
Joël Jent
Production
Biography
Joël Jent was born in Switzerland in 1983. He grew up in a Christian cult. The day he turned 18 he packed his belongings in a bag, threw it on his motorcycle and took off into an uncertain future. He pursued a program of study in film, political science and social history at University of Zurich, which he completed in 2010 (Master of Arts). He then worked briefly as a journalist. Since 2003, Joël Jent has written THE BLIND FERRYMAN (2024), EATING THE SILENCE (2021), WINDOWLESS (2019) and produced several short- and feature films (THE SAINT OF THE IMPOSSIBLE, BAGHDAD IN MY SHADOW, FACING MECCA, BON VOYAGE, IRAQI ODYSSEY). He directs documentary and fiction, i.e. EATING THE SILENCE, VIVRE LE PIANO and DÉSAMOUR and is a winner of the SSA grant (Société Suisse des Auteurs). Joël Jent is a member of the European- and the Swiss Film Academy and alumnus of IDFA Project Space (2025), IDFAcademy (2024), EsoDoc European Social Documentary (2023), the Hezayah Screenwriting Lab (2021) and Cannes Producer on the Move Program (2016). He is father to one son and works as an independent filmmaker and screenwriter in Zurich. His future is still uncertain.
Known For

A wide variety of Iraqis in exile meet at Café Abu Nawas in London, including the architect Amal, the poet Taufiq and the gay IT specialist Muhannad. They all want to finally feel free in London - something that was denied them in their homeland. But adversity threatens...
Baghdad in My Shadow

Pensioner Roli comes to Fareed's assistance when the Syrian refugee is faced with the burial of his Muslim wife. Together they stumble into a bewildering forest of Swiss bureaucracy to which Roli finds beautifully simple answer.
Facing Mecca

Tracing the emigrations of his family over more than half a century, this riveting documentary epic from acclaimed expatriate Iraqi filmmaker Samir pays moving homage to the frustrated democratic dreams of a people successively plagued by the horrors of dictatorship, war and foreign occupation of Iraq.
Iraqi Odyssey

Jonas and Silvia are enjoying a wonderful sailing holiday in the Mediterranean sea. But while sailing through the night, far away from land, they discover an overloaded refugee boat, close to sinking. They are shocked, but too afraid to help. So they call the coast guards but lose the boat out of sight into the darkness of the night. In the early morning they find themselves drifting through an ocean of dead bodies. The refugee boat has sunk. Jonas and Silvia manage to pull a few survivors out of the cold water: Syrians. This rescue marks the beginning of a dramatic conflict between the hopes and dreams of the refugees, and the fears and ideals of the holiday sailors.
Bon Voyage

A murder, a police raid and a photo of a mysterious girl; a young mother must piece together her twin son's secret romantic life, in order to find out what happened to them.
The Saint of the Impossible

Maria, a Mexican migrant, is pregnant. Her husband Giorgio is sterile. She conceals the pregnancy from him out of fear he might suspect infidelity. Caught between doubt and longing, both seek tenderness elsewhere. Fascinated by the unknown, their feelings drive them into the depths of love. There, where only trust can prevent them from losing one another.
Peripheric Love

The interactive roadmovie follows the trail of a convicted war criminal with ties to Switzerland. On a journey through contemporary Rwanda, the viewer decides how deeply he wants to immerse himself in the story.
Traces of Responsibility

"Mother married a photo of Father," says director Firouzeh Khosrovani in the opening of this deeply personal documentary. She's not speaking metaphorically though. Her mother Tayi literally married a portrait of Hossein in Teheran -he was in Switzerland studying radiology and was unable to travel back to his homeland for the wedding. The event illustrates the abyss that still exists in their marriage: Hossein is a secular progressive and Tayi a devout, traditional Muslim.
Radiograph of a Family

Nada is going home. Or at least she wants to. When she comes back to Lebanon, she realizes she's a foreigner in her own country. But there's still a place she calls home: an abandoned house in ruins, haunted by the presence of her grandfather who disappeared mysteriously during the civil war. Something happened in this house. Something violent. A young woman searching for the truth and discovering herself.
Go Home

Rolf, a hemiplegic, spends his days dozing on a sofa bed in his dusty apartment. On TV, he learns of a deadly pandemic sweeping around the globe. While the world around him falls apart, he bears witness to it on his screen with relish. When his nurse fails to visit him, Rolf realizes that his survival is anything but certain.
Eating the Silence

Madrid, 1974. Six years have passed since Martin and his family have returned to Spain from Switzerland. A visit to their adopted country will bring complications.
Back to Switzerland

It has been 35 years since Maria left her newborn in a baby window. With the help of the authorities, she tracks down her daughter and meets Caroline for the first time. A DNA test is to prove their kinship. An increasingly close relationship develops between Maria and Caroline. However, unfulfilled expectations and quiet accusations threaten to break it time and again. The two women struggle together – until the result of the DNA test is available.
Fensterlos

Ada and Christoph are standing at the parting of their ways. The assumed closeness between them turns out to be an illusion. Christoph cheats on Ada. While Ada escapes into her own world of thought she recognizes the central problem of their relationship and obtains certainty that she will not stand up against it…
Désamour

Fantasizes an 'Old' Middle East, wherein communities were not divided along ethnic and religious lines; a Middle East in which even metaphorical borders had no place
Once I Entered in a Garden

Young brothers Konrad and Baschi get into a fight that spirals out of control and leads to dire consequences. While the world outside their home crumbles, Konrad has just one chance to right his wrong.
Nightlight

The ten-piece afro-helvetic band “King Kora” starts a tour through Gambia, the home country of its kora player and singer Lamin Jobarteh. The band travels for nine days on a boat on the river Gambia, stopping at eight villages and cities along the shore to perform, and finally giving three large concerts on the coast. But what they find in this country does not always meet their expectations…
Kings of the Gambia

When Muslims are shown in the media, they are often portrayed as the bad guys. And yet every year, over a hundred Swiss people convert to Islam. «I testify that there is no God but Allah and that Mohammad is His prophet.« The heroes of Shalom Allah study the new religion and begin their journey into Islam.
Shalom Allah

The blind ferryman Ayoub lives in the swamps of southern Iraq. One day he meets a mysterious woman and falls for her. Nobody believes that she exists. When even his neighbors turn away from him, he carries out a fatal act in desperation.
The Blind Ferryman

At the age of six, Adilia Alieva recorded her first radio performance. At the age of seven she performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 on stage, conducted by Leo Ginzburg. The story of this playful person’s life depicts her longings, dreams and experiences and accompanies her on her journey back to Russia, where she reunites with her sister after 17 years of absence, while being confronted with a dramatically changed city of Moscow.
Vivre le Piano
Former child soldier Carlitos wants to unite his wartime parents. But Tania and Shogún are no regular parents. Carlitos chose them as his mother and father although they were enemies in the Peruvian civil war.