Italian-speaking Switzerland is also in the spotlight at Solothurn 61

Whether through direction, production, cast, or locations, this year too at the Solothurner Filmtage, the main event dedicated to Swiss cinema, there is no shortage of films connected in various ways to Italian-speaking Switzerland. Below is an overview, starting with those supported by the Ticino Film Commission.

Film supported by the Ticino Film Commission

Making its world premiere in Solothurn is Becaària, the new film by Bellinzona-born director Erik Bernasconi. Based on the novel by Giorgio Genetelli (Gabriele Capelli Editore), the feature film tells a coming-of-age story set in Ticino in the 1970s and was shot in Vallemaggia after the floods of summer 2024. Supported by the Ticino Film Commission and competing for the Prix du Public, Becaària is produced by Cinédokké of Savosa with Basel-based Cinework, RSI, SRG SSR, and Arte.

Swiss premieres will include Nessuno vi farà del male by Ticino director Dino Hodic (Fiumi Film, RSI), competing for the Visioni Award, and Elisa by Italian director Leonardo Di Costanzo, also shot in the Mendrisiotto area (tempesta, Amka Films and RSI). The short film Disco D(e)ad by Lilly Di Rosa, produced by CISA – Conservatorio internazionale di scienze audiovisive in Locarno, will have its world premiere and is competing in the Talente section.

Among the films not in premiere, Solothurn will also screen the documentary La leggerezza sommersa by Fulvio Mariani (Iceberg Films, RSI, SRG SSR), Mein Freund Barry by Markus Welter, partly shot in Ticino (Atlantis Pictures, MMC Zodiac), and Più grande del cielo by Valerio Jalongo (Aura Film, Ameuropa, RSI, RAI Cinema, SRG SSR), all supported by the Ticino Film Commission.

Other films connected in various ways to Italian-speaking Switzerland

In addition to those directly supported by the TFC, the Solothurn programme includes several other films linked to Italian-speaking Switzerland, starting with the documentary by Ticino filmmaker Domenico Lucchini, making its world premiere: Memorie di un medico di montagna, produced by Ventura Film with RSI and shot in the Italian-speaking part of Graubünden. Also premiering worldwide is Mother Yamuna by Ticino filmmaker Vito Robbiani, produced by MediaTree of Savosa with RSI, while the Swiss premiere of Il fantasma che è in me by Michael Beltrami, produced by e-motionfilms of Losone with RSI, will also be presented. The film was also supported through the PLI, the Fund for the Promotion of the Italian Language in Swiss Cinema.

In the “Histoires” section, two films by Ticino filmmaker Edo Bertoglio will be screened: Face Addict (Amka Films, RSI, 2005) and, in world premiere, the restored version of Downtown 81 (United States, 2000). The Solothurn programme also features Die Verkosterinnen (Le assaggiatrici, IT/CH/BE, 2025), the latest film by Italian director of Ticino origin Silvio Soldini; I figli di Icaro by Daniel Jonas Kemény, produced by Cinédokké of Savosa with RSI; Il canto del respiro by Ticino filmmaker Simona Canonica (Amka Films, Redibis Film, RSI); Mary Anning; and the short film Ex – Tract by Marcel Barelli, a Ticino animation director active in French-speaking Switzerland. Featuring several Ticino protagonists and partly shot in our canton is the documentary Trop Chaud – Klimaseniorinnen vs Switzerland by Benjamin Weiss (also supported through the PLI for the creation of subtitles); Von dem, was bleibt by Lisa Blatter features Leventina-born actress Carla Jury in the leading role; Melodie by Anka Schmid was also partly shot in Ticino; Game Over – der Fall der Credit Suisse by Simon Helbling includes among its various testimonies that of Ticino lawyer and former magistrate Paolo Bernasconi; and Camp d’été by Mateo Ybarra follows scouts from across the country, including young people from Italian-speaking Switzerland. The documentary Le dernier loup by Matteo Born is produced by RSI, and Girls & Gods by Arsh T. Riahi and Verena Soltiz also lists Ticino-based Amka and RSI among its co-producers. As a curiosity, we note Noyeux Joël, whose director Filippo Filliger grew up between Italian- and French-speaking Switzerland, and the experimental 1978 film Julie from Ohio by director Isa Hesse-Rabinovitch, who lived in Ticino for many years.

In addition to the already mentioned Disco D(e)ad and Ex – Tract, the short films presented in Solothurn also include Cherubs, the directorial debut of actress Anna Pieri and Ticino cinematographer Pietro Zuercher (Cinédokké, Orisono and RSI); What if We Were Happy? by Julie-Yara Atz (Cinédokké, RSI), in national premiere; Manual of Self Destruction by director Elisa Baccolo, active in Ticino; the CISA production Tusen Toner by Ticino filmmaker Francesco Poloni, competing in the Talente section; Grinfie by Elia Fonti, featuring Lugano-based actor Kevin Blaser; and finally Mutante by Carmen Jacquier, whose soundtrack is composed by the Ticino duo Palme Cadelli.