Strong Showing for Swiss Cinema at Berlin Film Festival
variety.comNick Vivarelli International CorrespondentSwitzerland, thanks to its prolific co-production activity, has a hand in a record-breaking 11 titles in the Berlinale’s official selection, including two films competing for the Golden Bear, and two more in Berlin’s cutting-edge Encounters section, as well as a Swiss talent selected for the fest’s Shooting Stars event, Souheila Yacoub.Ursula Meier’s “The Line” (competition) — Following “Home” and “Sister,” Meier continues to pursue “this idea of family that is as much necessary, as it is toxic,” says the film’s producer Pauline Gygax.
After a violent argument with her mother, Margaret, 35 (Stephanie Blanchoud), who has a long history of inflicting and suffering from violence, is subjected to a restraining order.
She is not allowed to make contact with her mother (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) or come within 100 meters of the family home. But the separation exacerbates her desire to be closer to her family, so she returns every day to this invisible but impassable frontier.
The film also stars Benjamin Biolay. Michael Koch’s “A Piece of Sky” (competition) — In his second feature, following “Marija,” the director delves deep into the Swiss Alps to depict a tale that’s haunted him since hearing it on the radio.
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