A Piece of Sky

Michael Koch’s sophomore feature is a moving meditation on the patient nature of enduring love. In a remote Alpine village, Anna, a single mother, falls for quiet newcomer Marco. But soon after their wedding, Marco is diagnosed with a brain tumour and his behaviour grows increasingly erratic. Through the changing seasons Anna fights to preserve a love she believes can outshine even death. Set over three years, a choir, like a Greek chorus framed by the sprawling natural amphitheatre of the Swiss Alps, gives voice to the characters’ unspoken grief.

The film is strongly rooted in documentary through the non-professionals, the chosen locations and scenes…. From the start, I didn’t want to make a film ‘about’ the people in the mountains – instead I wanted to create one together with them. I saw the kind of work they did, how they handled their animals, and then integrated these scenes into the story…. The film was shot in three different seasons in 70 days, with a crew of only 12 people on the set. Many of them had dual roles. This was challenging, but it was also great to see crew members thinking outside their box and taking on new responsibility. We were rewarded with scenes that I couldn’t have thought up at my desk at home.

Director Michael Koch