– The Swiss filmmaker is crafting an episodic drama feature, based on a script by renowned and award-winning author Fabio Andina
Bastardo by Villi Hermann (© Imagofilm Lugano)
A veteran of Swiss cinema, Villi Hermann received an honorary award this year for his career and contribution to Switzerland’s film culture. His extensive filmography includes documentaries as well as fiction films, on which he has worked as both director and producer. Among his best-known works are Bankomatt, which he directed, and Atlas by Niccolò Castelli and Cronofobia by Francesco Rizzi, which he produced.
As a producer, he has also regularly supported emerging filmmakers and is highly regarded in Switzerland for this commitment. Originally from Lucerne, Hermann, who has also worked as a journalist, has artistically formed a bridge between the different regions of Switzerland and settled in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino.
That is where Hermann’s newest fiction feature, Bastardo, was shot – namely, in the municipality of Tresa and on Monte Lema. The script is inspired by the short-story anthology Sei tu, Ticino? (lit. “Is That You, Ticino?”) by Swiss novelist Fabio Andina, winner of the 2025 Swiss Literature Award. He also wrote the screenplay for the film, which director-producer Hermann describes as “a movie about boundaries”. It portrays several characters: a man with an unpaid debt who asks a friend for help in facing an ultimatum; a woman who supports her pregnant teenage niece; two teenagers who fall in love at first sight; and a young man who hitchhikes to visit his father in prison. Together, these episodes form a diverse portrait of contemporary Switzerland and, more precisely, of its Italian-speaking region.
Hermann produced and directed the film, while Felix von Muralt (Becoming Giulia, Caged Birds) was in charge of the cinematography. Completing the crew are Zeno Gabaglio (Becaària) as music designer, and Michela Pini and Marco Moschini as production directors. In front of the camera will be a number of well-known Swiss and Italian actors from Italian-speaking Switzerland, including Leonardo Nigro (North West Sunset Border, The Stone Eater), Diego Ribon (Elisa, Drops of God), Lucia Mascino (Anna, Bang Bang Baby), Massimiliano Zampetti (Tutti giù) and Tatiana Winteler (Te lo dico pianissimo). The film also introduces emerging performers and local talent such as Lisa Pires Lima and Pietro De Nova.
Bastardo is an Imagofilm Lugano production. The film has been funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture, RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera, the municipality of Tresa, the Ticino Film Commission and the canton of Ticino. Noha Film Distribution is handling the distribution, while Imagofilm Lugano is in charge of world sales. The theatrical release date has not yet been announced.
