Dimitri - Clown

Zen for Nothing(de)

Hidden in the wooded mountains on the west coast of Japan lies the small Zen monastery Antaiji. A young woman sets off to immerse herself through autumn, winter and spring in the adventures of monastic life. The young woman is Sabine Timoteo from Switzerland. The abbot of the monastery is Muho Noelke, born in Berlin. An interplay between the philosophy of the Japanese Zen master Kodo Sawaki and the surprises brought forth by everyday life.

Like Stone Lions in the Gateway into Night(fr)

Between 1947 and 1951, more than 80 000 Greek men, women and children were deported to the isle of Makronissos (Greece) in reeducation camps created to ‘fight the spread of Communism’. Among those exiles were a number of writers and poets, including Yannis Ritsos and Tassos Livaditis. Despite the deprivation and torture, they managed to write poems which describe the struggle for survival in this world of internment. These texts, some of them buried in the camps, were later found. «Like Lions of stone at the gateway of night» blends these poetic writings with the reeducation propaganda speeches constantly piped through the camps’ loudspeakers. Long tracking shots take us on a trance-like journey through the camp ruins, interrupted along the way by segments from photographic archives. A cinematic essay, which revives the memory of forgotten ruins and a battle lost.

Der Imker(de)

A documentary about Ibrahim Gezer, who escaped from war in Kurdistan to Switzerland. All is lost, except his love for beekeeping.

Frau Mercedes(de)

In Bern, Madame Mercedes has been working for 35 years in her car as a prostitute. An intimate and subtle portrait about ageing as a prostitute, a documentary about a vanishing chapter of habits in Switzerland.

Markus Raetz(de)

Daniel Schmid: Le Chat Qui Pense(de)

When director Daniel Schmid grew up, his parents ran a hotel in the Alps, and this singular setting was to influence his film. Rather by coincidence he came to Berlin in the early 1960s and became part of the new German wave. Schmid worked with, among others, Wenders and Fassbinder, for example as an actor in Wender’s The American Friend. He met Ingrid Caven, who was to play a diva in several of his films. This is a documentation of a part of modern European film history and a good analysis of artistry and how it corresponds to the individual behind the camera. A wealth of archival footage brings us close to many directors and actors in Schmid’s circle. If you’ve never seen a Daniel Schmid film, you are sure to want to after watching this portrait of his life.

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.

Picture of Light(en)

A documentary of an expedition to Churchill, Manitoba to film the Northern Lights.

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)

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.

Brother's Body(fr)

(Re)immersing himself in body building, David Nicolas Parel endeavours to follow his younger brother as he trains for the Arnold Classic – Arnold, from the famous Austrian/American actor and politician. Convinced he is the one who inspired this passion, he worries about the risks this sport has on his brother’s health and aspires to strengthen their now strained bond. A film on the edge.

Que sera?(de)

Documentary film.

The Laundry Room(fr)

The key to the communal laundry room in the block of flats on the Rue de Genève 85 in Lausanne serves a much greater function than merely unlocking the door. This encounter between a symbol of typical Swiss mentality with a penchant for order and the tenants who have been housed here by the city’s social services department is not something to be taken for granted. Although the laundry room is normally located in the cellar, the tenants in this building share a tiny laundry room off the entrance hall because the cellar is reserved for prostitution. To maintain order and cleanliness, the landlord hires Claudina, a new “laundry woman”.

Magic Matterhorn(en)

A documentary about entertainment and home, filmed in Switzerland and California.

Balifilm(en)

Balifilm was originally commissioned as a stage performance, created from diary images and sounds collected in 1990 and 1992 by Peter Mettler on the island of Bali. The soundtrack is a live recording of eight Gamelan musicians playing the bronze and wooden instruments of Indonesia during the projection of the film. balifilm is a personal, lyrical observation and expression of the creative pulse of an extraordinary culture.

Gyrischachen - von Sünden, Sofas und Cervelats(en)

A high-rise apartment built in the 1960s provides housing for 2500 people from 42 nations. Separated from the city by a river and bounded by towering sandstone cliffs, everyone attempts to live and survive in their own way. Foreigners who have a go at being Swiss, and Swiss who observe with scepticism. They meet in the corner shop run by an Iraqi living in exile, send their kids to a children’s club managed by a missionary, and old drinking mates meet regularly over a beer in the neighbourhood’s only bar. Despite all the differences, they are rather proud of the fact that they come from here.

Queen of Condoms(es)

Ceschi and Stamm's documentary tells the incredible story of Monika Krause, a former East German citizen, who became Fidel Castro's Sexual Education Minister. After 20 years in Cuba, Krause set the Cuban sexual revolution in motion: in favor of a woman's right to sexual fulfillment and legal abortion, and against exclusion of homosexuals, she acquired the title "Queen of Condoms". A film about potent female agitators, staunch macho men and Caribbean love lives.

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.

Illégitime(fr)

A Little Nightmare Music(fr)

The con­cert begins. The music is sub­lime. Not even a pin would dare drop. Sud­denly, a cell­phone rings and the mad­ness starts. The pianist loses his hand, the vio­lin­ist, while tun­ing, falls asleep, and later wakes up in the mid­dle of a motor­way, trans­formed into a “River­dancer”. When the pianist returns, the piano is locked, telling him to insert his credit card. Mean­while, the vio­lin­ist loses his bow to a vac­uum cleaner and his part­ner just talks on the phone while read­ing a paper, eat­ing, and, play­ing the piano upside down all at the same time. These and many other “night­mares” unfold before audi­ences’ eyes and ears. “A Lit­tle Night­mare Music” is a unique show, full of vir­tu­os­ity, enchant­ing music and zany, out­ra­geous humour. Ideal for audi­ences aged 8 to 88, this show is sure to cap­ti­vate you and crack you up whether you’re a clas­si­cal music enthu­si­ast or the type who runs for cover, at the mere men­tion of Mozart.

Projota - AMADMOL (A Milenar Arte de Meter o Louco)(pt)

The Three Friends(ar)

Three friends are arrested after committing an accident with their car. After finishing their sentence, they become partners with the owner of a decoration workshop. But he deceives them and spends the money in gambling. They force him to sign a waiver of his workshop but he wants to get it back.

Tokyo Species(ja)

Michiko a high school girl had committed suicide, but she was resuscitated by an alien parasitism. While she brutally murdered men and spawned one after another, her friend Rika met Mayumi. Mayumi was told that she was parasitized by a gentle alien. They decided to fight Michiko.

Cherrie - ut ur mörkret(sv)

Nasib Do Re Mi(ms)

Do, Re and Mi in this sequeal tells the tale of a group of gangsters who are planning to rob a bank. So they use this oppurtunity to con them out of it and capture them at the same time. Many comedic memorable moments are carried out through the movie.

Alien Avengers II(en)

Weird things are happening in the town of Justice, Arizona: three sheriffs have disappeared, and someone is killing the rancher's livestock in a bizarre, ritualistic fashion. Locals believe the incidents were caused by aliens... But a visiting couple, Charlie and Rhonda, knows better – because they're aliens themselves. When no one else will, Charlie and Rhonda volunteer to be the new sheriffs to get to bottom of the crimes. Hiding behind the power of the badge, the two make their own rules, punishing wrong-doers with their own form of "eye-for-an-eye" alien vengeance. Follow this twisted, outer space "Bonnie and Clyde" as they attempt to bring Justice the justice it deserves.

Mobile Suit SD Gundam Mk IV(ja)

The SD Gundams are at it again: first with a race among all of the prior SD Gundam characters, then the SD Zeons run a space travel agency in the second episode.

Friends Jokes(ar)

The film tells a story speaks of "Yusuf ", a plumbing Man, who is exposed to many pranks by his friends.

Board(en)

A crag in a snowy mountain pass is the gateway to a world where the game of chess becomes a metaphor for war and the human condition.

Arizona Road(it)

The head of a gang of criminals in Arizona tries to kidnap a girl, but is hindered in his intentions by a handsome mining engineer and a federal sheriff.

Flower, Storm and Gangster(ja)

A gang of bank robbers plan a big robbery, but they all plot to betray each other after the heist for different reasons.

Forest(en)

Short film built from photographs, sped up like a traditional stop motion and is meant to be an evocation of the English Eerie and Folk Horror.

Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me(en)

The untold and ultimately inspiring story of legendary singer, Teddy Pendergrass, the man poised to be the biggest R&B artist of all time until the tragic accident that changed his life forever at the age of only 31.

État critique(fr)

Shoot the Moon(en)

Marcy Meyers is down on her luck. Faced with piling bills, the remnants of a failed marriage, and now an imminent home foreclosure, she has nowhere to turn but to the hope of a miracle. That miracle she finds in Shoot the Moon, a national game show that promises a one in a lifetime chance to win it all. But Marcy's faith in the show comes with a price. As her relationship with her daughter Alice is put to the test, the clock ticks towards a seemingly inescapable fate. Shoot the Moon tells the story of miracles and the extraordinary place they are found.

The Address(ku)

A great surprise awaits the teacher assigned to his hometown, which he knows like the back of his hand; the village to which he is assigned is not on the maps or in any record.