Switzerland has selected Carmen Jaquier’s standout first feature “Thunder” as its submission for the best international feature film category of the Academy Awards.
The choice was announced Friday at a press conference held at the Locarno Film Festival.
Writer-director Jacquier’s feature debut is a coming-of-age film set in 1900 against a glorious mountainous landscape and the conservatism of rural Switzerland. It turns on a teenage girl (Lilith Grasmug) who is about to take her vows at the nunnery but is forced to return home when her elder sister dies in mysterious circumstances.
Obliged to abandon her life, she must help with the arduous work on her family farm. She finds herself investigating her sister’s death and testing her own freedoms against the constraints of her family and the village community.
Produced by Flavia Zanon, “Thunder” (“Foudre”) world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before a successful run on the international festival circuit, picking up several awards in the process, including two Swiss Film Awards, an Emerging Swiss Talent Award at Zurich, a Special Jury Prize in Rome and a best director prize in Marrakech.
Talking last year to Variety, Jaquier referred to Ana Mendieta, Carlos Reygadas, Kiki Smith and Pierpaolo Pasolini as particular inspirations. She also spoke of the personal inspiration she found in reading her great-grandmother’s diaries: “She was a very mystical person, full of devotion. She talked with her God, wrote every day and could tell everything to this presence, including really sensual things.”
In a statement about its decision, the selection jury announced: “Set in an archaic mountain scenery, liberation and sisterhood are at the center of this timely feminist period film. Carmen Jaquier’s uniquely sensual first feature skillfully explores sexuality and faith and captivates with its nuanced mise-en-scène and evocative imagery.”
Producers Joëlle Bertossa and Flavia Zanon at Close Up Films have carved out a reputation for high-profile feature films and documentaries sometimes made in international coproductions such as I Am Not Your Negro” and “The Plough.”