Miscellaneous Several Swiss films nominated for the Max Ophüls Prize
Piet Baumgartner's "Bagger Drama" and other Swiss productions will be competing at the Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival in Saarbrücken, Germany. The prize in the main category "Best Feature Film" is endowed with 36,000 euros.
09.01.2025, 17:47
SDA
Piet Baumgartner already won the Kutxabank New Directors Award in San Sebastián last September with his feature film debut "Bagger Drama". He also received an honorable mention at the Efebo d'Oro film festival in Palermo and has been nominated for the main prize "Prix de Soleure" at this year's Solothurn Film Festival. "Bagger Drama" is an autobiographical fictional home movie in which machines determine the everyday life of a family.
At the 46th edition of the Max Ophüls Prize film festival, "Bagger Drama" is competing for eight prizes in the feature film competition with twelve other productions. The Swiss production "Les Courageux" by Jasmin Gordon is also nominated here, as the organizers announced on Thursday. In the drama, a single mother in Valais becomes increasingly involved in petty crime. The Swiss co-production "Sew Torn" by Freddy Macdonald is also in the feature film competition. The thriller revolves around a seamstress and a drug deal in the Swiss Alps.
Swiss filmmaking is also represented in other competitions at the festival. In the documentary film competition, for example, the film "Home is the Ocean" by St. Gallen-born Livia Vonaesch. "How was your day?" by Kim Gabbi is in the competition for medium-length films. The film "1:10" by Sinan Taner, who grew up in St. Gallen, competes with other short films.
The film festival takes place from January 20 to 26. Around 150 films will be shown in and around Saarbrücken. It is regarded as one of the most important festivals for up-and-coming German-language film. Last year, "Electric Fields" by Lisa Gertsch won the main prize and two other prizes at the festival.
