“Soul of a Beast” is nominated eight times, “La Mif” six times – and yet “Olga” and the documentary “Ostrov” are the films that will be talked regarding this year at the Swiss Film Prize. The trophies will be presented on Friday evening in Hall 622 in Zurich.
“Olga” by Elie Grappe tells the story of a young Ukrainian gymnast who takes refuge in Switzerland at the time of the pro-European Maidan revolution in 2013 and 2014. The documentary “Ostrov” by Russian Svetlana Rodina and Laurent Stoop is interested in a Russian island on which life once flourished before dying out with the fall of the USSR. Today, the inhabitants have little more than their faith in the “savior” Vladimir Putin.
The actress of “Olga” in Switzerland
The two films, nominated before the start of the war in Ukraine, among others in the main categories of best fiction film and best documentary, resonate with current events.
And since it became known that the actress of “Olga” Anastasia Budiashkina managed to flee Ukraine for Poland and then Switzerland – the 20-year-old gymnast has already attended a screening of her film at the Filmpodium in Zurich – and that she will be present in person on Friday evening, it is clear that the Swiss Film Prize 2022 will be remembered as a very political edition.
Rain of nominations
But precisely: most of the nominations were attributed to other films. “La Mif” by the Genevan Frédéric Baillif, in which he worked with the residents and the director of a real home, collected six. And this last Claudia Grob was selected for the Quartz for best actress when she is not.
In addition to the young Zurich actress Luna Wedler (“Soul of a Beast”), known for her appearance in “Biohackers” on Netflix, two other non-professional actresses from “La Mif”, Anaïs Uldry and Charlie Areddy, have been selected.
A memory
“Soul of a Beast” by Lorenz Merz is nominated in the categories best fiction film, best female interpretation (Ella Rumpf), best male interpretation (Pablo Caprez), best interpretation in a supporting role (Luna Wedler), best film music , Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Sound. Eight times: this is a record in the history of the Swiss Film Prize.
The Swiss Film Prize has been awarded since 1998 by the Federal Office of Culture (OFC). This year, in addition to the explosive political character, the strong presence of non-professional actors and actresses is striking.
As for the honorary prize, as we already know, it is awarded to filmmaker Fredi M. Murer. He is the director, among others, of “L’Âme-soeur”, “Pleine lune” and “Vitus”.
The five fiction films nominated for this 2022 edition and four documentaries out of five were co-produced by the SSR. Three of the five fiction films selected (“Olga”, “La Mif” and “Azor”) were directed or produced by French-speaking people and two documentaries out of five (“Les Guérisseurs” and “Réveil sur Mars”).
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