27/02/2012 - Swiss German cinema largely dominates the nominations for Switzland's cinema awards to be handed out on March 17 in Lucerne

Every year, the Quartz awards have surprises in store. Announced during the Solothurn Film Festival, Swiss cinema's annual gathering at the beginning of the year, the nominees for the Swiss Film Prize Quartz 2012 are particularly Germanic. Even if the winners will not be announced until March 17 in Lucerne's impressive cultural and congress centre (KKL), 2012 already promises to be the year in which French-speaking filmmakers will be side-lined at the awards ceremony.

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Even if, in the Best Film category, two Latin-language films (Summer Games [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rolando Colla
film profile] by Rolando Colla and Back to Stay [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Milagros Mumenthaler
film profile] by Milagros Mummenthaler) may win against their German-speaking opponents (Der Verdingbub [+see also:
trailer
interview: Max Hubacher - Shooting Sta…
film profile] by Markus Imboden, Eine wen iig, Dr Dallenbach Kari by Xavier Koller and Hell [+see also:
trailer
interview: Tim Fehlbaum
film profile] by Tim Fehlbaum), Swiss German cinema is almost sole competitor in all the other categories. In the Best Documentary category, only Fernand Melgar represents Romance-language-speakers, with the nomination of Vol spécial [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. The documentary will compete against four heavy-weights from German-speaking Switzerland, Balkan Melodie by Stefan Schwietert, The Substance [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Martin Witz, Day is Done [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Thomas Imbach, and the much talked-about Messies, ein schönes Chaos by Ulrich Grossenbacher.

Another tell-tale sign of this Germanic domination is that no Francophone film has been chosen this year in the three categories of awards for acting. Instead the three most popular comedies of last year hold the lion's share: Der Verdingbub and Eine wen iig, Dr Dallenbach Kari. At least one of them does: out of nine nominated actors, six acted in only one film.

(Translated from French)