Swiss Drama 'A Happy Family' Debuts at Karlovy Vary
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- "A Happy Family" directed by Jan-Eric Mack became the first Swiss film screened in the Karlovy Vary Film Festival's Crystal Globe Competition.
- Anna Schinz stars as Niki, a single mother working constantly to provide for her two children, who are placed in a foster family in another city after accidentally setting the kitchen on fire.
- The supporting cast includes Michael Neuenschwander, Julia Jentsch, Alireza Bayram, Bettina Stucky, and Martina Apostolova; the film is sold by Bendita Film Sales and produced by C-Films AG.
- Director Mack cited rising Swiss food-line numbers seen during the pandemic and singled out single mothers as a group that feels "invisible in this society" as the backdrop for the film.
- Mack blended social realism with thriller tension and "grotesque humor," noting that during research he found parents "will go to extreme places when their children are taken away."
- Mack framed the title as "very dialectic" — "a 'happy family' doesn't really exist – it's a dream" — and deliberately avoided moral judgments, saying viewers "can't decide which side you're on."
Why it matters: The film puts Switzerland's hidden poverty — particularly among single mothers Mack says feel "invisible" — on a major international festival stage, as rising food-line numbers during the pandemic exposed cracks in one of the world's richest countries. By splicing thriller mechanics into a custody-drama premise, Mack sidesteps the usual blame game around child removal, forcing audiences into moral ambiguity rather than tidy outrage.
