The Austrian and Swiss film industries are currently gripped with awards fever with the Austrian Film Awards presented for the third time in Vienna and the nominations for the Swiss Film Awards (aka as the Quartzs) announced at this week’s Solothurn Film Days.
The first part of Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise trilogy, Paradise: Love, took home the top awards in the categories of Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Actress for Margarethe Tiesel.
Florian Flicker’s Grenzgänger, which had been nominated by members of the Austrian Film Academy in seven categories, also received three awards for the film’s screenplay (Flicker), cinematography (Martin Gschlacht) and music (Eva Jantschitsch).
In addition, two awards went to Detlev Buck’s 3D adaptation of the Daniel Kehlmann novel Measuring The World for costume design (Thomas Oláh) and make-up (Monika Fischer-Vorauer, Michaela Oppl).
Veteran actor Karl Merkatz was recognised for his performance in Sabine Hiebler and Gerhard Ertl’s touching study of love in old age, Anfang 80, as Best Actor.
The academy’s 240 members voted for Gerald Igor Hauzenberger’s Der Prozess about the trial against a group of animal protection activists as Best Documentary and chose the team behind the sound on Markus Imhoof’s documentary More Than Honey for the Best Sound Design honours.
Swiss Film Awards
Meanwhile, the nominations for 2013’s Swiss Film Awards (aka the Quartzs) were announced at a Night of Nominations during the Solothurn Film Days on Wednesday evening (Jan 30).
The nomination committee, which includes national film funder Ivo Kummer, Solothurn Film Days director Seraina Rohrer and actress Céline Bolomey, had decided on the nominations – with premiums totalling $485,000 (CHF 440,000) - following recommendations from the 280-strong Swiss Film Academy.
The clear favourite this year is Cobra Film’s production of Marcel Gisler’s Rosie which has picked up six nominations for Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Actor, and twice for Best Supporting Actor.
Ursula Meier’s Sister – which premiered at the Berlinale last year and was the Swiss Oscar entry – attracted three nominations as Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay and Best Actor, the same number as Werner Swiss Schweizer for his Verliebte Feinde (Best Feature Film, Best Actor, Best Actress).
The other two films nominated in Best Feature Film category are Nicolas Wadimoff’s Opération Libertidad and Silvio Soldini’s Il Comandante e la Cicogna, while the Quartz for Best Documentary will be fought out among Barbara Miller’s Forbidden Voices, Manuel von Stürler’s European Film Award-winning Hiver Nomade, Markus Imhoof’s internationally successful More Than Honey, Peter Mettler’s The End Of Time, and Dieter Fahrer’s Thorberg.
The winners of the Quartzs will be announced in a gala awards ceremony in the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva on March 23.
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