordained zone, and through a collage of facts and fiction​, touch on these cultural values that divide but also can unite us, as human beings.

​

Th​Is​ serious drama about a father and son failed relationship is intertwined with more abstract nightmare sequences that add a mystery layer to an otherwise very grounded story.

 

The humor I find in my home country is transcribed through the character's accents and misunderstandings that border on the hilarious as SWISS MADE slowly but surely becomes SWISS MAD.

 

When human beings learn how to laugh at themselves, they evolve and avoid the temptation of insanity ​that lurks within each of us, ​​waiting for an opportunity to rise.

 

Th​is awareness alone can ​allow for a brighter future everywhere.