The young French-born director Elie Grappe discusses the creative process and international success of his debut feature film, Olga, which is playing at the 57th Solothurn Film Festival. It was also Switzerland’s entry for the best international feature film category at the 2022 Oscars. “Apologies for the delay, I’ve been a bit busy.” As we start our videocall fifteen minutes later than planned, Elie Grappe explains how he’s spending most of his waking hours at his Vevey home, near Lausanne, writing the script for his next feature film. It is a period piece set in the 1930s, which will reunite him with producer Jean-Marc Fröhle, with whom Grappe made the two films that shot him to international acclaim – the short film Suspendu (Suspended, 2015), shown in over 60 festivals, and his first feature Olga. That’s what we are here to talk about. Olga celebrated its Swiss-German premiere on January 20, as part of a lineup of eight titles competing for the prestigious Prix de Soleure at...
