SYNOPSIS

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Gabriel, skater and teenage father, takes care alone of his son Jamie. In a delirious summer night Gabriel’s meets enigmatic Corey, the new girlfriend of his best friend Joel. They fall in love with the presence of an magnificent giraffe. Planets start to turn retrograde and in town a state of emergency is declared - wild animals have escaped from the zoo. When Joel finds out about the betrayal, he reveals insight about Gabriel’s tumultuous real life - There's not only a child, there's also Zoe, the unpredictable mother of his child. In the midst of exhilarating riots caused by the spreading creatures, Gabriel try’s to conquer Cory's perturbed heart. Indeed their connection is huge, bigger than themselves and his child no obstacle. But Jamie is taken in custody while Joel, deeply hurt, speeds up on his motorbike and causes a paradoxical accident.

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DIRECTORS NOTE

It is mainly the harsh blows that stir up our superficial existence and reveal the core of our being. I witnessed the birth of my first son and the sudden death of my youth love when I was 18 years old. Paradoxically, I went through these events, with almost identical sensations. So, as if hot and cold water touches the skin at the same time and for a brief moment it‘s not clear, which feeling belongs to which event. Everything around me was more intense than the reality I previously knew. In both moments, an transcendent but raw perception of the world opened up. BEAST is not another coming-of-age but a contemporary coming-into-life film, dedicated to inevitable themes that concern us at all ages.

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DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY

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Lorenz Merz was born 1981 in Zurich from swiss-american parents. After formation in painting and photography he studied film at University of the Arts Zurich and Universidad del Cine Buenos Aires. His graduate short Un dia y nada 2008 won international awards, including the Silver Leopard at 61st Locarno IFF and the Swiss Film Prize 2009. His first feature film Cherry Pie 2013 (66th Locarno IFF, Rotterdam IFF and others won international awards including the Main Award at Valencia IFF  2014. With his work as cinematographer he was represented several times at the Camerimage IFF (worlds greatest and most recognized festival dedicated to the art of cinematography). Among other awards he won another two times the Swiss Film Prize - Best Cinematography  for Summer Games (Venice 2011) and War (San Sebastian) 2014.In 2013, he and fellow filmmakers founded the Zurich based production company 8horses. He was part of international jurys (Locarno IFF / NIFFF Neuchatel Fantastic IFF 2015). Lorenz Merz is member of EFA European Film Academy, SFA Swiss Film Academy and SCS Swiss Cinematographer’s Society. Father of two sons, lives in Zurich and Paris.