Honorary award for Markus Imhoof at the Swiss Film Awards 2020
The Honorary Swiss Film Award 2020 goes to Markus Imhoof. The award recognizes the director's outstanding life's work and commitment. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the honorary award will be presented during the Night of Nominations at the Solothurn Film Festival 2021.
(Image: Schweizerkulturpreise.ch/Inge Zimmermann)
Markus Imhoof has written Swiss film history with his films. The nomination committee describes his ongoing "search for humanity", which "combines the political whole with the personal", as his outstanding achievement. The Federal Office of Culture FOC is awarding him the honorary prize of 30,000 Swiss francs as part of the Swiss Film Prize 2020.
Born in Winterthur in 1941, Markus Imhoof studied German language and literature, art history and history at the University of Zurich. In 1966, he worked as an assistant to Leopold Lindtberg, then attended the film course at the Zurich School of Applied Arts and finally embarked on a career as a film director and screenwriter. He was also a co-founder of production companies, a guest lecturer at various universities and a member of the Swiss Federal Film Commission.
Over the past six decades, Markus Imhoof has had a decisive influence on Swiss film. His films expose, create empathy and encourage reflection and rethinking. The prison film "Rondo" (1968) was banned by the justice department of the canton of Zurich and remained under lock and key until 1976. The Oscar-nominated feature film "Das Boot ist voll" (1981) portrays the fate of refugees in exile in Switzerland during the Second World War with empathy. "More Than Honey" (2012) touched an international audience and is still the most successful Swiss documentary film to date. In 2018, Markus Imhoof once again tackled the consequences of a restrictive asylum policy in "Eldorado". The harrowing film entered the race as a Swiss candidate for the international Oscar in 2019. The worldwide attention and the numerous awards and honors testify to the urgency of his films.
The Swiss Film Awards 2020 ceremony originally planned for March will not take place this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The honorary award will be presented and Markus Imhoof will be honored at the Swiss Film Award Nominations Night in Solothurn.
