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Country: Switzerland
Raphaela Wagner is an ever curious director-writer with a strong interest in exploring the boundary between realism and fantasy and using it to spotlight important themes. In 2021, she completed her short film 'Saitenstich' which premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, was broadcast on Swiss television, and was long-listed for a Swiss Film Prize. She went on to direct the short film 'The Draft' (2023), which was shot entirely in virtual production and after a successful festival run, is now available on the sci-fi channel DUST. Raphaela also live-action-directed the mid-length video game / interactive film 'Cuttlefish' and in spring 2025, she received a “rising talent award” from the St. Gallen Cultural Foundation, which recognized her as a young artist with great potential. Whenever she’s not on a film set, she works as a stand-in teacher for 10-13-year-olds, sometimes teaching maths, other times passing on her filmmaking knowledge. Last year she worked with a number of immigrants, teaching German, and was thoroughly moved and impressed by some of their stories; it made her even more eager to bring 'To Catch A Siren' onto the big screen. Aside from 'To Catch A Siren', Raphaela is currently developing her debut feature film 'S’Hatili', which received development funding from the Swiss Federal Office of Culture. Raphaela is multi-lingual and based in both London and Zürich.
A young refugee desperately searches for her mother, who she believes to be a mermaid....
