03/02/2014 - The 49th edition of Switzerland's Journées de Soleure drew to a close with the presentation of the two main awards being contested: the Soleure Award and the People's Choice Award...

The two main awards at the Swiss cinema festival went to the documentaries Stop-Over [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], by the Genevan director Kaveh Bakthiari (who was discovered during the Directors' Fortnight), and Neuland, by Anna Thommen.

Stop-Over (read the review) charmed the Soleure Award's jury – presided over by the Belgian director Chantal Akerman, and consisting of the author Lukas Bärfuss, the scriptwriter Güzin Kar and the sociologist Jean Ziegler – with the way in which it “limited itself to the simplest filming methods and focused on its characters”. Stop-Over is a Louise Productions production, coproduced by Kaleo Films and RTS. The documentary took advantage of its presence at the festival to get a release in Swiss French-language cinemas. It will also be shown in German-language cinemas in the country from February 13.

Anna Thommen receivedthe People's Choice Award for her final-year student film, Neuland. It is a Fama Film AG production, coproduced by SRF and the Zurich University of the Arts. The touching story of a teacher called Mr Zingg and his inclusion classwon recognition over ten other films. Neuland, which had a special preview at Soleure, will now move on to the Berlinale (in the “Perspektive Deutsches Kino” category, showcasing thematic and artistic trends among next-generation German filmmakers), and then to German-language Swiss cinemas from March 27. Meanwhile, it awaits other festival selections.

Among the highlights of Soleure 2014 were the traditional Nominations Night for the Swiss cinema awards, attended by the new head of the Swiss Federal Office of Culture, Isabelle Chassot; the meeting with Peter Liechti; and the standing ovation given to the documenaryMillions Can Walk, attended by its directors, Christoph Schaub and Kamal Musal.

The Prix d’honneur (Honours Award) of this 49th edition went to the costume designer and make-up artist Martine Felber, from Lausanne.

Over eight days, the festival received over 65,000 visitors – a new record.

(Translated from French)