Drama picked as Swiss entry for Oscars

The film La Petite Chambre (The small room) has been chosen as Switzerland’s candidate for the 2011 Academy Awards.

Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond’s tale about the circle of life will be put forward by the Federal Cultural Office for the Best Foreign Film category.

The drama about a bereaved mother and a man she nurses is set in Lausanne. A deciding jury at the Delémont Hollywood festival said the work’s “original scenario, punchy dialogue and dramatic tension” had won them over.

Overall 11 films were in the running. The winning film receives SFr60,000 ($59,000) in financial support from the Cultural Office and the town of Delémont, to be used to promote the film for the Oscars.

Chuat and Reymond have worked together since 1993 in theatre and films, producing a number of short films and documentaries.

The official Academy Award nominations will be announced on January 25, ahead of the Oscars ceremony on February 27.

Xavier Koller was the last Swiss to win an Oscar for his immigrant drama Journey of Hope, named Best Foreign Language Film in 1991.

swissinfo.ch and agencies