original_language_of_work vitus 
Switzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic in Europe . It consists of 26 cantons , and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities . The country is situated in Western - Central Europe , and is bordered by Italy to the south , France to the west , Germany to the north , and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east . Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps , the Swiss Plateau and the Jura , spanning an area of . While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory , the Swiss population of approximately eight million people is concentrated mostly on the plateau , where the largest cities are to be found : among them are the two global cities and economic centres Zürich and Geneva . Italy , officially the ___MASK94___ Republic , is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe . Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea , Italy shares open land borders with France , Switzerland , Austria , Slovenia , San Marino and Vatican City . Italy covers an area of and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate ; due to its shape , it is often referred to in Italy as " lo Stivale " ( the Boot ). With 61 million inhabitants , it is the fourth most populous EU member state . Vitus is a drama film written and directed by Fredi M . Murer . It was released on February 2 , 2006 , in Switzerland . It stars real - life piano prodigy Teo Gheorghiu , Bruno Ganz , Julika Jenkins , and Urs Jucker . ___MASK49___ is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe . It is the most widely spoken and ( co -) official language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , South Tyrol ( Italy ), the ___MASK49___ - speaking Community of Belgium , and Liechtenstein ; it is also an official , but not majority language of Luxembourg . Major languages which are most similar to ___MASK49___ include other members of the West Germanic language branch , such as Afrikaans , ___MASK32___ , and ___MASK6___ . It is the second most widely spoken Germanic language , after ___MASK6___ . An actor ( or actress for females ; see terminology ) is a person who portrays a character in a performance . The actor performs " in the flesh " in the traditional medium of the theatre , or in modern mediums such as film , radio , and television . The analogous ___MASK73___ term is , literally " one who answers ". The actor ' s interpretation of their role pertains to the role played , whether based on a real person or fictional character . Interpretation occurs even when the actor is " playing themselves ", as in some forms of experimental performance art , or , more commonly ; to act , is to create , a character in performance . Faraway , So Close ! is a 1993 film by ___MASK49___ director Wim Wenders . The screenplay is by Wenders , Richard Reitinger and Ulrich Zieger . The film is a sequel to Wenders ' 1987 film " Wings of Desire ". Actors Otto Sander and Bruno Ganz reprise their roles as angels visiting Earth . The film also stars Nastassja Kinski , Willem Dafoe and Heinz Rühmann ( in his last film role ). It won the " Grand Prix du Jury " at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival . The Canton of Zürich has a population ( as of ) of . The canton is located in the northeast of Switzerland and the city of Zürich is the capital of the canton . The official language is ___MASK49___ . The local ___MASK86___ dialect called " Züritüütsch " is commonly spoken . In ___MASK6___ the name of the canton is often written without an umlaut . The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe , stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries : Austria , France , Germany , Italy , Liechtenstein , Monaco , ___MASK79___ , and Switzerland . The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided . Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn . Mont Blanc spans the ___MASK45___  ___MASK94___ border , and at is the highest mountain in the Alps . The Alpine region area contains about a hundred peaks higher than 4000 metres ( just over 13 , 000 feet ). Wings of Desire (" The Sky / Heaven Over Berlin ") is a 1987 Franco - ___MASK49___ romantic fantasy film directed by Wim Wenders . The film is about invisible , immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of the human inhabitants and comfort those who are in distress . Even though the city is densely populated , many of the people are isolated or estranged from their loved ones . One of the angels , played by Bruno Ganz , falls in love with a beautiful , lonely trapeze artist . The angel chooses to become human so that he can experience the human sensory pleasures , ranging from enjoying food to touching a loved one , and so that he can experience human love with the trapeze artist . The film is shot in both a rich , sepia - toned black - and - white and color , with the former being used to represent the world as experienced by the angels . Wim Wenders won best director award both at Cannes film festival and European film Awards for the film . The film was selected as the West ___MASK49___ entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy award and BAFTA award , and was accepted as a nominee for the latter . The film has cult status and is included in Criterion Collection since 2009 . The city of Bern or Berne (; Bernese ___MASK49___ : " Bärn " ) is the de facto capital of Switzerland , referred to by the Swiss as their ( e . g . in ___MASK49___ ) " Bundesstadt ," or " federal city ". With a population of 141 , 762 ( November 2016 ), Bern is the fourth most populous city in Switzerland . The Bern agglomeration , which includes 36 municipalities , had a population of 406 , 900 in 2014 . The metropolitan area had a population of 660 , 000 in 2000 . Bern is also the capital of the canton of Bern , the second most populous of Switzerland ' s cantons . Ernst Wilhelm " Wim " Wenders ( born 14 August 1945 ) is a ___MASK49___ filmmaker , playwright , author , photographer , and a major figure in New ___MASK49___ Cinema . Among many honors , he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature : for " Buena Vista Social Club " ( 1999 ), about Cuban music culture , " Pina " ( 2011 ), about the contemporary dance choreographer Pina Bausch , and " The Salt of the Earth " ( 2014 ), about Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado . Teo Gheorghiu is a Swiss - Canadian pianist and actor , born on August 12 , 1992 in Männedorf in Canton of Zürich , Switzerland from ___MASK97___ and Canadian parents . Geneva (, , , ) is the second most populous city in Switzerland ( after Zürich ) and is the most populous city of Romandy , the ___MASK45___ - speaking part of Switzerland . Situated where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva , it is the capital of the Republic and Canton of Geneva . Liechtenstein , officially the Principality of Liechtenstein , is a doubly landlocked ___MASK49___ - speaking microstate in Central Europe . It is a constitutional monarchy with the rank of principality , headed by the Prince of Liechtenstein . Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia . Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north , the Atlantic Ocean to the west , and the Mediterranean Sea to the south . To the east and southeast , Europe is generally considered as separated from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains , the Ural River , the Caspian and Black Seas , and the waterways of the ___MASK7___ Straits . Yet the non - oceanic borders of Europe  a concept dating back to classical antiquity  are arbitrary . The primarily physiographic term " continent " as applied to Europe also incorporates cultural and political elements whose discontinuities are not always reflected by the continent ' s current overland boundaries . Bruno Ganz ( born 22 March 1941 ) is a Swiss actor , who has been a prominent figure in ___MASK49___ language film and television for over fifty years . He has collaborated several times with filmmaker Wim Wenders , first as Jonathan Zimmerman in " The American Friend " ( 1977 ) and again as Damiel the Angel in both " Wings of Desire " ( 1987 ) and " Faraway , So Close !" ( 1993 ). France , officially the ___MASK45___ Republic , is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . The European , or metropolitan , area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the ___MASK6___ Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . Overseas France include ___MASK45___ Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . France spans and had a total population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017 . It is a unitary semi - presidential republic with the capital in Paris , the country ' s largest city and main cultural and commercial centre . Other major urban centres include Marseille , Lyon , Lille , Nice , Toulouse and Bordeaux .