12th edition HRFF ZURICH | 8–14 April 27 See you next spring!

The Bildrausch Film Fest will take place in Basel from May 13–17. Under this year’s festival theme, “Mit Zuversicht, und du?”, Bildrausch highlights the transformative power of cinema and invites the audience to remain proactive through cinematic discoveries, engaging discussions, and performances.

Cherry Season in Sangerhausen. Lotte is a maid at the castle where the poet Novalis is staying for some days. Without knowing, he encourages her to flee to France with Norbert, the stone-eater. But the escape fails and ends with Lotte having to hide in a cave. Ursula is exhausted and stuck in a passionless marriage. Early in the morning, she cleans a furniture store, and during the day, she works as a waitress. An unexpected encounter with musicians passing through sparks hope in her, but leads her into new troubles. The Iranian YouTuber Neda is stranded in Sangerhausen, where she runs into an acquaintance from back home and the tour guide Sung-Nam, with whom she sets off for the Kyffhäuser. On the way there, Ursula runs into their car and together they embark on a mysterious journey. In a cave, the ghost of Lotte appears to them. Neda leaves Sangerhausen and takes hold of the blue stone that Nobert once swallowed. (Bildrausch)

The Bildrausch Film Fest will take place in Basel from May 13–17. Under this year’s festival theme, “Mit Zuversicht, und du?”, Bildrausch highlights the transformative power of cinema and invites the audience to remain proactive through cinematic discoveries, engaging discussions, and performances.

Cherry Season in Sangerhausen. Lotte is a maid at the castle where the poet Novalis is staying for some days. Without knowing, he encourages her to flee to France with Norbert, the stone-eater. But the escape fails and ends with Lotte having to hide in a cave. Ursula is exhausted and stuck in a passionless marriage. Early in the morning, she cleans a furniture store, and during the day, she works as a waitress. An unexpected encounter with musicians passing through sparks hope in her, but leads her into new troubles. The Iranian YouTuber Neda is stranded in Sangerhausen, where she runs into an acquaintance from back home and the tour guide Sung-Nam, with whom she sets off for the Kyffhäuser. On the way there, Ursula runs into their car and together they embark on a mysterious journey. In a cave, the ghost of Lotte appears to them. Neda leaves Sangerhausen and takes hold of the blue stone that Nobert once swallowed. (Bildrausch)

From June 11th to 14th, 2026, the Riffraff cinema will host the Showtime! Musical Film Festival for the first time. A total of 15 films will be shown in three sections, ranging from classics from the 1950s to new discoveries.

Shot in secret and featuring extraordinary performances by real underground bands, NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS follows a pair of young musicians, recently released from prison, on a mission to take their rock band to Europe. Forbidden by the authorities to play in Iran, they plan their escape abroad with a fast-talking music promoter. Vowing to play one last show before leaving Tehran, their dangerous mission takes them on a free-wheeling journey through the City’s vibrant and diverse underground scene, home to an estimated 2,000 illegal independent bands. (Human Rights Watch Film Festival)

Khaled, a 12-year-old boy from a Palestinian village, gets the chance to see the sea for the first time in his life on a school trip. But when they reach a military checkpoint, the soldiers claim his permit is invalid and send him back home, while his classmates continue their trip. Deeply disappointed, Khaled sets out to the sea on his own, even though he doesn’t know the way and doesn’t speak Hebrew. When his father, Ribhi, an undocumented laborer working in Israel, learns that his son is missing, he leaves his job in search for him—risking arrest and the loss of his livelihood. (Art Bethesda)

The film shines a light on Ukrainian women who, after surviving conflict-related sexual violence and torture during the Russian war of aggression, refuse to remain silent. Through the journey of Iryna Dovhan, a former captive turned activist who documents testimonies of affected women in the de-occupied territories of Ukraine, the film weaves a portrait of a collective trauma while opening space for hope. Iryna gathers other survivors into a circle of courage and care. Together, they transform their pain into a force for truth, justice and mutual support. More than a record of war crimes, Traces is a testament to resilience and the solidarity of women standing side by side. (Berlinale)

Pasha is an ordinary schoolteacher in a small Russian village. He works at the same school he attended as a child and has dedicated himself completely to teaching. The students love him for being creative, mischievous, progressive and not as rigid as his colleagues. But when Russia invades Ukraine, Pasha loses control of the school timetable. Putin orders a new direction for the school system. Overnight, primary schools across Russia are transformed into recruitment zones. State ideology and militarisation are added to the curriculum, and critical, independent thinking disappears. Unable to come to terms with working in a propagandist system, Pasha goes undercover in his own workplace. Under the guise of his real role as the school’s videographer, he documents how propaganda and war affect life at the school. The result is an unflinching insight into a state-sanctioned, patriotic education policy. But when Pasha realises he is about to be exposed and his life may be in danger, he begins to plan his escape from Russia. (CPH:DOX)