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Caterina Mona’s directorial debut Semret is a measured and intimate exploration of migration, trauma, and the complexities of a mother-daughter relationship within the framework of an Eritrean immigrant experience in Switzerland. Set in Zurich, the film gently unpacks the weight of Semret’s past—a past that lingers unspoken between her and her daughter, Joe, as they navigate their lives in a new, foreign land.

The central narrative of Semret thrives on its nuanced portrayal of a woman caught between her deeply ingrained fears and her longing to give her daughter a life beyond the trauma she herself endured. At the heart of the film lies a subtle but powerful conflict: Semret’s overprotectiveness of Joe, which stems from her own unresolved pain, juxtaposed against the growing independence of her teenage daughter.

The film doesn’t rush to explain Semret’s trauma but allows it to unfold gradually, drawing the audience into her quiet,...

Zurich native Caterina Mona will bring her directorial debut “Semret” to the 75th Locarno Film Festival where it screens at the city’s Piazza Grande, an outdoor venue traditionally reserved for more popular plays. The film, which is being sold by German sales outfit Pluto Film, follows the difficult path to healing for the titular character of Semret: a reclusive immigrant mother from Eritrea, now living and working in Zurich. Between her difficulties with her daughter’s coming-of-age and her challenging career at a hospital, Semret must take down her walls in order to let others in.

“Semret” stars British newcomer Lula Mebrahtu (alongside Tedros Teclebrhan and Hermela Tekleab), whose understated physicality in the role of Semret expertly belies the violence of the character’s trauma as Semret moves through scenes with a palpable past. The dialogue in “Semret” bounces between Swiss-German and Tigrinya, continuing a trend toward multilingual European co-productions.

German sales company Pluto Film has taken world sales outside Switzerland on Swiss director Caterina Mona’s timely immigration-themed drama “Semret” ahead of its world premiere in the Locarno Film Festival’s Piazza Grande section.

The titular character of the film, of which Variety is launching the trailer (watch above), is an Eritrean single mother living in Zurich who works in a hospital while studying to be a midwife. Semret becomes pressured by her teenage daughter, named Joe, to learn more about her origins, which is a taboo subject. But in order not to lose all that she loves, she is forced to confront her wartime past and the sheltered life she has built for herself in Switzerland.

“Semret is first and foremost a film about a mother and a daughter,” the director said in her production notes. “The daughter’s emancipation causes changes in the mother,” she added, noting...