Drama on the shortlist Swiss film "Heldin" makes it onto the Oscar shortlist
Switzerland is also in the Oscar race this year. The film "Heldin" starring Leonie Benesch has been shortlisted from 15 candidates.
16.12.2025, 23:10
SDA
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- The Swiss film "Heldin" starring Leonie Benesch is in the Oscar race.
- The hospital drama is on the shortlist of 15 candidates in the "Best International Feature Film" category.
- Of the 15 candidates, five films will be nominated for the final round on January 22.
Switzerland's drama "Heldin" by Petra Volpe with the German leading actress Leonie Benesch is on the shortlist of 15 candidates for the Oscar preselection. This was announced by the Film Academy in Los Angeles.
The film "Heldin", starring Leonie Benesch, tells the story of Floria, a nurse who copes with the relentless daily work routine on the understaffed surgical ward of her hospital with passion and professionalism. But as the night progresses, her work becomes more and more of a race against time.
Benesch's performance in the hospital drama prompted the Federal Office of Culture, among others, to enter the film in the Oscar race, as it announced in August. The Federal Office also praised the work of Swiss screenwriter and director Petra Volpe as a "thoroughly captivating drama".
Also on the shortlist is the drama "Looking into the Sun" by Berlin director Mascha Schilinski. German Films, the foreign representation of German film, selected "In die Sonne schauen" in August as the German candidate for the 98th Academy Awards next March. The drama is about four young women who live on a farm in the Altmark at different times. Among other things, it deals with domestic violence, repressed longings and inherited traumas.
International competition
In addition to Germany and Switzerland, films from South Korea ("No Other Choice"), Tunisia ("The Voice of Hind Rajab") and Argentina ("Belén") are also represented. France made it into the pre-selection with "A Simple Accident" by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, Norway with the family drama "Sentimental Value", Spain with the road movie "Sirât" and Brazil with the thriller "The Secret Agent".
Of the 15 candidates, five films will be nominated for the final round on January 22. The 98th Academy Awards will take place on March 15, 2026.
Last December, the political thriller "The Seeds of the Sacred Fig Tree" by Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof made it onto the shortlist for Germany and then into the Oscar final. In the end, the trophy for best international film went to the Brazilian drama "Forever Here" by Walter Salles.
