2026 Swiss Film Award
Honorary award presented to Villi Hermann
24.02.2026
The Honorary Award of the 2026 edition of the Swiss Film Awards goes to Villi Hermann, a leading figure in Italian language (albeit not exclusively) Swiss cinema, for a career still going strong after more than fifty years during which he has shown courage, social engagement and artistic sophistication.
Inspired by a strong sensitivity for social issues, Villi Hermann began his career during the seventies with works merging documentary and fiction. His first feature film “San Gottardo” (1977) was shown at the Cannes Film Festival – “L’Air du temps” section – and won the Silver Leopard at Locarno Film Festival.
In the eighties, he relayed the voice of Switzerland and its communities to the Venice International Film Festival, the Berlinale and the world’s major festivals with “Matlosa” (1981), “Innocenza” (1986) and “Bankomatt” (1989), featuring international casts.
During this first part of his career – steeped in passion, rigour and a desire to recount reality on the margins – he became a well-known film-maker who was respected on the international stage as well as a leading exponent of Swiss and Ticinese cinema.
By founding his own production company in 1981, Imagofilm Lugano, Villi Hermann stayed true to his own film-making. However, he also gradually started work on an ambitious project: fostering the upcoming young talent, creating a community of professionals capable of establishing themselves on the scene.
That is how, from the end of the 2000s, with an ongoing commitment to produce films by new directors from Ticino – such as Alberto Meroni, Erik Bernasconi, Niccolò Castelli and Francesco Rizzi –, Villi Hermann was instrumental in the birth of a veritable new wave of Ticinese cinema.
With his guidance and support, generations of cinematic artisans gained a good grounding in their art, which enabled them to bring stories from Ticino to the big and small screen with quality, originality and cultural awareness: producers like Michela Pini who were professional at directing, the technical side and artistic creation. A heritage comprising not only film, but also community and the future.
This Honorary Award is not just a celebration of a great film-maker’s work but also of the resolve of a man who – consistently and generously – knew how to create a cultural ecosystem, regenerating Italian-speaking Swiss cinema and helping to define a unique identity in the panorama of Swiss and international cinema.