Award Season

Petra Volpe’s film LATE SHIFT has been a box-office success in German-speaking countries since its world premiere at the Berlinale 2025. The film is still showing in several countries in and outside Europe – as well as in selected US cinemas since the end of November. 

LATE SHIFT has garnered numerous awards: among others, cinematographer Judith Kaufmann was honoured with the German Camera Award; editor Hansjörg Weissbrich won the award for Best Film Editing at the Sevilla Festival de Cine Europeo; and lead actress Leonie Benesch is nominated for European Actress at the European Film Awards for her role in LATE SHIFT. 

As part of the Oscar campaign, director Petra Volpe and lead actress Leonie Benesch have accompanied LATE SHIFT at numerous screenings for members of the AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) in New York and L.A. Further screenings are currently taking place in Mexico and in European cities for AMPAS and EFA members. 

Richard Gere on promotional tour for Swiss documentary

The documentary film WISDOM OF HAPPINESS - A HEART-TO-HEART WITH THE DALAI LAMA by Barbara Miller and Philip Delaquis celebrated its world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival 2024. The Dalai Lama portrait was one of the most successful documentaries in Swiss cinemas and generated a great deal of interest in numerous countries. 

The film was released in North American cinemas in mid-October 2025. Several premieres – including the DOC NYC Festival – were attended by US actor Richard Gere, who is involved in the film as executive producer.  

Four short films on course for the Oscar-Kurs

Films that have won awards at Oscar-qualifying international festivals are eligible for the short film categories at the Academy Awards.

This includes the Belgian-Swiss-Brazilian coproduction RIO REMAINS BEAUTIFUL (O RIO DE JANEIRO CONTINUA LINDO) by Felipe Casanova in the Live Action Short Film category. The 24-minute hybrid fiction film qualified with the Pardino d’Oro – the award for Best Swiss Short Film at the Locarno Film Festival.

Three animation films were submitted in the Animated Short Film category: HUNTING (QUI PART À LA CHASSE) by Lea Favre, which qualified with the award for Best Animated Film Director at the Krakow Film Festival; Tabarak Abbas’ MAWTINI, which was honoured with award for  Best Animated Short Film at the Warsaw Film Festival; and FRACTI by Lavinia Petrache, which received the award for Best Rumanian Film at the Anim’estals in Bucharest.

Oscar® campaign 

SWISS FILMS supports promotional campaigns for Swiss film productions on behalf of the Swiss Federal Office of Culture (FOC) by providing communication and consultation services.

AMPAS will publish the shortlist of 15 films per category on December 16, 2025, followed by the announcement of the five nominees on January 22, 2026. The 98th Academy Awards® (Oscars®) ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026.

European Film Awards

German actress Leonie Benesch has been nominated for European Actress by the European Film Academy for her role in LATE SHIFT. Swiss DoP Fabian Gamper has been nominated for European Cinematographer for his work on the German film SOUND OF FALLING.

In addition, the stop-motion animation film OLIVIA AND THE INVISIBLE EARTHQUAKE, coproduced by the Swiss animation film studio Nadasdy Film and RTS, has been nominated for both European Film and European Animated Feature Film. 

Members of the European Film Academy can vote until January 8 for the winners, who will then be honoured at the European Film Awards ceremony in Berlin on January 17, 2026.