The long road to the foreign Oscar
Published: Monday, Sep 23rd 2024, 10:10
Updated At: Tuesday, Sep 24th 2024, 01:59
Volver a Live Feed
On Wednesday, the selection committee appointed by the Federal Office of Culture will announce which Swiss film will be sent into the 2025 Oscar race: "Reinas" by Klaudia Reynicke or "Le procès du chien" by Laetitia Dosch. Either way, both films will benefit - thanks to a newly introduced two-stage process.
The new selection process introduced by Swiss Films is intended to increase the chances of domestic films winning an Oscar in the "International Feature Film" category. Following the example of other countries such as France, Denmark and Sweden, Switzerland has now also announced a shortlist.
In mid-August, it was announced that the coming-of-age story by Swiss-Peruvian filmmaker Reynicke and the Swiss-French comedy by Dosch had been shortlisted for the 2025 Oscars.
Since the nomination of Claude Barras' "Ma vie de courgette" (Best Animated Film, 2018), the presence of Swiss filmmaking at the Oscars has been manageable. But there had been successes in the past: Several short films were nominated or made it onto the shortlist.
Xavier Koller won the Goldman for Best Foreign Language Film in 1991 with "Journey of Hope", following in the footsteps of Richard Dembo, who had achieved the same feat in 1985 with "Dangerous Trains". "Das Boot ist voll" by Markus Imhoof (1981) was nominated in the same category, but came away empty-handed, and other Swiss films were successful as part of international productions.
Of animals and humans
A look at the first Swiss Oscar shortlist: The directorial debut "Le procès du chien" tells the story of lawyer Avril (director Laetitia Dosch also plays the lead role) who, if she loses in court again, has to leave the firm. The fact that her next client is a dog doesn't make her situation any easier.
Cosmos, as the animal is called, has bitten several people, but is also a loving, loyal companion to the visually impaired Dariuch.
The work skillfully questions "views on animal rights and attitudes towards women in modern society, while revealing the beliefs, questions and desires of those involved in the process": This is how the selection committee justified its decision to shortlist the philosophical comedy.
At this year's Cannes Film Festival, the film was in the running for the main prize in the "Un certain regard" section and for the Caméra d'Or.
"Reinas" is the first Swiss feature film to be screened in the international main competition at the renowned Sundance Film Festival, was awarded Best Director in the "Generation" section at the Berlinale and won the Audience Award at the Locarno Film Festival.
In this coming-of-age drama, Klaudia Reynicke tells an autobiographically inspired story about a mother who wants to move from Lima to the USA with her two daughters. The reason for this is the economic crisis, massive political unrest and a lack of prospects for a better life in Peru in the 1990s.
"'Reinas' is a tender and subtly told story by a Swiss director who has already proven that she can touch the hearts of a worldwide audience," wrote the selection committee.
A rocky road
Although only one film can be sent into the Oscar race, Andreas Bühlmann, Head of Festivals & Markets at the film promotion agency Swiss Films, sees advantages for both productions. Whereas in the past, films applied for the Oscar selection "to the best of our knowledge and belief", stricter guidelines now apply.
First and foremost, a contract with a US distributor or the proven prospect of one is required in order to be shortlisted at all. What counts is no longer just the strength of the film, but also the international network and the overall package with which the film can be promoted in the USA and to the AMPAS members (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences).
The two-stage system also increases visibility. "Previously, a film was nominated in a single meeting," says Bühlmann. And so early in the process that "decisions often had to be made based on assumptions". In other words, before the jury even knew whether the team behind the film was good enough to have a real chance of winning.
And instead of being able to concentrate directly on public relations, time and energy were initially invested in finding a US distributor and setting up a promotional team. Today, two films are ideally equipped for the international market.
Either way, the road to the Goldman is still a long one even after the Swiss vote on September 25. On December 17, AMPAS will announce the shortlist of 15 films from the various countries. The nominated titles will be published on January 17, 2025. The 97th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 2, 2025 in Los Angeles.
©Keystone/SDA
Spanish 
English 
German 
French 
Arabic