SRG co-productions win top prizes
Two SRG co-productions have won the main prizes at the 50th Solothurn Film Festival: The «Prix de Soleure» went to «Spartiates» by Nicolas Wadimoff, and the «Prix du public» went to «Usfahrt Oerlike» by Paul Riniker.
As in the previous year, the "Prix de Soleure" jury prize and the "Prix du public" audience award went to SRG co-productions at yesterday's "Soirée de clôture". The "Prix de Soleure", endowed with CHF 60,000, went to the documentary "Spartiates" by Nicolas Wadimoff (Switzerland, France): The film impressively shows how 24-year-old Yann Sorel founds a mixed martial arts (MMA) club in the neighborhoods of northern Marseille. The fighter takes the place of the passive public authorities in the educational field: through sport, he teaches the children of the "Cité Bellevue" what respect and tolerance mean.
The "Prix du public", endowed with CHF 20,000, also went to an SRG co-production - the prize was awarded to the feature film "Usfahrt Oerlike" by Paul Riniker: Hans, the main character in the film, is tired. After a full life and the death of his wife, he doesn't really want to go on. He wants to die. His best friend Willi is supposed to help him realize his plan. Willi, the true friend who sticks by him to the end...
SRG co-produced 11 of the 16 films nominated in both competitions. The long-standing media partner of the Solothurn Film Festival is committed to Swiss film as part of the "Pacte de l'audiovisuel". It invests CHF 22.3 million annually in the production of feature-length and short films as well as fiction and documentary films.
