Swiss-French feature “Summer Drift,” premiering at ACID Cannes Saturday, May 16, follows Johanna Schopfer, a watch factory worker in Geneva whose summer obsession with restoring her vintage VW Beetle becomes a personal and political act of reclamation.
Directed by Céline Carridroit and Aline Suter, the film moves between documentary and autofiction, using reconstructed scenes and staged fiction to tell a story of friendship and identity.
Produced by Aurélien Marsais (Cavale Films) in co-production with Alter Ego Production, “Summer Drift” was shot on 16mm and set far from Geneva’s polished international image of banks, diplomacy and luxury. The film instead explores working-class garages, queer friendships and the hidden rhythms of celebration within the city. At its center is Johanna herself, crafting a version of her own life with loving naturalism.
Variety spoke with Carridroit and Suter ahead of the debut about building the film around autofiction, the importance of Geneva, and why shooting on film was essential to showing a trans woman in a cinematic space where she historically hasn’t existed.
How did you know observation alone wasn’t enough, and that you needed fiction and reconstruction to tell Johanna’s story?
