Internationally acclaimed films win top honours

Director Ursula Meier hoists the Quartz Swiss Film Award for best feature film Keystone

The films Sister and More Than Honey took home the top awards at the 16th annual Swiss Film Awards on Saturday evening, held in Geneva for the first time.

Sister, a drama from Swiss-French director Ursula Meier, won the prize for best feature film, while More than Honey, director Marcus Imhoof’s tale of disappearing bee colonies, was named the best documentary.

Teen actor Kacey Mottat Klein took home the award for best actor for his portrayal of a troubled ski thief in Sister. In his acceptance speech, he jokingly called Meier “terrible” to work with, before thanking her for the opportunity to star in her film.

Sibylle Brunner was named best actress for her portrayal of a Swiss woman whose author son comes to care for her while suffering an acute case of writer’s block in the film Rosie.  

In addition to the prize for best documentary, Imhoof’s widely successful More Than Honey was awarded the festival’s traditional quartz statuette for the best film score, composed by Peter Scherer. The documentary Winter Nomads won the award for best camera work.

Swiss films have also seen success on the international stage lately, with Sister in early runnings for the best foreign language film at the American Oscar awards as well as the winner of a special runner-up Silver Bear award at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival. Winter Nomads won the European Film Prize for best documentary, while More Than Honey has sold more than 200,000 tickets in Switzerland alone and has been screened at some 30 international film festivals.

This year’s Swiss Film Awards were held in Geneva for the first time, in a factory-turned-theatre known as the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices. Beginning this year, the awards will be held alternately in Zurich and Geneva.

The Quartz winners

The Quartz award given at the Swiss Film Awards is the highest honour for those working in the movie industry in Switzerland. This year’s prizewinners were:

Best Feature Film: Sister by Ursula Meier

Best Documentary: More Than Honey by Markus Imhoof

Best Short Film: Objection VI by Rolando Colla

Best Animated Feature: The Night of the Bear by Samuel Guillaume und Frédéric Guillaume

Best Screenplay: Ursula Meier and Antoine Jaccoud, Sister 

Best Actress: Sibylle Brunner, Rosie

 

Best Actor: Kacey Mottet Klein, Sister

 

Best Supporting Actor: Antonio Buil, Opèration Libertad

 

Best Camerawork: Camille Cottagnoud, Winter Nomads

 

Best Film Score: Peter Scherer,

More Than Honey