Longwave (French: Les Grandes Ondes (à l'ouest), Portuguese: As Ondas de Abril) is a 2013 Swiss-French-Portuguese comedy-drama film directed by Lionel Baier. The film's principal cast are Valérie Donzelli, Michel Vuillermoz, Patrick Lapp, and Francisco Belard.
| Longwave | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Lionel Baier |
| Written by | Lionel Baier Julien Bouissoux |
| Produced by | Pauline Gygax Max Karli |
| Starring | Valérie Donzelli Michel Vuillermoz Patrick Lapp Francisco Belard |
| Cinematography | Patrick Lindenmaier |
| Edited by | Pauline Gaillard |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Countries | Switzerland France Portugal |
| Languages | French Portuguese |
Plot
The film is set in 1974, based on a true story about a Swiss production team working for Radio Suisse Romande, who are assigned to produce a puff piece in Portugal but instead witness the Carnation Revolution.[1]
Release
The film débuted at the 2013 Locarno Film Festival.[2] The US premiere of Longwave was at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 10, 2014.[3] The distributor in France is Happiness Distribution, and in Switzerland is Pathé; the film has also been sold to Zeta Films for distribution in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Paraguay.[4]
Reception
The reviewer for Variety found that the director had demonstrated "his thoroughgoing knowledge of and delight in film history, yet his striving for a 1970s screwball vibe feels too forced and artificial".[5] In Público's Ípsilon, Luís Miguel Oliveira gave the film two out of five stars.[6]
The film was nominated for the Swiss Film Award in three categories: Best Fiction Film, Best Screenplay (Lionel Baier and Julien Bouissoux), and Best Actor (Patrick Lapp) [7] but did not win, losing to I Am the Keeper in each category.[8]