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Late Shift film image; nurse standing in shock near a hospital bed

Late Shift

Heldin

Panorama

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North American Premiere

As nurse Floria (Leonie Benesh, The Teacher’s Lounge) patrols a Swiss hospital’s surgical ward, her preternatural composure is rivalled only by the devotion she demonstrates for her patients. Time and again, she proves herself levelheaded in a milieu where the stakes are very much life or death. But when a colleague fails to show on a night when the ward is at capacity, the increased demands on Floria have her careening between demanding patients, pushing her ever closer to a breaking point that few suspected she possessed.

The film’s Swiss German title Heldin translates to “heroine”, and director Petra Volpe (The Divine Order) employs a bracing 88 minutes to certify that Floria is fully deserving of that designation. Unfolding at an exhilarating pace as Floria whirls through the ward’s labyrinthian halls navigating a succession of seemingly impossible decisions, Late Shift quickens the pulse more frequently than most multiplex action films. And, rather than a fleeting hit of adrenaline, it instils a deep sense of admiration for selfless souls like Floria.

 

Oscar Submission: Switzerland

 

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Community Partner

   

Director
Cast

Leonie Benesch, Sonja Riesen, Alireza Bayram, Selma Aldin, Urs Bihler, Margherita Schoch

Credits
Country of Origin

Switzerland/Germany

Year

2025

Language

In German with English subtitles

Links
18+

At International Village

19+

At Fifth Avenue

92 min
Action & Suspense Drama Women Directors
Zodiac Pictures

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Producer

Reto Schaerli, Lukas Hobi

Screenwriter

Petra Volpe

Cinematography

Judith Kaufmann

Editor

Hansjörg Weissbrich

Production Design

Beatrice Schulz

Original Music

Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch

Petra Volpe headshot

Petra Volpe

Screenwriter and director Petra Volpe studied at the Konrad Wolf Film University in Potsdam-Babelsberg. Her feature film debut, Dreamland (2014), was nominated for four Swiss Film Awards, and in 2017, Volpe gained worldwide attention with her film The Divine Order, which became a major box office success in Switzerland and screened around the world. She wrote the screenplays for the film Heidi (2015), the successful SRF series Labyrinth of Peace (2020), and The Golden Years (2022), which became the most successful Swiss feature film of 2022 in German-speaking Switzerland and was sold internationally, including to the US.

Filmography: Kleine Fische (2007); Schönes Wochenende (2006); Frühling im Herbst (2009); Dreamland (2013); The Divine Order (2017)

Photo by Salvatore Vinci

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