Young Swiss director Riccardo Signorell worked in animation, documentary, and short films before moving into feature work. Scheherazade, his second effort, is a taut psychological drama of family intrigue set aboard the luxury yacht of a family patriarch, a successful commodities trader. Into the celebration of his daughter’s eighteenth birthday enters her brother, with his English gallerist girlfriend and a German banker in tow. As a conflict between father and son emerges, a champagne-induced game of truth or dare ensues, with suggestions of dark family secrets. The film was nominated for a Golden Leopard award at the 2001 Locarno Film Festival.