Discoveries from Switzerland World Cinema

«A heroine's quest» portrays the Muslim woman Naima Serroukh as she sets up her pilot project Tasamouh to combat religious extremism. Naima's story is told as she goes about her work as manager of the project and gives us an insight into the world of prevention work. Besides her search for financing and partners, her personal conflicts, she gives advice to distraught mothers, coaches young people and tries to provide them with support in their integration process. «A heroine's quest» paints the portrait of a strong woman, who has come to accept that progress can only be made in tiny baby steps, but at the end of the day, it's all about making life together a bit better. A portrait of an everyday heroine. An impression of the Muslim community in the fight against prejudice.

Lou (29) is a present-day nomad. Forever in search of the ultimate kind of freedom, she’s long ago blocked out what it is she is actually running from. At home everywhere and nowhere. Living a now-now life. Click and - next, please. Until she meets Aro (35) and Aro is different. Even if he preaches the same sermon: Just make sure not to define the status of the relationship you’re in and enjoy the summer while it lasts, not committing to anything. And yet, without looking for it, they get under each other’s skin. Now there are expectations, jealousy nags and contradicts their frantic pursuit of independence. All of a sudden, Lou does not know anymore what it is all about. Where does she come from? Where does she belong?

"What's on television? Are we watching it… or is it watching us?"

INTERZONE is a part-narrative, part-experimental short film. It may be a dream. It is an enigma to solve. A physical and mental space that needs to be physically and mentally explored to find the way out.

In a Rwanda in full revival, three people with very different realities are involved in the same programme called Imihigo, a sort of “national development competition”. Richard the mayor of the district, Innocent the villager and Sandrine, a civil servant from the diaspora.

As the anniversary of his father's death approaches, Jürgen Gerber is confronted with his family's troubled past. A reckoning with rebellion, violence, and fear - facing a world to which he no longer belongs, yet which continues to shape him. The film Children of Peace explores the complex legacy of a vanishing minority: the Anabaptists. A radical Reformation-era faith community committed to the principle of nonviolence. But centuries of bloody persecution have repeatedly put their ideals to the test, eventually pushing them to take up arms themselves. Growing up in a German-speaking family in a remote village in the French-speaking Jura, Jürgen learned at a young age that standing up for one's beliefs often comes at a price. The story of the Gerber family is the story of the Anabaptists. It is the story of a long struggle between resistance and submission, between idealism and compromise, driven by the question: How do we find peace?

Swiss Sounds is an immersive cinematic journey that follows the acclaimed French electronic producer, Thylacine, as he explores the rugged landscapes and unique sonic textures of Switzerland. Known for his "graphic composition" style and his tendency to record in nomadic studios—from the Trans-Siberian Railway to the deserts of Argentina—this film captures his latest creative odyssey. The documentary blends breathtaking cinematography of the Swiss Alps with an intimate look at the artist's creative process. Using his modular synthesizers and field recordings, Thylacine transforms the sounds of mountain echoes, traditional Swiss instruments, and industrial machinery into a powerful, melodic techno performance. Directed by Thylacine & Cécile Chabert Recorded and composed by Thylacine Camera : Emile Cervia Drone : Cécile Chabert Production : Suisse Tourisme Editing : Thylacine Color Grading : Maxime Mourey Piano interpretation : Bravinsan Karunanithy Mixing : Antoine Thibaudeau

“Every day I think about my family, my children, the future.” Two years ago, Magheswaran Naganathy fled Sri Lanka. He lives with Ratha Sivaramalingam, Puniya Sundarampillai, and around fifty other Tamils in a Salvation Army refugee camp in Zollikofen near Bern. Time is killed in the camp. Shopping at Shoppyland, if the social security money is enough. Regular work is not allowed. Practicing the dreaded police interrogation in role-playing games. Getting summer clothes from the Red Cross. Waiting for the mailman to bring newspapers and letters from home. “My children always ask me what my life is like in Switzerland and when I'm coming home.” (Translated from German)

Argentinian virtuoso pianist Martha Argerich, French violinist Renaud Capuçon and cellist Gautier Capuçon reunite for an exclusive concert at the Verbier Festival. The programme includes Haydn, Mendelssohn and Shostakovitch.

Angel, a ruthless killer, is in a bar having a drink with the stubborn detective who has been hunting her for years. But they both hide a secret.

Cinema is Magic offers a rare insight into the filmmaking process of one of African cinema’s foremost directors Djibril Diop Mambéty. Interspersed with clips from his films, Mambety poetically discusses his deep love of cinema and philosophical approach to life and making art. Director Silvia Voser, had a long-standing working relationship with Mambéty having worked as a producer on Le Franc (1994). Her documentary captures the auteur’s hopeful outlook on cinema and its infinite possibilities.

The travelling salesman Jonathan Fisch peddles glass eyes. His journey takes him to the edge of the province, where he checks in to a run-down hotel. The attic room number 606 has its pitfalls. Something rather peculiar is happening beyond the wall. Jonathan Fisch can expect a very turbulent night. A night that begins one evening in late autumn and doesn’t end until spring.

In 2022, Iceland killed 160 Fin whales, the second largest animal in the world: an endangered species. In fact, the International Commission whaling commission has banned its capture worldwide. How is it then that the slaughter continues? The journalistic investigation “The Whaler” has contributed to the suspension, in summer 2023, of Fin whale killing in Iceland.

A young actress's sudden enthusiasm for yodeling is dampened when she encounters the extremely traditional roots of this folk custom. She continues to practice yodeling, but cannot avoid facing the consequences of her actions and searching for a path between the present and the past. A remarkable, largely entertaining documentary feature film about a folk custom that is often ridiculed, especially by younger people.

After being harassed on public transport one evening, a young woman must make her way home on her own.

8mm film by Swiss artist Roman Signer.

While a reception is being prepared for the Queen, a baby feeds from a bottle of milk, restores vigor to the schoolboy doing his calculations, to the blacksmith who's working his iron, to the runner who is getting tired. At last, she is crowned before the ball, with bottles of milk.

On a hot summer day four groups sweat without realizing that the world is slowly ending.

Believing she had come to bring some comfort to a French-speaking Swiss audience exiled in German-speaking Switzerland, Marie-Thérèse learns that she is actually facing an entirely German-speaking Swiss audience! When she realizes that she will have to perform her show in Bourbine, she clumsily attempts to hang herself with a rope... which has the surprising effect of causing her to speak only in Swiss German! The only glimmer of hope is that Molière's language returns to her when she sings a little song...

In spite of the scary legends of what happens to hedgehogs that don't hibernate, Giuseppe decides not to sleep this year. But this winter, the snow doesn't arrive as expected. So Giuseppe and his two rabbit friends are going on a quest to find snow!

What's left after the Egyptian revolution in 2011? During the presidential election of the former army chief al-Sisi in 2015, everyday life goes on and people in Cairo's alleyways are trying to make the best of it.

They stand for wildness and domestication at the same time, symbolise eroticism, power or even loyalty and friendship. Even as supporting actors, cats and dogs play an important role in art and reveal a lot about the relationship between humans and nature. With a new perspective at the work of famous and forgotten artists, the film shows the historical transformation of the four-legged friends from farm animal to prestige object and today's domestic companion.

Dr. Hildbrand is about to retire as other young doctors take over. At the intersection of generations and practices, Les Guérisseurs questions the vocation and profound meaning of caring for others.

Elena is the last one. Following her brother’s departure from Ticino, she remains alone with her mother in their large lakeside house. For her, it is not yet time to go but, already, she is imagining with nostalgia what she will foresake, carried away by her desire for discovery. Nikita Merlini captures the traces of what she leaves behind her in her gentle journey into adulthood.

From the coast of the Atlantic to that of the Mediterranean, the director meets women whose faces recount ruined hopes. Grief finds an element of painful meditation in the movement of the waves.

An animated short exploring group dynamics. How do we define ourselves when we are all equal? Who is steering the crowd? What if it is heading in the wrong direction? Where does the individual end and the group begin? What is done by choice, and what under duress?

The dreadful Major Totenschtein and his henchmen have developed a destructive satellite. But agent jase Bond is here to solve this mission in the time allotted.

The Internet has changed everything, also for journalism: business models are falling by the wayside, news is available for free, anywhere and at any time.

Departing from material records of the early colonial “scientific expeditions” and “taming campaigns” led by the French colonizers in North Africa, the story follows a community of young nomads and wanderers as they form an imagined utopian society. Reenactments, improvisations, and interviews performed and conducted with the inhabitants of Algiers, Kythira Island, and the Prosfygika community in Athens inform this work as instances of alternative temporality and autonomous space.

It’s not easy being a vampire nowadays, especially if you’ve promised not to drink human blood. Hysterical!

Documentary about a road being built in the Amazonian rainforest, and the effect it has on the native population.

Documentary without narration about the clash between ancient Thebes and the droves of tourists that visit the "Trio Afrogarage alley of Kings"; with music by the "Trio Afrogarage".

Anthropoid creatures with plugs in place of heads are up to mischief. Instead of abandoning oneself to the dictates of the raised finger, they soon submit to themselves. But the fingers also finger around. Is it love? PLUG & PLAY is entirely finger-drawn using an integrated touchpad of a laptop

In BEATOCELLO's UMBRELLA, award-winning director Georges Gachot tells the story of Beat Richner&emdash;pediatric M.D. author, illustrator and concert cellist; from his coming-of-age in Switzerland, to his street performances as a young medical student in the persona of the clown Beatocello; to his founding of five children's hospitals in today's Cambodia. Revered as a national hero, Richner's Herculean efforts have saved the lives of millions of Cambodia's children over the past 20 years, some who have grown up to serve as doctors in his state-of- the-art pediatric hospitals. Now at 64 , Richner continues to practice medicine and travel the world concertizing and singing about his protective red umbrella, which has come to symbolize the health and hope he brought to a grateful nation. Unlike many of his contemporaries who held utopian world views, Beat Richner is one of the few who worked to made his vision a reality.

Short film shown in Cannes.

For many years, Barcelona has been selling itself to foreign capital, either through tourism or through large-scale real estate speculation. This film, which is set in the case of an emblematic working-class district of the city filmed just some days before its complete demolition, focuses on a rather secondary character, a novice architect of Swiss origin. She will be confronted with the memory of past neighbourhood struggles, as well as the new resistance movements led by the up and coming generations.

Promotional short film to reveal the potential of the new Paillard-Bolex camera.

Original recording of a seminar in Zurich, July 2006, and a lecture in Idstein, October 2006. The latest studies show that children's brains are more malleable – and therefore also more deformable – than was believed just a few years ago. No other species is born with a brain as capable of learning and shaping as humans. And in no other species is brain development so dependent on the emotional, social, and intellectual competence of adult caregivers as it is in humans.

A filmmaker imagines his wife’s death as a mysterious disappearance in the Swiss Alps, casting his real family in an experimental exploration of grief and the search for closure.

The story of a strange uncharted forest and a force trying to overwhelm it. An audiovisual report on their relationship.

Simple demands of love, which are usually hidden behind closed doors of fear and vulnerability, are playfully celebrated here as a riddle of shapes and gestures found among tons of archival material.

For nearly 50 years, reporter, writer and photographer Laurence Deonna risked her life to capture the noise and anger of our times.