Journey to the Safest Place on Earth

Hugo Koblet - The Charming Cyclist(de)

Zurich-born Hugo Koblet was the first international cycling star of the post-war period. He was a stylist on the bicycle and in life, and a huge heartthrob. Koblet had a meteoric rise and won the Giro d'Italia in 1950. Once he had reached the zenith of his career, Koblet was put under pressure by overly ambitious officials and ended up ruining his health with drugs. In 1954, he married a well-known model and they became a celebrity dream couple. After his athletic career ended, Koblet began to lose his footing. Threatened by bankruptcy, he crashed his Alfa into a tree.

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.

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.

The Paris Opera(fr)

A behind-the-scenes look at the of how the Paris Opera is run under the direction of Stephane Lissner.

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.

Special Flight(fr)

Switzerland still carries out special flights, where passengers, dressed in diapers and helmets, are chained to their seats for 40 hours at worst. They are accompanied by police officers and immigration officials. The passengers are flown to their native countries, where they haven't set foot in in up to twenty years, and where their lives might be in danger. Children, wives and work are left behind in Switzerland. Near Geneva, in Frambois prison, live 25 illegal immigrants waiting for deportation. They are offered an opportunity to say goodbye to their families and return to their native countries on a regular flight, escorted by plain-clothes police officers. If they refuse this offer, the special flight is arranged fast and unexpectedly. The stories behind the locked cells are truly heartbreaking.

Que viva Mauricio Demierre(fr)

Exit: The Right to Die(fr)

Switzerland is presently the only country in the world where suicide assistance is legal. Exit: The Right to Die profiles that nation's EXIT organization, which for over twenty years has provided volunteers who counsel and accompany the terminally-ill and severely handicapped towards a death of their choice.

Remue-ménage(fr)

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.

Urban Amazons(de)

Modern Amazons are fierce heroines. They are ready to fight for what is important to them. Without explaining, without compromising, always persisting. They fight for victory in the ring for acceptance, and too, for fellow sufferers and humanity.

Iraqi Odyssey(en)

Tracing the emigrations of his family over more than half a century, this riveting documentary epic from acclaimed expatriate Iraqi filmmaker Samir pays moving homage to the frustrated democratic dreams of a people successively plagued by the horrors of dictatorship, war and foreign occupation of Iraq.

Un petit coin de paradis(fr)

Urs Fischer(de)

L'autre versant de Gstaad(fr)

Atomic Homefront(en)

Revealing St. Louis, Missouri's atomic past as a uranium processing center for the atomic bomb and the governmental and corporate negligence that lead to the illegal dumping of Manhattan Project radioactive waste throughout North County neighborhoods.

The Knowledge of Healing(de)

A documentary film about Tibetan traditional medicine.

Hardcore Chambermusic(de)

This documentary follows Swiss improvisation musicians and tells their stories.

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.

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.

Tito on Ice(en)

To promote their book Bosnian Flat Dog, Swedish comics creators Max Andersson and Lars Sjunnesson tour the countries of former Yugoslavia with a mummified Marshal Tito in a refrigerator. They encounter a number of artists, musicians, publishers and other characters populating the post-Yugoslav indie cultural scene. As the journey continues through increasingly improbable surroundings, the protagonists begin to question themselves and the reality they find themselves in. Watching border controls turn into improvised snapshot sessions, admiring mutant iron-curtain Disney toys, buying souvenir grenade shell handicrafts and discovering sniper art in blown-out apartments, they find that truth may indeed be stranger than fiction.

Test(cs)

Test(en)

Kurt Longson tries to avenge his daughters death. To succeed he has to battle with his conscience and morality to realize true love.

Moments: Six(en)

A serial killer and the detective who tracked him down find themselves in an unexpected stalemate.

Senritsu Kaiki File Super Kowa Too! Fear Adventure: Kokkuri-san(ja)

Based on the previous 'Final Chapter', world history has now been modified and reconstructed. Although Kudo was able to release himself from the curse caused by demon soldiers, he now has no money. Despite losing the memory of the previous world, Kudo, Ichikawa and Tashiro continue to work together in producing a horror documentary.

Ardh(hi)

Shiva struggles to become a mainstream actor in Mumbai despite being a theatre actor. With the help of his wife Madhu, he disguises himself as a transgender and begs for money to survive.

Dune(hu)

Sounds as witnesses. They blurr into memories, half-dreams, it is undecided if they are real or not. A fluctuation between imagination and reality.

Stop-and-Cop Interactive(fr)

STOP + Cop = "Stop" or "Slow down" ? Make the right choice. An interactice movie by Ken Arsyn.

Almost Elvis(en)

Almost Elvis is a searing documentary that chronicles and attempts to explain the cult of personality that is the Elvis impersonator. Filmmakers tail a handful of Elvis impersonators from around the country who are all vying to win the 1999 Elvis World Championship in -- where else? -- Memphis, Tennessee.

Aleksandr Bashlachev - Concert at LDM (5th Leningrad Rock Club Festival)(ru)

This concert was recorded on video by Igor Leonov and audio by Sergey Litvyakov. (Leningrad, 07.06.1987)

Pappu Can't Dance Saala(hi)

One time bickering neighbors are forced to share the same apartment. The cultural clash between traditional-orthodox-India and modern-urban-India. The collision of two cultures creates havoc in the beginning but finds a peaceful co-existence, at the end. An orthodox boy from the holy city of Banaras, is forced to stay with a chorus dancer in Bombay... The film does the journey of these two opposite personalities and how, after the initial phase of rejection, they find each others place in their respective lives.

O Pai do Povo(pt)

Heart of a Champion: The Ray Mancini Story(en)

The film details the life of Ray Mancini, a World Boxing Association world lightweight champion boxer from 1982 to 1984, Hollywood actor and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Proprietors: Kammath & Kammath(ml)

Raja Raja Kammath and Deva Raja Kammath are two brothers who owns a chain of restaurants that specializes in making Dosa. The story begins when they come to Palakkad to open a new restaurant.

Yen's Life(vi)

According to the marriage arrangement of parent, Yen had to get married when she was only 10 years old. Since then, her life closed to the ups and downs of her husband’s family.

Asphalt(da)

Lasse is a disillusioned truck driver from Jutland in Denmark. He sometimes drinks and drive and one day a young woman jumps in front of the truck and Lasse immediately hits the brakes. That young woman is René, someone Lasse hasn't seen in 15 years. René gets into the truck despite Lasse protesting and a journey begins that day that will turn their lives upside and down and reveal secrets from the past.

X-Man(en)

Abstract painting and modern music create an animated soundscape. A succession of tangled, non-figurative images is punctuated by playful character animation.