This elegiac cinematic hybrid plunges audiences into a murder mystery amid the Yugoslav Wars of the early 1990s.

Director and animator Anja Kofmel has been obsessed with the untold story surrounding the death of her cousin, Chris, since his body was discovered under mysterious circumstances in 1992. Chris was a Swiss war reporter found wearing the uniform of an international mercenary group in Croatia, and his story is told through haunting hand-painted black-and-white animation mixed with documentary footage that blends fantasy with reality in surprising ways.

A passion project for the first-time feature director, Chris the Swiss utilises its subject’s private notebooks and radio reports as inspiration as Kofmel retraces Chris’ steps nearly three decades later. Selected for the Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week, her investigation highlights the dangers and daring allure of reporting from a warzone and the lasting effects on those left behind.

"Chris the Swiss is a fascinating, moving elegy for doomed youth." – The Hollywood Reporter