IT
| Section | |
|---|---|
| Original Title | Plitsch Platsch Forever! |
| English Title | SPLISH SPLASH FOREVER! |
| Movie Type | |
| Genre | |
| Production Year | 2026 |
| Director | |
| Cast | Alva Maurer, Michèle Rohrbach, Neah Hefti, Olga Strub, Patrick Frey, Zazie Mawete |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Movie Length | 87’ |
| Screenplay | |
| Director of Photography | |
| Editor | |
| Music | Martin Bezzola |
| Casting | Nora Leibundgut |
| Costume Designer | Heiner Wiedemann, Rudolf Jost |
| Makeup | Miriam Blank |
| Production Designer | Ioannis Sochorakis |
| Sound Designer | Manu Gerber |
| Produced by | Rajko Jazbec, Sarah Born |
| Production | |
| Festival Contact | |
| International Distribution |
Splish Splash Forever!
Polas’s (11) best—and only—friend is Polly (11). At the local outdoor swimming pool “Splish Splash”, where Polly’s parents run a café, the girls feel at home. When the municipal council decides to close the pool for financial reasons, Polly’s family emigrates.
Unable to accept that her friend is gone for good, Pola becomes determined to save the pool, believing that its reopening will bring Polly back. She joins forces with Rosalie (11), a clever new classmate who is looking for friendship.
The girls launch a petition against the closure and begin to challenge the decision publicly. What starts as a personal mission turns into an act of civic engagement: they gather signatures, confront adults in positions of power, and manage to draw the attention of the city mayor.
Natascha Beller has been a Swiss-Chinese freelance writer and director since 2011. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Film from Zurich University of the Arts. She also completed a screenwriting program at NYFA in New York, where she wrote the screenplay for VATERJAGD, which was produced by SRF in 2014. Beller is the winner of the 2009 ADC Young Creative Award and was invited to the Cannes Lions Festival. In 2017, she wrote the SRF film ZWIESPALT, awarded at the Baden-Baden Television Film Festival. From 2016 to 2019, she was part of the writing team of the late-night show Deville and co-wrote Switzerland Second, the most popular sketch in the history of Swiss television. She was also part of the writing team for the series DER BESTAŢER. Beller’s directorial debut, VAGENDA STORIES, premiered in 2019 at the Locarno Film Festival. In 2020, she developed and directed the SRF Series ADVENT, ADVENT, a Christmas crime parody starring Lara Stoll and Gabriel VeŢer. In 2022, she went to Germany to direct the ZDFneo sitcom RUBY.
Director’s Note
What immediately captivated me was Sabina Gröner’s script: a smart, touching, and at the same time very entertaining story about friendship that speaks to both children and adults. […] I simply couldn’t say no. At the same time, I had the desire to create something I could show my daughter. A film that speaks to children on equal terms, that takes them seriously and allows them to see themselves on screen. […] In many ways, I can relate to the main character and feel a strong emotional connection to her. […] I grew up in the suburbs and had a single mother who spoke broken German and worked three jobs, which meant I was often home alone. And there was also “my Polly.” She moved to Basel with her family. Even though it wasn’t Toronto, it felt just as far away as Canada did at the time. These personal parallels helped me form a deep connection to the characters very quickly. Their story feels real and familiar to me, and that authenticity was something I wanted to convey through the way I directed the film.
