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    6+
    Film
    Live-action
    75 min

Rosanna, Jaris and the Otherworld

When her younger brother falls seriously ill, Rosanna (9) finds solace in the world of a nearby circus. With the help of the “chicken boy”, Rosanna tries to fulfill Jaris' greatest wish: to fly!

ROSANNA (9) lives with her brother JARIS (7) and their parents in an apartment opposite a wasteland that has been partially reclaimed by nature: An adventure playground for the siblings! It becomes even more exciting when a circus sets up its quarters there. But everything changes when Jaris falls ill and something is growing in his body that doesn't belong there.

Rosanna regularly visits her brother in hospital and tells him the story of the six enchanted swan brothers. She brings the story to life with a self-made shadow theater and Jaris dreams of flying away just like the swan brothers. Rosanna feels increasingly alone. Her parents spend a lot of time in hospital and don't even seem to notice her anymore! In the circus she befriends the mysterious boy Chicken Eye (10), whom only she can see. He encourages her to try the impossible: To learn to fly to surprise Jaris with a great adventure to give him new hope.

With the help of her school friend VIOLA (9) Rosanna whisks Jaris away to the circus. However, Rosanna's jump from the circus roof fails and she ends up in the hospital bed next to Jaris with a fat arm in plaster. Her parents recognize her needs because of the incident and finally help her to fulfill Jaris' greatest wish after all. In the in-between world of the circus, realities merge. And although Jaris flies away from his human life, Rosanna senses that fantasy, friendship and love have healing powers.

Directors statement

Children spend a lot of time thinking about big things, such as life and death. They strive for content that challenges their boundaries and feels "grown up". They also want to see stories that have suspense, humor and entertainment, and an interesting protagonist.

In the cinematic realization we are looking for a child's perspective that brings great challenges. The adult world, the reality of illness and the colorful, playful children's world: two worlds, interwoven through a child's gaze. Our images are poetic and realistic with a pinch of exaggeration. We look for aesthetic images, as well as witty perspectives and unagitated, intimate moments. The colorfulness of Rosanna's world deliberately breaks up the subject matter and creates an exaggerated reality through playful details – e.g., when feathers spray out of Chicken Eye’s ears as soon as he gets nervous. The lighting design is bright. In the adult world, we work with natural-looking light, in the childlike world, we work e.g. with backlighting for Rosanna's memories with Jaris on the wasteland, creating a mystical atmosphere.

I am a POC. When I was a child, there weren’t any role models in children's films who looked like me. In Rosanna's family, I want to portray diversity as normality. Rosanna is a character with the potential to be a role model. She demands that adults communicate with her as equal and wants them to accompany her in her feelings. With her playfulness she insists that life is a celebration despite everything.

SANDRA MOSER: *1969, Switzerland. Trained as actor. 2018 Drehbuchwerkstatt Munich, 2023 Master Film/ Screenwriting Practice at ZHdK. Her master's degree script Rosanna, Jaris and the Otherworld was awarded with Best Screenplay, Sehsüchte 52nd International Student Film Festival; Artist residency Casa Pantrovà (TI); SSA grant for 1st long screenplays (CH) She works in theater, circus and film projects.
  • DirectorSandra Moser
  • ProducerStefan Jäger
  • ScreenwriterSandra Moser
  • Production countriesSwitzerland, Germany
  • Production companytellfilm GmbH
  • Age6+
  • Duration75 min
  • GenreFamily
  • TypeLive-action
  • Year2025
  • Spoken languageSwiss German
  • Total budget€2,917,892
  • Financing in place€1,044,828

Contact persons

Stefan Jäger
Stefan Jäger

tellfilm GmbH

Company profile

tellfilm was founded in 1997. With the successful production of various feature and documentary films (Ingeborg Bachmann - Journey into the Desert, Youth Topia, Monte Verità, Blue My Mind, Animals, Der grosse Sommer, Horizon Beautiful, Hello Goodbye, Boxing Jesus), TV films (Tatort - Wunschdenken), as well as documentaries and docu-series for Swiss television (Markus Imhoof - Rebellischer Poet, Ursus & Nadeschkin - Back to the Rootsetc.), tellfilm has successfully sold its films internationally and screened them worldwide at festivals such as the Berlinale or Locarno. In recent years, tellfilm has increasingly produced co-productions as a minority partner. Among them, Calcinculo (IT-CH), which had its world premiere at the Panorama 2022 of the Berlinale. The international co-production (CH-ATD-LUX) Ingeborg Bachman - Journey into the Desert by Margarethe von Trotta celebrated its world premiere in competition at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival. The feature film Gloria! (IT-CH) by Margherita Vicario made its debut in the Competition of the Berlinale 2024. The minor DE-CH production The Prank (Family Entertainment) by Benjamin Heisenberg will be released in 2025.
We have secured the renowned German company Kurhaus Production in Baden-Baden as a co-producer. We are currently looking for a world sales partner and maybe a third co-production partner, depending on the possibilities.
Goals at JCM

Representatives at JCM and contact details

Sandra Moser
Sandra Moser

Sandra Moser

info@sandra-moser.ch

Julia Fiechter
Julia Fiechter

Producer

tellfilm GmbH

fiechter.julia@gmail.com