“Hiver nomade” honoured with European Film Award

The European Film Academy Documentary 2012 – Prix Arte tops off the career of Stürler’s debut feature film “Hiver Nomade.” In his debut feature film, Manuel von Stürler, musician and poet from the canton of Vaud, follows two shepherds as the make their winter journey with a thousand sheep through French-speaking Switzerland. The film, produced by Louise Production in Lausanne, launched its impressive festival career at this year’s Berlinale (International Forum) and has since expanded it to four continents, winning awards in Germany, France and Switzerland. The film will be released in the near future in cinemas Germany, France and Austria.

Swiss documentary films win over the European Film Academy
Manuel von Stürler accepted the award personally in Malta from the Bosnian director Danis Tanovic. Stürler was accompanied by the film’s producers Elisabeth Garbar and Heinz Dill, his screenwriter Claude Muret, his cinematographer Camille Cottagnoud and his film’s protagonist Carole Noblanc. For the 25^th European Film Awards, the more than 2,700 members of the Academy selected among three films in this category: apart from the Swiss documentary film, the English film “London: The Modern Babylon” by Julien Temple and the Belgian film “Le Thé ou l' Electricité” by Jérôme Le Maire. The European Film Academy had already presented the prestigious award to a Swiss cineaste in 2009: Peter Liechti won the European Film Academy Documentary 2009 – Prix Arte with his film “The Sound of Insects.”

Zurich, December 1, 2012