07/10/2025 - The Lucerne-born director returns with a drama film bristling with guilt and redemption, set in both the world of high-end neurosurgery and the vast solitude of the Swiss Alps

l-r: Actor Peter Sarsgaard, Marie-Therese Zgraggen, director Michael Koch, and actors Marius Gamma, Bernadette Gamma, Nikolay Gamma and Simon Stadler on the set of Erosion (© Hugofilm)

Swiss director Michael Koch has begun principal photography on his third feature, Erosion. Following his acclaimed sophomore feature, A Piece of Sky [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michael Koch
film profile], which premiered in Competition at the Berlinale in 2022 and earned a Special Mention, Koch returns with a drama about personal collapse and spiritual reckoning.

The drama follows Christian Andersen, a renowned Danish neurosurgeon whose life unravels after a failed operation results in the death of a young patient. Grappling with guilt and denial, he suffers a devastating personal blow when his own daughter goes missing. Determined to find her, he sets out on a journey into a primeval mountain world and into the depths of his own inner self. His desperate search leads him to the darkest and highest reaches of the Swiss Alps, where he must confront his responsibility, wrestle with guilt and suppression, and ultimately seek forgiveness in order to reclaim both his daughter and himself.

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Academy Award nominee Peter Sarsgaard (The Lost Daughter [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], An Education [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) plays the lead role, marking a rare Swiss-German co-production with a US star in the central part. The cast also features Cleo Stangenberg and Martin Schuler. As in A Piece of Sky, Koch has also cast local non-professional performers to embody the rural characters inhabiting the Alpine setting.

Erosion is written by Koch. His early short Polar received a Special Mention at the Berlinale and won the German Short Film Award, while his debut feature, Marija [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michael Koch
film profile], premiered in Competition at Locarno. Filming on Erosion is currently under way in the Swiss canton of Uri. German cinematographer Armin Dierolf, who also lensed A Piece of Sky, returns as director of photography. The production managers are Florian Widmeier and Daniel Illigens. Shooting in Switzerland and Germany will continue until mid-November 2025.

Erosion is a Swiss-German co-production, staged by Christof Neracher for Zurich-based Hugofilm Features in co-production with Christoph Friedel and Claudia Steffen for Cologne-based Pandora Filmproduktion, SRF, SRG SSR and ARTE. The film is supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture (BAK), the Zurich Film Foundation, the Basel Film Fund, the Central Switzerland Film Fund, Suissimage, the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) and WDR. Its world sales are handled by Polish outfit New Europe Film Sales, while distribution in Switzerland will be managed by DCM Film Distribution and in Germany by Pandora Film Verleih. A Swiss theatrical release is planned for autumn 2026.