Far from the Villages(2008)

Hardcore Chambermusic(de)

This documentary follows Swiss improvisation musicians and tells their stories.

GLOW(de)

She was a muse, model and performer – a star, dazzling and intense. Lady Shiva managed to rise from street prostitution to the top. She lived in the fast lane and died tragically young. Her dream was to become a singer. With her companions, we trace her life during a vibrant time that kindles a yearning and provokes until today. The story of a woman’s meteoric fate and a great dream. An irrepressible desire for freedom in all its beauty and destructive force - and a stirring friendship and love.

Le souffle du désert(fr)

A disturbing exploration of what it means to be a man Desert Wind unveils the innermost thoughts of 13 men about their lives and male identity, making a clean sweep of clichés. Their revelations -- a glimpse of the hidden side that few men spontaneously reveal -- are of equal interest for women.

La Terre Promise(fr)

Philippe Savoy head of the choir at Saint Michael's College in Fribourg is preparing to take his fifty-five students to Palestine for a series of concerts. From Bethlehem to Ramallah, passing by Jerusalem and Hebron, between check points and churches, discovering both refugee camps and historical tourism around the Dead Sea, the young musicians will discover an exploded territory, a country living in provisional peace with, in the background, the permanent humiliation of the Palestinian people.

The Shelter(fr)

It is winter at an emergency shelter for the homeless in Lausanne. Every night at the door of this little-known basement facility the same entry ritual takes place, resulting in confrontations which can sometimes turn violent. Those on duty at the shelter have the difficult task of “triaging the poor”: the women and children first, then the men. Although the total capacity at the shelter is 100, only 50 “chosen ones” will be admitted inside and granted a warm meal and a bed. The others know it will be a long night.

Max Frisch, Citoyen(de)

Max Frisch was the last big Swiss intellectual widely respected as a “voice” in its own right – a character hardly found today. The film retells Frisch’s story as a witness of the unfolding 20th century, wondering if such “voices” are needed at all, or if we could do without them.

Namibia Crossings(de)

“Namibia Crossings” takes a trip through a country of archaic beauty and bizarre contradictions. The film creates polyphonies of soulful landscapes made up of each individual's highs and lows.

Dimitri - Clown(de)

Into Great Silence(de)

An intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, high in the French Alps (Chartreuse Mountains). The idea for the film was proposed to the monks in 1984, but the Carthusians said they wanted time to think about it. The Carthusians finally contacted Gröning 16 years later to say they were now willing to permit Gröning to shoot the movie, if he was still interested.

Life in Progress(en)

Ho und Überall(de)

Zelihas Hütte(ku)

Zeit der Titanen(de)

Between 1950 and 1966, thousands of men set off into the high mountains of the Valais, into a primitive landscape of rock and ice. Here, they erected a temporary civilization. From here, they blasted the rock beneath the Matterhorn and other towering peaks to dig a 160 km-long labyrinth of tunnels to bring water from 35 glaciers to the world's highest dam: Grande Dixence. Miners and intellectuals such as the writer Maurice Chappaz retraced their steps through this endless black abyss in search of the places where the overcrowded barracks once stood, of which only a few ruins remain today. This is where they surpassed themselves.

Made in India(en)

Magic Radio(fr)

Radios echo across Niger, connecting lives through news, music, and debate. This gripping doc explores how this everyday device becomes a lifeline in a changing nation.

Monte Grande: What is Life?(de)

Documentary account of a man’s life in the face of imminent death – Francisco Varela's story told affectionately and gently, touchingly and astutely. Varela spent his life building bridges: between Western science and Eastern wisdom, neurobiology and philosophy, abstract theory and practical life. This film seeks to deconstructs the prevailing division between science and art.

Pausenlos(de)

The film portrays people with different time consciousness. A computer scientist works non-stop. Only when she gets home can she relax. A young employee suffers from sleep disorders and stress at work, and sinks into a state of decompensation. Ski trainer Didier Plaschy looks at the effects of slowing down and speeding up. Time historian Karlheinz Geissler takes a piquantly humorous look at our fast-paced society.

Shake the Devil Off(en)

Soeurs(fr)

Telling Strings(ar)

The film interweaves the stories of two generations of Palestinians. It tells the story of Elias Jubran, a music teacher and oud maker from Al Jaleel (Galilee), and his children, who live in a totally different way in Israel... or who have left the country in search of a more open way of life. The film shows what it takes for a culture - mired in the threatening environment of the State of Israel - to continue to thrive.