Swiss films in the running for the Prix Europa and Babelsberg Media Awards 2010

Monetary prizes for the Babelsberg Advancement Awards, each of which amount to EUR 18,000, are presented in the fiction film and documentary film categories for which only three student films are nominated in both categories. Works from Switzerland, apart from the film "Daniel Schmid - Le chat qui pense," which celebrated its premiere at the Berlinale, is the short fiction film "dürä..!" by Quinn Reimann and Rolf Lang, which competed in the Leopards of Tomorrow section in Locarno. The award from the Film and Television University (HFF) "Konrad Wolf" has been presented since 1996 and already been won by two young talented Swiss directors: Reto Caffi for the short fiction "Auf der Strecke" (Academy of Media Arts, Cologne) in 2007; and Thais Odermatt for the short documentary film "Nid hei cho" (Lucerne School of Art and Design) in 2009.

Two fiction films have been nominated for the Prix Europa in the TV Fiction category - "La petite chamber" by Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond (production: Vega Film, Zurich) and "Sinestesia" by Erik Bernasconi (Imagofilm, Lugano) - as well as the television film "Frühling im Herbst" by Petra Volpe (Zodiac Pictures, Lucerne). Nominated for an award in the TV Documentary category are the films "Daniel Schmid - Le chat qui pense" (T&C Film, Zurich) and "Die Frau mit den fünf Elefanten" by Vadim Jendreyko (Mira Film, Zurich). The film "La petite chamber", which celebrated its premiere in the international competition in Locarno, will also represent Switzerland in the Prix Genève-Europe category, which is awarded to a script by a new author. Further Swiss radio and television productions are nominated for an award in the categories of TV Current Affairs, Radio Fiction, Radio Documentary and Emerging Media, each of which amount to EUR 6,000.

Zurich, September 17, 2010