MiscellaneousNew successes for Claude Barras' film "Sauvages" ahead of its cinema release
SDA
29.1.2025 - 13:41
Claude Barras accepting an award at the Locarno Film Festival last summer. (archive picture)
Keystone
"Sauvages" by Valais filmmaker Claude Barras was nominated for the César for Best Animated Film on Wednesday. This means that the film is once again on course for success. It will be released in cinemas in German-speaking Switzerland on February 6.
Keystone-SDA
29.01.2025, 13:41
SDA
The day before, it was announced that the story, which is set in the rainforest of Borneo, had also been nominated for a Swiss film award in the top category for best feature film.
"Sauvages" tells the story of the indigenous Kéria, who lives with her father in Borneo. Against the backdrop of the conflict between palm oil plantation owners and the indigenous community, a mother orangutan is shot dead on the edge of the jungle. Kéria and her father take in her baby. The film questions their own roots - and above all who the savages ultimately are.
Claude Barras wants his film to "convey a feeling for nature", as he told the Keystone-SDA news agency last year. In his opinion, the film also has a political message: he sees the food industry and neoliberalism as the biggest challenges to forest conservation. "Let's take the example of palm oil. I want to sensitize children to the problem. They should understand that by eating Nutella or buying plastic from the other side of the world, they are supporting criminals," he says.
"Sauvages" was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in May last year and last August on the Piazza Grande at the Locarno Film Festival. There it was honored with the Locarno Kids Award. It was nominated for a European Film Award, but then came away empty-handed in Lucerne in December.