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Bonjour Switzerland

Bonjour Switzerland

Bonjour Switzerland

Dir. Peter Luisi
88 min
NR

Starts May 10

MSPIFF43 Audience Choice Winner

The director and star of MSPIFF 2018 audience favorite Streaker reunite for a wacky comedy that pokes fun at the multilingual Swiss. When an unexpected referendum leaves the country with only one national language, French, it catalyzes a crisis among the German and Italian speakers. Fifty-six-year-old Walter Egli (Beat Schlatter) works for the Federal Police, the organization responsible for ensuring the smooth transition to monolingualism. Despite his own limited French proficiency, he’s tasked with navigating this linguistic upheaval. He teams up with a French-speaking partner and heads to Ticino for undercover work. Their assignment: to track down a rebellious resistance group vehemently opposing the new law. Bonjour Switzerland captures the intricacies of Swiss cultural diversity and the quirks of Swiss society, weaving a tale of unexpected partnerships, cultural clashes, and the absurdities of bureaucracy in the face of a national language crisis. –Alissa Simon

Film Details

Program: Special Screenings
Release Year: 2023
Runtime: 88 min
Country/Region: Switzerland, Italy
Rating: NR
Language: Swiss German, German, French, Italian, English
Print Source: Image & Sound GmbH
Tags: Comedy, Politics

Cast/Crew

Director: Peter Luisi
Producer: David Luisi, Peter Luisi
Cinematographer: Raphael Kistler
Screenwriter: Peter Luisi
Principal Cast: Beat Schlatter, Vincent Kucholl, Catherine Pagani, Silvia Jost, Leonardo Nigro