Streaming operators must invest in Swiss film. This is in essence the message delivered by Alain Berset at the opening of the 55th Solothurn Days. The Minister also commented on the opening film “Moskau Einfach!” Evoking the scandal of the cards.
Nominated for the Audience Award, the comedy “Moskau Einfach!” (“Moscow one way!”) By Micha Lewinsky deals with scandal in a light tone, while recalling, through documentary elements, the seriousness of the case which shook Switzerland 30 years ago. The fiction tells of the adventures of a police inspector infiltrating the Schauspielhaus in Zurich in 1989 to gather information on the actors on the left.
“The card scandal still upsets us today,” said the culture minister on Wednesday evening in his inaugural speech to nearly 900 guests. The opening film of the 2020 edition of the Solothurn Days constitutes a journey through time in a Switzerland which considered as subversion everything that did not clearly support power, commented Alain Berset.
A festival attentive to what is disturbing
This surveillance of large circles of the population actually embodied a “non-Swiss” attitude, denounced the Federal Councilor. And to congratulate himself that the Swiss film festival has always been a place where we observe carefully what risks being swept under the carpet.
Stressing the importance of Swiss cinema today, the Minister of the Interior declared that “the more rapid the changes in society, the more it is necessary that real Switzerland also appear in films, at the risk that our image will be freezes. And that could lead to a weakening of our cultural diversity ”.
Likewise, Alain Berset recalled the aims of Swiss cultural policy in terms of cinema streaming: “those who offer films in streaming must also invest in Swiss cinema in the future”, he argued. The Minister also defended the introduction of a minimum quota in this area, intended for European films.
Solothurn Prize
Until January 31, 178 Swiss films are screened in Solothurn. Works evoking war, refugees and climate change are high on the bill. Endowed with 60,000 francs, the Prix de Soleure brings together nine documentaries and three fictions, which stand out for their humanism. Among them, four are made by French speakers.
We discover “In search of the man with the camera”, by Boutheyna Bouslama, who examines the case of a media activist who disappeared in the war in Syria. In “My English cousin”, the winner of the last edition Karim Sayad evokes for his part the heartbreak of a life tossed between England and Algeria.
Another film by a French director, “O Fim Do Mundo” by Basil Da Cunha deals with the Cape Verdean district of Lisbon, Reboleira, threatened with demolition. Stéphane Goël’s “Citizen Nobel” shows how the scientist Pierre Dubochet put his sudden glory at the service of civil society and climate protection.
Among the German-speaking works in competition, “Arada” by Jonas Schaffter is devoted to three criminals who were expelled from Swiss territory when they grew up there. Esen Isik’s “Al-Shafak” thematizes, on the other hand, the abyss of religious fanaticism on the Turkish-Syrian border.
Audience Award
The Public Prize, endowed with 20,000 francs, brings together seven fictions and and five documentaries. Among these films is the famous “Bruno Manser” by Niklaus Hilber on the defender of the environment who disappeared in Malaysia.
The works in French-speaking Switzerland in competition are “Tambour battant” by François-Christophe Marzal, “Le milieu de l’hizon” by Delphine Lehericey, “Les Particules” by Blaise Harrison, “Delphine et Carole, insoumuses” by Carole Rossopoulos and “Madame” by Stéphane Riethauser.
An award already knows its winner. This is an Honorary Award given to the film distributor Bea Cuttat. The award will be presented to him next Monday.
Other highlights mark this 55th edition led by the new director Anita Hugi. Among them, the “Stories of Swiss Cinema” program is devoted to three directors, producers and actresses from French-speaking Switzerland: Patricia Moraz, Christine Pascal and Paule Muret. (Ps / nxp)
Created: 22.01.2020, 20h33
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