Three Swiss films in the running for the Oscar entry

Three films are competing to be Switzerland's Oscar entry. The shortlist was announced by the Swiss Films foundation and comes from a jury appointed by the Federal Office of Culture.

The chosen title will represent Switzerland in the best international feature film category at the ninety-ninth Academy Awards, scheduled for March 2027. The winner will be named during the 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival.

The first of the three is «Lo sguardo di Emma», originally «À bras-le-corps», by the Neuchâtel director Marie-Elsa Sgualdo. It is a historical drama set during the Second World War, dealing with violence, social marginalisation and Switzerland's role in the persecution of Jews. The film received seven nominations for the Swiss Film Prize, the Quartz, and won two.

From Yucatán to Gaza

The second title is «Cosmos», by the Geneva director Germinal Roaux. It is shot in black and white, spoken in Maya and Spanish, and set on the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico. It follows the relationship between two characters in their sixties.

The third is «Qui vit encore», a documentary by Geneva's Nicolas Wadimoff. It gathers the testimony of nine survivors of the war in Gaza. The film was nominated for the Quartz for best documentary and won the 2026 Prix de Soleure at the Solothurn Film Days.

The three titles cover different registers: a historical drama, a fiction film shot abroad and a documentary about an ongoing conflict.

Announcing the choice in Locarno ties it to the country's main film event. For the festival it is also a way of signalling its weight within the national industry, beyond the Piazza Grande programme.

Switzerland has not won in the best international feature category in recent years. The Academy's shortlisting stage will then narrow the field before the nominations themselves.