30/03/2026 - Petra Volpe and Moris Freiburghaus’ movies respectively claimed trophies for Best Fiction Film and Best Documentary

Director Petra Volpe with one of her awards for Late Shift (© FOC/Eduard Meltzer)

Late Shift, by the eclectic Swiss director of Italian origin Petra Volpe, was the undisputed big winner at the latest Swiss Film Awards ceremony. In addition to Best Feature Film, Late Shift - which enjoyed its world premiere in the 2025 Berlinale - also scooped Best Screenplay (courtesy of Petra Volpe) and Best Sound (Jacques Kiffer, Gina Keller and Marco Teufen), not to mention the Box Office Quartz which is a new annual prize for the film attracting the highest number of viewers to Swiss cinemas. Following the onerous and demanding everyday lives of male and female nurses, the film has been selected to represent Switzerland at the Oscars.

Whilst the Best Fiction Film trophy went to a now-established director, Best Documentary wound up in the hands of a young director called Moris Freiburghaus on account of his first feature film. I Love You, I Leave You is a deeply personal and poignant film which explores the relationship between the director and his best friend, the musician Dino Brandão, who’s forced to come to terms with a particularly dark time in his life. A story about friendship but also a reflection on neurodivergence and the lack of understanding that often surrounds it, the film also won a second prize for Best Score, going to Dino Brandão himself.

Marie-Elsa Sgualdo’s film about female emancipation in the run up to the Second World War, À-bras-le-corps, likewise claimed two trophies: Best Cinematography (Benoit Dervaux) and Best Editing (Karine Sudan). The same number of awards went to the family drama Bagger Drama by Piet Baumgartner, who won the New Directors Prize in San Sebastian in 2024. The Academy was bowled over by its protagonists who bagged Best Actress (Bettina Stucky) and Best Actor (Phil Hayes). Best Supporting Actor, for its part, went to the ubiquitous Sven Schelker for his performance in Stefan Haupt’s I’m Not Stiller. The Zurich director and Basel-born actor first collaborated in 2014 on the multi-award-winning work The Circle, which Schelker toplined.

In the category of short films, the most significant prize went to the intriguing movie Yonne by Julietta Korbel and Yan Ciszewski, while Luisa Zürcher’s I’m Not Sure bagged Best Animated Film. Both works enjoyed their world premieres in Locarno’s Pardi di Domani section. An animated movie, Qui part à la chasse by Lea Favre (of the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne), also won Best Graduate Film, having been presented in a world premiere in the Visions du Réel Festival and screened in countless festivals, including Annecy and Locarno.

The Special Academy Prize was awarded to director Damien Hauser for his “innovative use of new technologies” - which “make a remarkable contribution to the current debate on the creative use of artificial intelligence” - in his movie Memory of Princess Mumbi. Born in Lucerne but now a Lugano native, Villi Hermann was honoured with the Swiss Film Award of Honour for his 50-years-plus career. It’s a significant award for a director who’s been brave enough to shoot most of his films in Italian.

The winners are as follows:

Best Film
Late Shift – Petra Volpe (Switzerland/Germany)

Best Documentary
I Love You, I Leave You – Moris Freiburghaus (Switzerland)

Best Animated Film
I’m Not Sure – Luisa Zürcher (Switzerland) (short film)

Best Screenplay
Late Shift – Petra Volpe

Best Actress
Bettina Stucky – Bagger Drama (Switzerland)

Best Actor
Phil Hayes - Bagger Drama

Best Supporting Actor
Sven Schelker – I’m Not Stiller (Switzerland/Germany)

Best Cinematography
Benoit Dervaux - À-bras-le-corps (Switzerland)

Best Editing
Karine Sudan - À-bras-le-corps

Best Sound
Jacques Kieffer, Gina Keller, Marco Teufen - Late Shift

Best Score
Dino Brandão - I Love You, I Leave You

Best Short Film
Yonne – Julietta Korbel, Yan Ciszewski (Switzerland/France)

Best Graduate Film
Qui part à la chasse – Lea Favre (Switzerland) (short film)

Academy Special Prize
Damien Hauser – for his innovative use of new technologies in Memory of Princess Mumbi

Prize of Honour
Villi Hermann

Box Office Quartz
Late Shift – Petra Volpe

(Translated from Italian)