95th Academy Awards

A PIECE OF SKY (DRII WINTER) was the first Swiss-German-spoken feature film screened in the International Competition at the Berlinale for a long time and was honoured with a Special Mention by the International Jury.

Zurich-based production company Hugofilm Features produced the Swiss-German coproduction together with Pandora Film Produktion in Cologne, as well as SRF Swiss Radio and Television, SRG SSR and arte. While still in production, DRII WINTER was invited to participate in the Torino ScriptLab talent programme and selected for screening in the Films After Tomorrow section in Locarno.

A PIECE OF SKY is distributed internationally by New Europe Film Sales and has already been sold in more than 10 countries. The film boasts an impressive festival career with invitations to over 20 film festivals to date (including Tapei FF, Karlovy Vary, Hong Kong FF, Viennale) and won, among others, the award for Best International Feature Film at Guanajauto IFF. A PIECE OF SKY will celebrate its Swiss premiere in the Panorama Suisse section at the Locarno Film Festival on Tuesday August 9, 2022 and will be released in Swiss cinemas on September 1 (distribution Frenetic Films).

A love story from the Alps

The film tells an exceptional love story set against an imposing mountain backdrop: In a remote mountain village in the Swiss Alps, the budding love between Anna and Marco is put to the test. Anna grew up in the village, while Marco is an outsider who has been hired as a farmhand to work the rugged land. When Marco suddenly starts losing control over his impulses, age-old tensions in the community erupt again. Against all odds, Anna fights for Marco and their love.

Director Koch shot A PIECE OF SKY with amateur actors from the region. He found his protagonist, Michèle Brand starring as Anna, through an advertisement in a local newspaper – her first time in front of the camera. Simon Wisler, in the role of Marco, was cast at a national wrestling festival and is in fact a mountain farmer. He took a year to consider accepting the role.

A look behind the postcard idyll

Because of the amateur actors and authentic filming locations, A PIECE OF SKY tells a fictional story with a documentary approach, especially moving due to the strong emotionality of the love story. The reticent manner of the people reflects the silence of the mountain world that surrounds them. The images by renowned German cinematographer Armin Dierolf capture a rugged, wild mountain landscape and reveal to us the hard work of alpine farming.

Direction and production

A PIECE OF SKY is Michael Koch’s second fiction feature film after MARIJA (2016) – also produced by Hugofilm. Koch studied at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne and worked in parallel as an actor for various TV and cinema films. For his graduation film POLAR, Koch won the German Camera Award and the German Short Film Award, among others.

Hugofilm has produced over 30 feature-length films honoured with international cinema releases and awards. In 2007, producer Christof Neracher was shortlisted with Fredi M. Murer’s VITUS in the Foreign Language category. The film is distributed in the USA by Sony Picture Classics. Hugofilm’s current line-up includes films such as JILL (starring Tom Pelphrey and Juliet Rylance), PREPARATIONS FOR A MIRACLE by Tobias Nölle and EARLY BIRDS by Michael Steiner, the first Swiss feature film with participation by Netflix.

SWISS FILMS supports the Oscar campaign

The Swiss Federal Office of Culture (FOC) has assigned SWISS FILMS, the promotion agency, the task of coordinating and carrying out the selection process for Switzerland’s official entry in the International Feature Film category of the Academy Awards. SWISS FILMS accompanies and supports the promotion campaign of Switzerland’s entry with financial and communication resources

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the short list on December 21, followed by the five nominated films on January 24, 2023. The 95th Oscar award ceremony will take place in Hollywood on March 12, 2023

SWISS FILMS, Locarno August 5, 2022

Press quotes

“A Piece of Sky (Drii Winter) is both beautifully made and a thing of beauty in itself.” Deadline

“a glorious love story between a man and a woman, between a community that is both supportive and meddlesome and, perhaps most importantly, between these rooted people and the world where they live and work.” Deadline

“a meditative study of a love that blossoms in springtime but must change like the seasons when misfortune strikes in the Swiss Alps.” The Hollywood Reporter

"A stark, affecting, sometimes enigmatic, superbly executed piece.” Screen

“DoP Armin Dierolf provides beautifully composed, crystalline images of the landscape.” Screen

“Definitely a musing on life, death and our place in the universe.” Screen

“Stunning image-making fills out the stark storytelling in Swiss director Michael Koch's potent, stoically moving second feature.” Variety

AWARDS

Best Film International Competition Guanajuato International Film Festival
Special Mention from the International Competition Jury, Berlinale
Honorable Mention, FEST – New Directors | New Films Festival, Espinho

Jury 2022

The jury that selected the Swiss entry for the International Feature Film category is comprised of the following members: jury president, Stéphanie Chuat (Geneva – director, screenplay and acting); Elie Grappe (Vevey – director and screenplay); Joël Jent (Zurich – screenplay and production); Aline Schmid (Geneva – production); Dan Wechsler (Geneva – production).  The jury backed its decision for DRII WINTER with the following statement:  “Michael Koch’s DRII WINTER is marked by powerful images that are able to maintain the tension between the apparent simplicity and the great weight of the drama. In this way, emotions develop their resonance and attain depth. Carried by strong amateur actors, the film surrenders to the rhythm of nature and regards its protagonists as part of the rugged mountain world. Their love not only stands up to the adverse circumstances, but also dares to question the inevitability of death.”