Klaudia Reynicke’s Reinas (Queens), a Peruvian-set period drama about a family navigating political turmoil, has won best film at the 2025 Swiss Film Awards, presented in Geneva Friday night. The Swiss-Peruvian-Spanish coproduction premiered at Sundance last year and won best film in the Kplus Generation children’s film sidebar of the Berlinale, as well as the audience award at the Locarno Film Festival.
Set during a tumultuous summer in Lima in 1992, Reinas chronicles the unsteady reunion between a father and his two daughters. Over the course of a series of slow summer days, the family begins to grow closer even as the country begins to fall apart as inflation skyrockets.
Reinas was Switzerland’s official entry for the Oscars and has been an international sales success, selling to more than 10 territories via world sales outfit The Yellow Affair.
David Constantin and Dimitri Krebs shared the best actor award for their performances in the crime comedy Tschugger – The Last Fall and period drama The Traitor, respectively, while Laetitia Dosch was named best actress for her role in her directorial debut Dog on Trial (Le Procès du Chien), which premiered in Cannes‘ Un Certain Regard last year. (Kodi, the film’s canine lead, won Cannes’ prestigious Palm Dog for best four-legged performance). Rachel Braunschweig won best supporting role for her performance in Maria Brendle’s historic legal drama Friedas Fall.
Simon Baumann’s We, the Inheritors took the best documentary film honor. The doc premiered in Locarno, where it won the Grand Prix of the Semaine de la Critique sidebar. Samuel Patthey’s Voiceless won for best animated film.
Ramon Zürcher picked up two awards for his family drama The Sparrow in the Chimney, which also premiered at Locarno, winning best screenplay and best sound design, sharing the latter with Peter von Siebenthal and Balthasar Jucker. Marcel Vaid was honored with best film score for Paradises of Diane,. from directors Carmen Jaquier and Jan Gassmann, which had its world premiere in Berlin’s Panorama section last year. Best Cinematography went to Gabriel Sandru received for Simon Jaquemet’s sci-fi drama Electric Child, while Kevin Schlosser took best editing for his work on Claude Baechtold’s documentary Riverboom.
Swiss director Barbet Schroeder and French actress Bulle Ogier, two Nouvelle Vague legends, both received lifetime achievement awards for their impact on global cinema. Oliver Keller received a special Swiss film academy honor for his work as the stunt coordinator on Tschugger – The Last Fall.
2025 Swiss Films Awards
Best Feature Film
Reinas – Klaudia Reynicke (Alva Film Sàrl, Britta Rindelaub, Thomas Reichlin)
Best Documentary Film
We, the Inheritors – Simon Baumann (Balzli & Fahrer GmbH, Dieter Fahrer)
Best Short Film
Southern Brides – Elena López Riera (Alina Film Sàrl, Eugenia Mumenthaler, David Epiney)
Best Animated Film
Voiceless – Samuel Patthey (DOK MOBILE SA, Mark Olexa)
Best Screenplay
The Sparrow in the Chimney – Ramon Zürcher
Best Actress
Laetitia Dosch (Avril) in Dog on Trial
Best Actor
David Constantin (Bax) in Tschugger – The Last Fall
Dimitri Krebs (Ernst Schrämli) in Traitor
Best Supporting Role
Rachel Braunschweig (Erna Gmür) in Frieda’s Case
Best Film Score
Paradises of Diane – Marcel Vaid
Best Cinematography
Electric Child – Gabriel Sandru
Best Film Editing
Riverboom – Kevin Schlosser
Best Sound
The Sparrow in the Chimney – Ramon Zürcher, Peter von Siebenthal, Balthasar Jucker
Best Graduation Film
Mom Dances – Mégane Brügger (École cantonale d’art de Lausanne)
Special Academy Award
Oliver Keller, stunt coordinator for Tschugger – The Last Fall
Swiss Film Honorary Award
Barbet Schroeder and Bulle Ogier, for their lifetime achievements