“Köpek” & “Above And Below” honoured as Best Swiss Films 2016
“Köpek”, “Above And Below” and “Vanity” all won a Swiss Film Award 2016 in two categories. The two maximage productions “Köpek” and “Above And Below” were honoured as Best Fiction Film and Best Documentary Film
18.03.2016
With five nominations, “Köpek”, the favourite of the Swiss Film Award 2016, was honoured with two awards on Friday: Esen Isik and Beren Tuna were each presented with a Quartz in the categories of Best Fiction Film and Best Actress. The drama “Köpek”, shot in Istanbul, celebrated its premiere at the Zurich Film Festival and was just recently screened at the 31st Guadalajara International Film Festival. Esen Isik’s feature film debut will be released in cinemas in Austria in May and in Germany in autumn. The film director had already won the Swiss Film Award for her short films “Babami Hirsizlar Caldi” (2000) and “Du&Ich” (2012).
“Above And Below”: Best Swiss Documentary Film with international career
The internationally successful documentary film “Above And Below” by Nicolas Steiner was honoured with the award for Best Documentary Film, while the award for Best Film Editing went to the young film editor Kaya Inan, who was also nominated for his work in “Wonderland”. Nicolas Steiner’s “Above And Below” was screened at 24 Festivals in 2015, thereby making it the most frequently selected Swiss film at international festivals. According to Peter Debruge at Variety, “Above And Below” ranks among the ten best international films of 2015. The successful Swiss documentary is currently showing in Germany and will be released in cinemas in Austria and in the USA this spring.
“Vanity” awarded for its actors
Lionel Baier’s “Vanity” won two awards for its outstanding ensemble of actors. The actor Patrick Lapp from Romandy was honoured with an award for Best Actor and Ivan Georgiev for Best Performance in a Supporting Role. “Vanity” premiered in Cannes (ACID) in 2015 and was subsequently selected for numerous film festivals, including Locarno, Namur, Göteborg and Guadalajara. The film has already been running in France and will be released soon in Canada and in Poland in May. The international world sales are managed by WIDE in Paris.
Awards for the shorts go to the grand masters
Ursula Meier – award-winner at the Berlinale in 2012 – won the Swiss Film Award for her short film “Kacey Mottet Klein, Birth Of An Actor” about the Swiss Berlinale Shooting Star 2016 Kacey Mottet Klein and how he developed as an actor, from child to teenager. The Quartz for Best Animation Film went to “Erlking” by the grand master Georges Schwizgebel.
The award for Best Screenplay went to “A Decent Man” by Micha Lewinsky, to Marcel Vaid for Best Film Score in “The Day The Sun Fell” and to Felix von Muralt for Best Cinematography in “Little Mountain Boy”. Renato Berta received the Honorary Award his cinematic oeuvre.
The Swiss Film Award is produced by the Federal Office of Culture in partnership with SRG SSR and the Association Quartz Genève Zürich, and organised in collaboration with SWISS FILMS, the Swiss Film Academy and the Solothurn Film Festival.
SWISS FILMS, Friday, March 18, 2016
Winners of the Swiss Film Award 2016
Best Fiction Film: KÖPEK, Esen Isik, maximage
Best Documentary Film: ABOVE AND BELOW, Nicolas Steiner, maximage
Best Short Film: KACEY MOTTET KLEIN, BIRTH OF AN ACTOR, Ursula Meier, Milos-Films
Best Animation Film: ERLKING, Georges Schwizgebel, Studio GDS
Best Graduate Film: RUBEN LEAVES, Frederic Siegel, Hochschule Luzern (HSLU)
Best Screenplay: A DECENT MAN (Micha Lewinsky), Plan B Film
Best Actress: Beren Tuna, in KÖPEK
Best Actor: Patrick Lapp, in VANITY
Best Performance in a Supporting Role: Ivan Georgiev in VANITY
Best Film Score: THE DAY THE SUN FELL (Marcel Vaid)
Best Cinematography: LITTLE MOUNTAIN BOY (Felix von Muralt)
Best Film Editing: ABOVE AND BELOW (Kaya Inan)
Honorary Award: Renato Berta, for his oeuvre
Special Academy Award: Guido Keller for his sound mixing in KÖPEK and Jacques Kieffer for his sound mixing in ABOVE AND BELOW