28/11/2007

Fifteen films, five screenplays and 11 actors are in the running for the Swiss Film Awards 2008, whose ceremony will take place on January 23 as part of the Soleure Film Days.

As well as launching new acting categories, the 11th edition introduces the Quartz trophy created by artist Sylvie Fleury.

Presided by the actress Marthe Keller, the jury also comprises writer Daniel de Roulet, journalist Florian Keller, producer Theres Scherer-Kollbrunner, director Jacqueline Veuve and Peter Dinges of the Filmförderungsanstalt Deutschland.

From among the 85 eligible titles, the selection committee picked out the following films as nominees for the top prize of Best Feature Film: Micha Lewinsky’s Der Freund, Fulvio Bernasconi’s Fuori dalle corde (“Out of the Ring”), Max & Co [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Samuel and Frédéric Guillaume, Jeanne Waltz’s A Parting Shot [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jeanne Waltz
interview: Pierre-Alain Meier
film profile] and Oliver Rihs’ Black Sheep.

In the Best Screenplay category, nominees include Lewinsky’s Der Freund, Waltz’s A Parting Shot and Rihs’s Black Sheep (co-written by Thomas Hess, David Keller, Michael Sauter and Daniel Young) as well as Michael Finger’s Bersten and Jacob Berger’s That Day (co-written with actress Noémie Kocher).

Five features are also vying for the Best Documentary Award: Stefan Schwietert’s Heimatklänge, The Mother by Antoine Cattin and Pavel Kostomarov, Pierre-Yves Borgeaud’s Return to Gorée, Peter Entell’s Shake the Devil Off and Thomas Haemmerli’s Sieben Mulden und eine Leiche.

Of the three acting awards, Johanna Bantzer (Der Freund), Mona Petri (Stefan Jäger’s Hello Goodbye) and Sabine Timoteo (Manuel Siebenmann’s Nebenwirkungen) are contenders for Best Actress, while Bruno Cathomas (Armin Biehler’s Chicken mexicaine), Beat Marti (Thomas Imbach’s I Was a Swiss Banker [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and Bruno Todeschini (That Day [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) are competing for Best Actor Award.

In the new Best Newcomer category, the five nominees are “shooting star” Nils Althaus (Mike Eschmann’s Breakout [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Gabriela Brand (Bersten), Steven de Almeida (A Parting Shot), Philippe Graber (Der Freund) and Cheryl Graf (Sabine Boss’ Kein Zurück - Studers neuster Fall).

The jury will award a prize for Best Short Film and a special distinction for "an outstanding artistic contribution ".

(Translated from French)