Michael Koch’s second feature A Piece Of Sky was named best feature film at this year’s Swiss Film Awards which were held at a gala ceremony in Geneva at the weekend.
The Alpine love story premiered in competition at the 2022 Berlinale and was Switzerland’s entry for the International Feature Film category of the Academy Awards this year.
Members of the Swiss Film Academy voted Elena Avdija’s Stuntwomen (Cascadeuses) as best documentary, while Ursula Meier’s The Line - which premiered at the Berlinale in the main competition - was recognised with best screenplay, best actress for Stéphanie Blanchoud and best supporting actress for the Elli Spagnolo who had never acted onscreen before.
Other awards included two prizes for Carmen Jaquier’s directorial debut Thunder - for best film score and best sound. The historical coming of age drama had its world premiere in Toronto and has since screened in San Sebastian, Busan, Thessaloniki, among others.
This year also saw the Swiss Film Academy give a special award to acting coaches Barbara Fischer and Giles Forman.
The honorary award was presented to producer Ruth Waldburger. Since founding her company Vega Film in 1988, Waldburger has produced more than 100 films to date, including 11 films by the late Jean-Luc Godard as well as works by Tom DiCillo, Alain Resnais, Bela Tarr, Ursula Meier, and Barbet Schroeder, among others.
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