Mo, Jan 23rd 2023
Once again, Swiss cinema fans have flocked to Solothurn for the annual showcase of the best national productions, consisting of world premieres and a selection of theatrical and festival hits from the previous twelve months, as well as tributes and retrospectives. Our resident film critic, Max Borg, rounds up the best films being shown at Solothurn now. Here are his picks:
Since its debut at the Berlin International Film Festival in February of last year, Michael Koch’s second feature, a grand tragedy set in an Alpine village, has charmed audiences all over the world (it received a Special Mention from the Berlin jury). It even went as far as being Switzerland’s submission for the Oscars, and while it may not have made the shortlist, its blend of beauty and sadness remains quite compelling. Playing in the Fiction Panorama.
Another sophomore effort (and Berlin winner), this time from Cyril Schäublin, who tackles the topic of revolution in the context of a village in the late 1800s, where anarchic ideals infect the local staff of a clockmaking factory. A major feat of precision, both visually and linguistically, with dialogue spoken in Swiss German, French, Italian and Russian. Playing in the Fiction Panorama.
Having gained kudos with her short films and contributed to the dystopian collective work Heimatland, Carmen Jaquier keeps maturing as a director with her feature debut, which premiered at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival last September. Elegant and free-spirited at the same time, it’s the compelling tale of a young woman coming into her own as she discovers the coexistence of faith and desire. Competing in the Opera Prima section.
One of Switzerland’s defining filmmakers, the Geneva-based Alain Tanner passed away in September 2022. The festival pays tribute to him via its Swiss Cinema History section, with a recently restored print of what is arguably his finest film, an ensemble piece about cohabitation and utopia. International fans include Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Gravity), who named his own son Jonas as a result.
The closing event of the 2022 Locarno Film Festival, Martin Schäfer’s documentary uses fictional tools to capture the personal and literary journey of novelist and screenwriter Martin Suter, who revisits key locations in Zurich while his books come to life. A riveting example of Suter’s belief that “imagination is often more precise than reality”. Playing in the Documentary Panorama.
Ursula Meier has always excelled at character studies, and her latest work is no exception, with a family so dysfunctional the titular line has to be drawn up to mark the area anger-prone Margot is no longer allowed to enter after a particularly violent dispute with her mother. Off-beat and yet relatable, in typical Meier fashion. Playing in the Fiction Panorama.
For the third entry in a series based on the cardinal points, Lionel Baier travels to Sicily in early 2020, where the refugee crisis – and, soon enough, the pandemic – will serve as the backdrop for a comedy that blends family dynamics with EU satire. When this writer first saw the movie in Cannes, it was quite the shock, albeit an amusing one, to start the day with the infamous audio of Matteo Salvini shutting down access to Italian harbors. Playing in the Fiction Panorama.
The winner of the Audience Award at the 2022 Zurich Film Festival, Laura Kaehr’s documentary about Giulia Tonelli, an Italian dancer living and working in Zurich, is a touching and enlightening piece of pandemic filmmaking, depicting the struggles of work-life balance in a decidedly peculiar context. Playing in the Documentary Panorama.
The big winner at the 2022 Visions du Réel festival in Nyon, Tizian Büchi’s feature-length debut expertly blends documentary and bits of fiction to shine a light on life in the Faverges neighborhood of Lausanne, the “island” of the title. A mesmerizing trip to a microcosm that is at once familiar and surprising. Playing in the Documentary Panorama.
Passengers interact on a train heading towards a mysterious destination. Sam and Fred Guillaume use the medium of animation to reflect on mortality and the afterlife. The journey is made all the more powerful by a simple yet striking detail: all the dialogue is sourced from recorded conversations the directors had with elderly people in real life. Playing in the Documentary Panorama.
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