Moris Freiburghaus was handed the Best Documentary award at the Swiss Film Awards March 27. In the film, Swiss musician Dino Brandão travels to Angola to give a concert in his father’s home country. Furthermore, protagonist Brandão won the award for Best Film Score.
The film celebrated its world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival 2025 where it was honoured with both the Best Documentary Film Award and the Audience Award.
Synopsis
After more than fifteen years, Swiss musician Dino Brandão travels to Angola to give a concert in his father’s home country. Confronted with his family’s past and questions about his own identity, Dino is triggered into a manic episode. Back in Switzerland, his friends and family do everything they can to prevent him from returning to a psychiatric hospital. What happens when your best friend becomes mentally ill? How do you deal with it – and how does the affected person experience this exceptional state?
The film is a deeply personal account of the long-standing friendship between director Freiburghaus and musician Brandão, in which the pair navigate this difficult chapter of their lives. Together they discuss the making of the film and how friendship, creativity, and dealing with mental illness are deeply intertwined.
The 94-minute documentary is produced by Fabiana Seitz, Moris Freiburghaus and Leon Schwitter for Sabotage Filmkollektiv GmbH, which also handles world rights.
The Swiss Film Awards ceremony took place in Zurich on Friday, March 27, 2026, and is organised by the Federal Office of Culture (FOC) in partnership with SRG SSR and the Association “Quartz” Genève Zürich, in collaboration with SWISS FILMS, the Swiss Film Academy and the Solothurn Film Festival.
