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- 1989 marked an unprecedented event in modern history, it was the first time a country put to the vote whether or not it wanted an army. While celebrations for the 50-year commemoration of the outbreak of World War II are well under way, a more liberal Swiss element collects thousands of signatures to support the motion to disband the Swiss army. Stirring speeches thanking halls of old veterans for their efforts to safeguard Switzerland from Hitler are juxtaposed with youth rallies and arguments from the left about the glorification of war and the social and financial burdens of an army. The film, documenting the intense debate that raged amongst the Swiss public in the months leading up to the referendum, asks the question: Is an army the precondition of freedom?
- In his book "Der schnurgerade Kanal" Gerhard Meier describes the writer K. as follows: "He left technical college early, got married and took on a temporary job in a factory - where he got stuck". In Meier's own case it was after dropping out of technical college that he got a job in the lamp factory in Niederbipp. After working in the factory for 33 years, he finally made up his mind to quit and become a writer. His wife started working in a kiosk in order to make a living for them both. The film asks questions about the sort of literature than can spring from a biography like Meier's. It shows the conflict of a provincial citizen who becomes a poet, and it accompanies the writer, who sees life in terms of eyeopening images, on his wanderings trough his immediate and extended home territory, including the island of Rügen and the house of Tolstoi's birth.
- "Namibia Crossings" takes a trip through a country of archaic beauty and bizarre contradictions - like an echo on the polyphonic soul-landscapes made up of each individual's highs and lows.
- On the eve of their last school day, just before they face the serious side of life, a class of hundred teens is going to perform W. A. Mozart's "Requiem" in public on stage. During six weeks of strong rehearsals the young men and women start to struggle on the edge of their discipline, caught on the seesaw from public spirit to forwardness and backwards.
- Mulhapar is a village in the wide expanses of the Punjab in Pakistan. A country associated with violence and intolerance. Beyond this sombre prejudice, the film plunges into the brimming life of a community of poor and rich people, Muslims and Christians, the young and the old, women and men. In Mulhapar, their family and individual destinies, as well as their stories and anecdotes are condensed into a vivid mosaic.
- At the age of 70, artist and fashion photographer Walter Pfeiffer has reached the height of his career. In the film Chasing Beauty Pfeiffer speaks about his life and work with delightful wit and charming ease. We observe him working with both supermodels and nobodies, as well as drawing in nature, and we witness how real-life situations turn into images with the unmistakable Pfeiffer touch. The dynamic, and sometimes tense relation of art and fashion which Pfeiffer masterfully plays with, is reflected upon by his associates from both fields. Models from four decades talk about their work with Pfeiffer, what made them model for him in the first place, and what his images mean to them today. Incidentally, we also get an overview of youth cultures in past four decades. The film is carried by Pfeiffer's subtle humour, his down-to-earth attitude and authenticity. It's a film that celebrates going your own way and leaves you with a smile on your lips.
- Examines the phenomena of human memory.
- The documentary shows how Gerhard Meier became a writer after 33 years of working in the lamp factory and is considered an introduction to the poet's work.
- The film shows the lives of Mennonites in the Swiss Jura, as well as Mennonites and Amish of Swiss origin who live in Indiana (USA).
- Five highly original musicians from different countries form the Accordion Tribe. Together they aim to reinforce the original power of the long disdained instrument.Stefan Schwietert's film follows the energetic soundscapes and their performers on a journey through Europe. An extraordinarily intensive documentary on the communicative, connecting power of music.
- Follows the life of Swiss artist Markus Raetz and the creation of his sculpture "Nach Man Ray", 2005.
- A thirty day music marathon by Swiss musicians Koch-Schütz-Studer turns into a cinematic piece of chamber music.
- A film essay about film as art and about perception per se
- A film about the deep fall following quick fame.
- Every year thousands of conflicts are dealt with via a special jurisdiction process, the Tribunal des Prud'hommes, established in the 19th century to resolve management and labor disputes. It delivers a service that is swift, free, and accessible, with straightforward, primarily oral procedures. This court is a revealing social barometer, full of stories, dramas great and small. "Les Prud'hommes" crystallizes tensions, upsets, suffering and rebellions that are part of a rapidly changing, ever more brutal and complex world of work. For the first time in Switzerland, a camera crew has been allowed into the public galleries to film the Tribunal at work in Lausanne. The result is a caustic look at a very particular form of theatre, a play of words and emotions, bosses versus workers, accompanied, or not, by a lawyer or union representative. Amusing and moving by turn, the film takes us into the heart of the human comedy, that of contemporary society.
- Paula is a cleaning lady in Mannheim and leads a completely normal life. Meeting the Turkish security guard Mustafa, her crazy everyday life gets momentum.
- The film shows six people in the course of one year: six stories, six universes revealing together the hidden absurd and drama behind normal daily life.
- The story of a man who sets out to get rid of his habit of smoking. Thus he plans to walk from Zurich (Canton of Zurich), his present residence, back to his native town St. Gallen, in Switzerland, where he started to smoke a long time ago.
- Hamid, a 40-year old Algerian who lives in Brussels, believes he is being tailed by the police. He works as a courier for an illegal network suspected of financing terrorist acts. When he receives a phone call from his brother Louis, who has grown up separately from him and whom he has not seen for 35 years, he suspects that the police are behind the call. Nevertheless, he travels to Switzerland to meet Louis in the hope of seeing his mother. She, however, is no longer alive. When Hamid finds this out, he wants to return to Brussels, but the two brothers run into a police checkpoint and Hamid is interrogated. The police want information on the network and about his work as a courier. He refuses, is locked up and it is only the next day that he is released on bail. He now knows that the police are in fact after him, but what he really wants to discover is what role Louis, who has paid his bail, really plays in the whole affair. Hamid is free, thanks to the bail, but he is not allowed to leave Switzerland, and is dependent on his brother. Louis not only wants to know the reason for Hamid's arrest, but also the reason for their separation, their father's identity and why the family broke apart. The confrontation between the two becomes a struggle for both closeness and distance, overshadowed by mistrust and rivalry. With different weapons, they also fight over Isa, Louis' girlfriend, who is finding it progressively harder to relate to Louis and feels attracted to Hamid. This difficult fight over several rounds is necessary in order for the two brothers to show their colors and open up so that they are able, at the very end, to meaningfully engage with one another. Although they have grown up in different cultures, they are in essence two halves of a single whole.
- The story of Caribbean music pioneer Pacho Rada, who started playing the accordion when just a boy.
- The film is a documentary or even a cinepoem which follows the life of nowadays nomads: The Tuareg in North Africa, a circus company and the American philosopher and poet 'Robert Lax'.
- The sudden sponges disease, which burst out after the disaster in Tsernobyl, forced the sponge fishermen of Kalymnos to prepare themselves for a long distance voyage to the North of Africa. Nicholas, a lonely sponge diver has other plans...