Sovereign is proud to announce the release of Laurent Nègre’s powerfully gripping A FORGOTTEN MAN, based on an astonishing true story, on 10th November in UK cinemas.

At the end of World War Two, a Swiss diplomat (Michael Neueschwander) is burdened with guilt about a young man who he did nothing to help, in this chillingly intense historical drama, based on controversial Swiss diplomat Hans Frolicher, written and directed by Laurent Nègre (Fragile, Operation Casablanca). The film is being released to coincide with this year’s Remembrance Day (11th November).

Beautifully shot in black and white, A FORGOTTEN MAN features tremendous central performance from Neuenschwander (nominated for the Swiss Film Prize for his role) as Heinrich Zwygart, an ambitious, respected family man, whose world starts to crumble in front of the audience's eyes. The film unfolds like a mystery - who is the young man who is haunting Zwygart? What does his daughter’s new boyfriend want from him? Will he resign his position as he has been asked to do, or has he something else planned? And can one ever be truly ‘neutral’? It makes for a gripping and nerve-wracking experience, made all the more prescient when watched in the light of current tumultuous world events.

About his timely and important film Nègre says: “It seems to me essential to look history in the face, to offer the viewer a fascinating confrontation with the national past, and to put back at the centre of our concerns questions as beautiful and important as Truth, Justice and individual Courage. Ambassador Zwygart's path in this film invites in-depth reflection on these vital questions.”

Synopsis: In the spring of 1945 as Nazi Germany collapses, Swiss ambassador Heinrich Zwygart flees bombed-out Berlin after serving eight years in the capital of the Reich. This is the end of a dreadful mandate, during which he had to make fatal compromises to preserve the neutrality and security of his country. For Switzerland to end on the winning side after the war, someone will have to pay. Haunted by his past, struggling to secure a future, but driven by his ambition Zwygart feels the trap closing in on him. He made it through the war, but will he survive peace?

A FORGOTTEN MAN: FESTIVAL SCREENINGS
A Forgotten Man has been shown at the Solothurn Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best Film in the Prix du Public category, the Zurich Film Festival, and Michael Neueschwander was nominated for Best Actor at the Swiss Film Awards.

ABOUT SOVEREIGN
Sovereign releases auteur-driven feature films in the UK, from emerging and established international talent. Our carefully curated titles have played to strong critical and audience acclaim, often premiering at renowned international film festivals, including Cannes, Berlinale, Toronto, Venice and many more.

Previously acquired titles include Peru’s entry into the Oscars Song Without A Name, which screened in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival; Philippine crime drama Verdict, which received the Special Orizzonti Jury Prize at the 76th Venice Film Festival; historical drama Malmkrog, which won Best Director in the Encounter section and opened the 70th Berlin Film Festival; Argentinian psychological thriller A Common Crime, which received its world premiere at the 70th Berlin Film Festival; Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn, which won the Golden Bear at the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival; and Kirill Serebrennikov’s Petrov’s Flu, winner of the prestigious CTS Artist award at last year’s Cannes Film festival, and also nominated for the Palme d’Or; Memoria, from Palme d’Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul, starring Tilda Swinton, which won the Cannes Jury Prize in 2021; Bolivian director Kiro Russo’s The Great Movement, winner of the Special Jury Prize in the Horizons strand at the 2021 Venice Film Festival; Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness, starring Woody Harrelson, which won the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival; Bent Hamer’s award-winning The Middle Man starring Pål Sverre Hagen and Paul Gross; and Francisca Alegría’s The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival; and the thriller Inside, from writer/director Vasilis Katsoupis and starring Willem Dafoe.

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