Festival

LOOKING BACK – LOOKING FORWARD
With a diverse programme, the Human Rights Film Festival Zurich from 1 – 4 December 2022 ensured full cinemas and lively discussions at the Kulturhaus Kosmos. Because Kosmos-Kultur AG filed for bankruptcy on 5 December in the middle of the festival, the rest of the event unfortunately had to be cancelled. There were no alternative planning options on such short notice. Despite the abrupt end, the festival team is taking the momentum of the very well attended 8th edition with them and is looking optimistically to the future: we are very happy to announce that we've already found a new home for our festival in the cinemas of the Riffraff. On 12 April 2023 we already presented the «Human Rights Day» showing the films that had to be cancelled. The 9th edition of HRFF Zurichwill take place from 4–10 April 2024 at Riffraff and the nearby Zollhaus. We will once again create an inspiring meeting place for people who want to engage with a complex world and gain foresight through films and debates.

CONCEPT
Born in 2015, the Human Rights Film Festival Zurich takes place every year. Over six days, we show artistically strong feature-length documentaries and fiction films that explore human rights issues – avoiding stereotypes or moralistic finger-pointing. Afterwards there are discussions with directors, protagonists and experts. In this way, what we have seen can be placed in a larger context. The programme reflects a variety of human rights themes in different geographic and social contexts. Topics include flight and migration, the war in Syria, women’s rights, LGBTI-rights, responsibilities of multinationals as well as the relation between resources, energy and human rights. Panel discussions after the screenings widen the scope of the programme and offer the possibility to contextualize and discuss the films. The festival thus offers a platform for passionate dialogue between films and human rights. We believe in the power of cinema as an art form and in the film festival as a meeting place for people who want to deal with a complex world.

SPECIAL EVENTS

CALL TO ACTION

Get to know organisations that work towards a fair world by positioning themselves socially and sustainably and that invite citizens to participate.
Pass by and discover the various actions, installations & performances at Kosmos. Pass by and get to know them with their installations, actions and performance! Free participation

FR 02.12. | 17:00–21:00 | Entrance Kosmos
DIE EINMACHBIBLIOTHEK
For an alternative food system that protects our planet
– Tasting & Preserving Station

SA 03.12. | all day from 11:00 | Cinema Alley
ORGANIC MONDAYS
Empower and end the shame! #PeriodDignity
– Installation

SO 04.12. | 14:00–17:00 | Club
SOCIAL FABRIC
Immerse yourself in a moment of creativity and learn about life in Zurich as a person with a refugee experience.
– Open card workshop

SO 04.12. | 14:00–17:00 | Cinema Alley
THE RIGHT HUMANS PROJECT
Human rights in everyday life
– Installation & Performance


DAILY | Cinema Alley

DER ANDERE BLICK
Women photographers from Africa and Asia present their work
– Photo exhibition (from 21.11.)

A selection of photographs from the exhibitions

2022 The Other Face of Iran, Photos by Forough Alaei - on the occasion of the current situation in Iran
2021 Light and Soul, Photos by Malika Digana
2019 Women of India, Photos by Deepti Asthana
2018 Bruised Not Broken, Photos by Fati Abubakar

TELEFON GEGEN GEWALT
Hotline for women who experience violence
– Installation
– 05.12. 17:00 Q&A with the TGG-Team

ASYLEX
Legal protection for people on the move – Get to know our work
– Videoinstallation

HANGOUT: DAS GLEIS

We are lucky to present anew the Das Gleis as our official late night hangout where you can get a drink, grab a snack and discuss our film selection. Grab a seat and lets cheers to the new festival edition!

Address: Zollstrasse 121, 8005 Zürich, Zollhaus, 1st floor

PERFORMANCE

MELINDA NADJ ABONJI & JURCZOK 1001
SA 3.12. 21H Performance | Klub | D 45’
FREE ADMISSION

The performance of Lidija Burčak NÖD US ZUCKER - EXTENDED was cancelled due to health reasons.
We are happy that we were able to book two wonderful eloquent artists at short notice: Melinda Nadj Abonji & Jurczok 1001

Since 1998 the author, musician and text performer Melinda Nadj Abonji and the spoken word artist and singer Jurczok 1001 have been working on an independent stage language of short stories, spoken word texts, electric violin, vocals, human beatbox and loops.

Over the years, they have tried out very different forms of collaboration, from a joint theater play to a joint CD to a novel reading with music. Consistently, they have worked out their differences, amplifying ruptures and frictions in their working methods, making a reputation for themselves as virtuoso linguistic artists. Most recently, Jurczok accompanied readings from the two award-winning novels "Tauben fliegen auf" and "Schildkrötensoldat" with delicate vocal and beatbox loops.

Their cross-genre collaboration is unique in German-language literature. Their courage to innovate has been rewarded with invitations to numerous international literary festivals and spoken word stages. For example, they have shown their performances at the Volksbühne Berlin, the Leipzig Book Fair, the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles, and the Solothurn Literature Days, among others.


Photo: Andreas Greber

Archive

2024 is the eighth edition of the festival. The film programmes of 2015–2022 can be viewed here.

Program 2022
December 1, 2022
  1. 18:30
    Continental Drift (South)
    Fd 90' | Schweiz, Frankreich 2022 | Lionel Baier | Doc

    Nathalie Adler is on a mission in Sicily for the European Union, organizing the upcoming visit of a migrant camp by Macron and Merkel – Codename M&M's. Their presence has great symbolic value, demonstrating that everything is under control. But who is still prepared to believe in this European family on the verge of a nervous breakdown? Definitely not Albert, Nathalie's son, who is an activist with a nonprofit and turns up out of the blue, years after breaking off all contact with his mother. Their reunion will prove more explosive than the diplomatic mission. (Films du Solange)

    OPENING NIGHT
    WORDS OF WELCOME
    Sascha Lara Bleuler, Direktorin HRFF Zurich
    Katharina Morawek, Präsidentin HRFF Zurich
    Rebekka Fässler and Murielle Perritaz, Co-Directors Culture, City of Zurich

  2. 20:30
    Rotzloch
    Od 96' | Schweiz 2022 | Maja Tschumi | Doc

    In a godforsaken place called “Snot hole”, on the edge of a quarry, a new life begins for four young refugee men. Having a long escape behind them, they try to get back on their feet. Above all, they are searching for contact with women, encounters, love and sex. They find themselves in a different culture and faced with unexpected conflicts. In the film, these young men trace their paths through this new reality and thus are confronted with themselves, their masculinity and their sexuality. (Swiss Films)

    Followed by a talk with the filmmaker Maja Tschumi
    Moderation: Dominic Schmid, Journalist WOZ

December 2, 2022
  1. 10:00
    Where is Anne Frank? - School screening
    Odf 99' | Belgien, Luxembourg, Frankreich, Niederlande, Israel 2021 | Ari Folman | Animationsfilm

    From June 1942 to August 1944, Anne Frank and her family lived hiding in Amsterdam in the Annex that has now become a famous museum. This is where Anne Frank wrote her diary addressed to her imaginary friend, Kitty. 75 years later, a miracle occurs in the Anne Frank House: the glass case that protects the famous diary shatters on a stormy night, and as a drop of ink runs down the precious pages, a pretty 14-year-old redhead comes to life. It’s Kitty. Dressed in the style of the 1940’s, Kitty is alone in the untouched Annex. She calls Anne but no one answers. (Film website)

    Followed by a discussion with Giulia Reimann, Researcher / Deputy Head of the Federal Commission against Racism FCR, and Stephanie Graetz-Pollak, Executive Director of the GRA Foundation.
    Moderation: Lea Bloch
    In cooperation with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation Switzerland

  2. 13:30
    Where is Anne Frank? - School screening
    Odf 99' | Belgien, Luxembourg, Frankreich, Niederlande, Israel 2021 | Ari Folman | Animationsfilm

    From June 1942 to August 1944, Anne Frank and her family lived hiding in Amsterdam in the Annex that has now become a famous museum. This is where Anne Frank wrote her diary addressed to her imaginary friend, Kitty. 75 years later, a miracle occurs in the Anne Frank House: the glass case that protects the famous diary shatters on a stormy night, and as a drop of ink runs down the precious pages, a pretty 14-year-old redhead comes to life. It’s Kitty. Dressed in the style of the 1940’s, Kitty is alone in the untouched Annex. She calls Anne but no one answers. (Film website)

    Followed by a discussion with Giulia Reimann, Researcher / Deputy Head of the Federal Commission against Racism FCR.
    Moderation: Lea Bloch
    In cooperation with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation Switzerland

  3. 14:00
    Un Triomphe - School screening
    Fd 107' | Frankreich 2020 | Emmanuel Courcol | Spielfilm

    Un acteur en galère accepte pour boucler ses fins de mois d’animer un atelier théâtre en prison. Surpris par les talents de comédien des détenus, il se met en tête de monter avec eux une pièce sur la scène d’un vrai théâtre. Commence alors une formidable aventure humaine. Inspiré d’une histoire vraie. (allocine)

    Moderation: Sandrine Charlot-Zinsli, aux arts etc... and Barbara Peyer, Teacher in penal system

    In cooperation with aux arts etc...

  4. 18:00
    Vera Dreams of the Sea
    OVe 87' | Kosovo, Mazedonien 2021 | Kaltrina Krasniqi | Fiction

    Kaltrina Krasniqi signs the superb portrait of a woman and an essential piece of the cinematographic New Wave flourishing in Kosovo. Vera is a devoted wife, mother and grandmother who works as a sign language interpreter. When her husband commits suicide, her life changes dramatically: she feels the weight of the oppressive and threatening patriarchy on her shoulders more and more insistently. Will Vera give in to protect her family? (FIFDH)

    WORDS OF WELCOME
    Léo Kaneman, Honorary President HRFF Zurich
    Sibylle Obrist, Chief Staff of the Department of Peace and Human Rights, FDFA

    FEMINIST CHANGE IN THE WESTERN BALKANS (Engl.)
    In many parts of the world, women still face ancient, rigid patriarchal structures. Traditional processes deprive women of their human and fundamental rights despite structures based on the rule of law. How can women’s rights and fundamental freedoms be guaranteed in such environments? Zana Hoxha (Member of Kosova Womens Network, founder of Femart Festival) and Adelina Gashi (freelance journalist) discuss.
    Moderation: Dana Landau

    Presented with the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA

  5. 18:30
    Among Us Women
    OVe 92' | Deutschland, Äthiopien | Sarah Noa Bozenhardt, Daniel Abate Tilahun | Doc

    In rural Ethiopia the staff of a health centre are fighting maternal mortality. They tirelessly appeal to women to give birth in the clinic. But reservations are strong, and so are the practical obstacles. How are heavily pregnant women supposed to arrive in time when the ambulance comes hours later or not at all? Against medical advice, Hulu Ager decides to give birth at home, assisted by a traditional midwife.

    With palpable familiarity, the film crew captures moments of intimate communion between Hulu Ager, the midwives and other women. On the margins of the central conflict, the many challenges they face in a patriarchal society emerge. The debates are most lively under the hood dryer at the hairdresser’s: She doesn’t enjoy sex because of her circumcision, the medical professional Welela reports. “Sometimes you have to prepare yourself for sex,” another customer advises. Sometimes it helps to get drunk. But the perky hairdresser is sure: Bad sex is grounds for divorce. The women share their desires and woes with each other, experience solidarity and gather courage for small and great acts of departure and resistance. Men are relegated to the role of extras, if at all. (Dok Leipzig)

    MEDICAL EDUCATION FROM TRADITIONAL BIRTH ATTENDANTS
    Medicinal care before, during, and after birth can save lives. Traditional perceptions and a lack of knowledge can lead many women in Ethopia to fear clinical birth. Anigna Waldegg (Nurse, Médecins Sans Frontières), Christina Blecher (President Green Lamp) and Sonja Kilbertus (film producer) discuss how medical awareness and targeted cooperation with local midwives can improve the health of mother and child.
    Moderation: Flavia Giorgetta

    Presented with Médecins Sans Frontières

  6. 20:30
    The Return: Life after ISIS
    OVe 90' | Spanien, UK 2021 | Alba Sotorra Clua | Doc

    Hoda Muthana and Shamima Begum made world headlines after leaving their homes in the US and UK as teenagers to join the extremist group Islamic State, also known as ISIS. The Return: Life After ISIS is a unique portrait of a group of Western women who pledged their lives to ISIS, but now want to return home to restart their lives. While facing hostile journalists and governments who have left them de-facto stateless, the women confront their truths and try to heal from their trauma in a locked camp in northeast Syria, with the help of Kurdish women’s rights activists. With its rare access to Roj camp, this film is a sensitive portrayal of just a few of the 63,000 women and children held, in dire conditions with no due process, as ISIS suspects and family members in northeast Syria by a Kurdish-led armed group. (HRW)

    REHABILITATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY (Engl.)
    The film will be followed by a Zoom discussion between Letta Tayler, Associate Director of Crises and Conflict at Human Rights Watch and Azadeh Moaveni, Iranian-American academic, journalist and author of «Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS», who will speak about why it is appropriate for Western governments to bring their nationals home from a security, human rights and moral perspective.
    Moderation: Marguerite Meyer, Journalist

    Presented with Human Rights Watch

  7. 21:00
    Casablanca Beats
    OVe 101' | Marokko, Frankreich 2021 | Nabil Ayouch | Fiction

    Anas, a former rapper, is hired as an animator in a cultural centre in Casablanca. With his help, the teenagers will embrace rap and hip-hop as a means of expressing their rage, fears and rejection of tradition. Inspired by his childhood, Nabil Ayouch (Much Loved, Razzia) captures the energy of a Moroccan youth on the verge of implosion, its furious need for change and the liberating power of music, carried by an outstanding cast of young non-professional actors. (FIFDH)

December 3, 2022
  1. 11:30
    Into the Ice
    OVe 85' | Dänemark, Deutschland 2022 | Lars Ostenfeld | Doc

    On the frozen borders of Greenland, Jason Box, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen and Alun Hubbard probe the core of the ice. They are renowned glaciologists, pioneers in field investigations of our ice sheet. Each in their own way, these daring and passionate adventurers are trying to answer some of the most pressing questions of our times: exactly how fast is the ice sheet melting, and what will be the consequences for the rising sea levels? The filmmaker Lars Ostenfeld accompanies the three scientists on their pioneering explorations into the heart of the glacier “mills” - these sprawling ice wells hollowed out by the water and sometimes up to 200 metres deep - even in the midst of polar storms. Yet while the data gathered shows evidence of an alarming scenario, are the powers that be ready to act? Into the Ice sets off to discover these ice masses which, when studied, can reveal to us the secrets of the not-so distant future, when the face of the Earth will be decidedly different. (Aurélien Marsais, Visions du Réel)

    ON THIN ICE – WHAT DOES GLACIER MELTING MEAN FOR OUR FUTURE?
    After the critical appraisal of the film, Mylène Jacquemart (Glaciologist) and Marcel Hänggi (Initiator of the Glacier Initiative) will look at the state of the ice worldwide and in Switzerland. What is the state of «our» ice masses, the glaciers? What are the consequences of the ice loss and what can be done about it? Where do we stand in terms of climate policy in Switzerland?
    Moderation: Georg Klingler, Greenpeace Switzerland

    Presented with Greenpeace Switzerland

  2. 13:00
    Vera Dreams of the Sea
    OVe 87' | Kosovo, Mazedonien 2021 | Kaltrina Krasniqi | Fiction

    Kaltrina Krasniqi signs the superb portrait of a woman and an essential piece of the cinematographic New Wave flourishing in Kosovo. Vera is a devoted wife, mother and grandmother who works as a sign language interpreter. When her husband commits suicide, her life changes dramatically: she feels the weight of the oppressive and threatening patriarchy on her shoulders more and more insistently. Will Vera give in to protect her family? (FIFDH)

  3. 15:00
    Among Us Women
    OVe 92' | Deutschland, Äthiopien | Sarah Noa Bozenhardt, Daniel Abate Tilahun | Doc

    In rural Ethiopia the staff of a health centre are fighting maternal mortality. They tirelessly appeal to women to give birth in the clinic. But reservations are strong, and so are the practical obstacles. How are heavily pregnant women supposed to arrive in time when the ambulance comes hours later or not at all? Against medical advice, Hulu Ager decides to give birth at home, assisted by a traditional midwife.

    With palpable familiarity, the film crew captures moments of intimate communion between Hulu Ager, the midwives and other women. On the margins of the central conflict, the many challenges they face in a patriarchal society emerge. The debates are most lively under the hood dryer at the hairdresser’s: She doesn’t enjoy sex because of her circumcision, the medical professional Welela reports. “Sometimes you have to prepare yourself for sex,” another customer advises. Sometimes it helps to get drunk. But the perky hairdresser is sure: Bad sex is grounds for divorce. The women share their desires and woes with each other, experience solidarity and gather courage for small and great acts of departure and resistance. Men are relegated to the role of extras, if at all. (Dok Leipzig)

  4. 15:30
    Alis
    OVe 84' | Kolumbien, Chile, Rumänien | Clare Weiskopf, Nicolas van Hemelryck | Doc

    In a home in Columbia, ten young women take a seat, one after another, and close their eyes. They are asked to picture Alis, an imaginary friend, and to bring her story to life in a creative dialogue with the filmmakers. Like the interviewees, Alis used to live on the streets of Bogotá. This imaginary companion is the seed for an extraordinary documentary format, serving as a reflective and delicate point of entry to the protagonists’ own stories. Alis becomes a surface for the projection of past traumas, or the travails of companions who fell by the wayside, and also for life visions and desires for the future. The imaginary friend is a blank slate for exploring individual ideas of freedom, as well as battles that have yet to be fought. (Berlinale)

    BETWEEN TRUMMERS AND DREAMS – WAYS TO CONQUER TRAUMA (Engl.)
    The filmmakers Clare Weiskopf and Nicolas van Hemelryck discuss with Virginia León Torrez (Literary scholar, University of Zurich) the precarious situation of young women in Latin America and show possible healing processes for victims of abuse. How can figure and therapeutic work help to overcome ones own painful past and tackle a new life?
    Moderation: Rachele Airoldi Asturias

    Film Award Prix Célestine by Interfilm Schweiz

  5. 18:00
    Ascension
    OVe 97' | USA 2021 | Jessica Kindon | Doc

    The plastic woman gazes into the camera, her pupils fixated, her mouth open – this image seems to scream silently. Then a Chinese worker completes her work with adept hand movements: She paints the lips, adds eye colour, glues the vagina – all according to the western model visible on the mobile phone display. The result is a sex doll for the global market – on of the many memorable scenes in this artistically ambitious documentary. Crowds of people indulge in a megalomaniac water park, soldiers practice perfectly choreographed parades. The images remain uncommented and leave the individual with little worth. The editing, sound design and the great visual language combine to a great impressive collage of Chinese production and everyday scenes: They show the people at the bottom, who work for 2.99 USD an hour as well as the managers up to who have become billionaires thanks to the global consumer mania of cheap products. (slb, translation: jt)

    «PROGRESS» AT THE EXPENSE OF LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS
    Nowhere in the world are the consequences of our belief in progress and the associated global problems more evident than in a country like China, where productivity, efficieny and mass consumption are paramount. Bernhard Herold (Former Programme Officer Asia, Solidar) and Thomas Braunschweig (Expert for Commercial Politics, Public Eye) discuss how our consumer attitude and globally interconnected supply chains affect the climate and social inequalities, and why we are all accountable for the inhumane work conditions in China.
    Moderation: Katharina Morawek, President HRFF Zurich

    Presented with Solidar Suisse and Public Eye

  6. OVe 85' | Tschechien, Norwegen, Slowakei 2022 | Veronika Lišková | Doc

    A young anthropologist, Zdenka, moves with her family to Svalbard, Norway, to study how life is changing in polar regions. After falling in love with her new home, she discovers that not just icebergs and permafrost are vanishing in the Arctic. She has to work out to what extent she can get involved in the local community that she originally only intended to observe. (Semaine de la Critique, Locarno Film Festival)

    VULNERABILITY & POLITICAL EXCLUSION (Engl.)
    Following the film, filmmaker Veronika Lišková and visual anthropologist Darcy Alexandra (University of Bern) will discuss human vulnerability in the face of climate change and economic upheaval. Why does the experience of being at the mercy of others lead to a reversion to national identity and the division of communities like that of Svalbard?
    Moderation: Emanuel Schäublin, Board HRFF Zurich

  7. 20:30
    The Hamlet Syndrome
    OVe 85' | Polen, Deutschland 2022 | Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosołowski | Doc

    The film depicts the young Ukrainian generation scarred by war and political upheaval since 2014. The film’s starting point is the preparation for a play based on the motifs of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. A powerful portrait of a generation having to confront their war trauma and tackle the painful past, which now after the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine becomes their present and future alike. (Semaine de la Critique, Locarno Film Festival)

    Following the film is a conversation with the filmmakers Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski.
    Moderation: Till Brockmann, Semaine de la Critique Locarno Film Festival

    Presented with the Film Festival Diritti Umani Lugano

  8. 21:00
    NEW: Melinda Nadj Abonji & Jurczok 1001 – Lidija Burčak CANCELLED!
    D 45' | diverse | Melinda Nadj Abonji & Jurczok 1001 | Text performance with music

    The performance of Lidija Burčak NÖD US ZUCKER - EXTENDED was cancelled due to health reasons.
    We are happy that we were able to book two wonderful eloquent artists at short notice: Melinda Nadj Abonji & Jurczok 1001

    Since 1998 the author, musician and text performer Melinda Nadj Abonji and the spoken word artist and singer Jurczok 1001 have been working on an independent stage language of short stories, spoken word texts, electric violin, vocals, human beatbox and loops.

    Over the years, they have tried out very different forms of collaboration, from a joint theater play to a joint CD to a novel reading with music. Consistently, they have worked out their differences, amplifying ruptures and frictions in their working methods, making a reputation for themselves as virtuoso linguistic artists. Most recently, Jurczok accompanied readings from the two award-winning novels "Tauben fliegen auf" and "Schildkrötensoldat" with delicate vocal and beatbox loops.

    Their cross-genre collaboration is unique in German-language literature. Their courage to innovate has been rewarded with invitations to numerous international literary festivals and spoken word stages. For example, they have shown their performances at the Volksbühne Berlin, the Leipzig Book Fair, the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles, and the Solothurn Literature Days, among others.

    ADMISSION FREE | KOSMOS KLUB
    Photos: Andreas Greber, Gaëtan Bally

  9. 21:00
    Freda
    OVe 93' | Haiti, Benin, Frankreich 2021 | Gessica Généus | Fiction

    Devastated by earthquakes, Haiti is a country buried under corruption, violence and colonial legacy. Freda lives with her mother and sister in Port-au-Prince and, at the age of 20, she refuses to give up and wants to believe in the future. But how can she stay when everything compels her to leave? Spotted in 2017 with The Sun Will Rise, Gessica Généus directs her debut feature film, shot in Creole and carried by extraordinary actresses. She tells the story of her country with love, sings its courage and celebrates the deep joy that persists despite the heartbreaking reality. (FIFDH Geneva)

    Following the film there will be a talk with the filmmaker Gessica Généus (Engl.)
    Moderation: Marguerite Meyer

December 4, 2022
  1. 11:30
    Illusion of Abundance
    OVe 58' | Belgien 2022 | Erika González Ramírez, Matthieu Lietaert | Doc

    “Colonialism is not over” is the haunting conclusion of this galvanizing documentary about the pillaging of resources in Latin America. The filmmakers talk about “the new conquistadors”, and with the responsibilities for the lies, theft and murder reaching deep into Europe and Germany, it’s hard to argue with that terminology. With breathtaking images, this doc is both a tribute to the selfless activists in places like Peru, Honduras and Brazil and a wake-up call for the rest of the world. (Film Festival Cologne)

    CIVIL POPULATION UNDER PRESSURE FROM ECONOMY AND POLITICS (Engl.)
    Governments violently crack down on protests, activists are criminalised and bureaucratic hurdles impede the political participation of civilians. Worldwide, repression against human rights defenders is on the rise. Ueli Locher, President of Peace Watch Switzerland, and Nina Burri, lawyer and specialist in corporate and human rights at HEKS, discuss with filmmaker Matthieu Lietaert the effects of this political climate of fear: What does it mean for the work of activists and NGOs, and what realistic options are there for civil forces to act? Moderation: Marguerite Meyer

    Presented with Peace Watch Switzerland

    In cooperation with HEKS, Reportagen and this human world

  2. 12:00
    Special Screening: Until Tomorrow
    Ode 86' | Iran, France, Qatar, 2022 | Ali Asgari | Fic

    Special screening of the Iranian film UNTIL TOMORROW on the occasion of the current situation in Iran.

    Fereshteh is studying and works at a printers’ shop in Tehran. She wants to go to the US but is having trouble finding the time for a language course. This is because she also has a two-month-old baby that her parents know nothing about. When they announce at short notice that they are coming to visit, Fereshteh has to find another place for one night for her illegitimate child and everything that would give away her existence. What at first seems resolvable with a phone call to a few friends soon develops into a difficult undertaking. Fereshteh’s quick-witted friend Atefeh offers her support, but their ensuing odyssey through the city only reveals to the pair how limited their options are. In a society that does not grant everyone the same rights, young women have to weigh up carefully who their allies are.
    Director Ali Asgari stringently packs his narrative into a single day. Not only does he portray his intrepid protagonists, he also depicts what it means to lead a life outside traditional family structures – and the extent to which these structures shape Iranian society. (Berlinale 2022)

    WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM!
    Followed by a talk with activist Maryam Banihashemi on the reality of women and the protest movements in Iran.
    Moderation: Sascha Bleuler, Director HRFF Zurich

  3. 15:00
    Ascension
    OVe 97' | USA 2021 | Jessica Kindon | Doc

    The plastic woman gazes into the camera, her pupils fixated, her mouth open – this image seems to scream silently. Then a Chinese worker completes her work with adept hand movements: She paints the lips, adds eye colour, glues the vagina – all according to the western model visible on the mobile phone display. The result is a sex doll for the global market – on of the many memorable scenes in this artistically ambitious documentary. Crowds of people indulge in a megalomaniac water park, soldiers practice perfectly choreographed parades. The images remain uncommented and leave the individual with little worth. The editing, sound design and the great visual language combine to a great impressive collage of Chinese production and everyday scenes: They show the people at the bottom, who work for 2.99 USD an hour as well as the managers up to who have become billionaires thanks to the global consumer mania of cheap products. (slb, translation: jt)

  4. 15:30
    Freda
    OVe 93' | Haiti, Benin, Frankreich 2021 | Gessica Généus | Fiction

    Devastated by earthquakes, Haiti is a country buried under corruption, violence and colonial legacy. Freda lives with her mother and sister in Port-au-Prince and, at the age of 20, she refuses to give up and wants to believe in the future. But how can she stay when everything compels her to leave? Spotted in 2017 with The Sun Will Rise, Gessica Généus directs her debut feature film, shot in Creole and carried by extraordinary actresses. She tells the story of her country with love, sings its courage and celebrates the deep joy that persists despite the heartbreaking reality. (FIFDH Geneva)

  5. 18:00
    Continental Drift (South)
    Fd 90' | Schweiz, Frankreich 2022 | Lionel Baier | Doc

    Nathalie Adler is on a mission in Sicily for the European Union, organizing the upcoming visit of a migrant camp by Macron and Merkel – Codename M&M's. Their presence has great symbolic value, demonstrating that everything is under control. But who is still prepared to believe in this European family on the verge of a nervous breakdown? Definitely not Albert, Nathalie's son, who is an activist with a nonprofit and turns up out of the blue, years after breaking off all contact with his mother. Their reunion will prove more explosive than the diplomatic mission. (Films du Solange)

    Followed by a talk with the filmmaker Lionel Baier (Engl.)
    Moderation: Marcy Goldberg

  6. 18:30
    Je suis noires & Ethereality
    Odf 67' | Schweiz 2022 & 2020 | Rachel M’Bon, Juliana Fanjul & Kantarama Gahigiri | Doc

    June 2020. Crowds take to the streets of Geneva, Zurich and Lausanne to denounce systemic racism: an unprecedented occurrence in Switzerland, a country that continues to deny any association with slavery and colonial power. Touched by this sudden outpouring of solidarity, Rachel M'Bon, a mixed-race Swiss journalist accompanied by filmmaker Juliana Fanjul, sets out to meet women who speak of their quest for identity in a country apparently so tolerant. (FIFDH Geneva)

    Prefilm: Ethereality
    Stranded in space for 30 years. How does it feel to finally come home? A reflection on migration and the sense of belonging. (First Hand Films)

    BLACK AND WOMAN (Engl.)
    After the film, filmmaker and journalist Rachel M'Bon, Carmel Fröhlicher-Stines (psychologist) and Mandy Abou Shoak (expert on violence prevention, candidate for the cantonal council SP Kreis 3/9) will discuss their experience with structural racism and their struggle for social recognition as Black women.
    Moderation: Ania Anna Mathis, Lawyer and Co-Coordinator of Black Film Festival Zurich

    Presented with Black Film Festival Zurich

  7. 20:30
    Alis
    OVe 84' | Kolumbien, Chile, Rumänien | Clare Weiskopf, Nicolas van Hemelryck | Doc

    In a home in Columbia, ten young women take a seat, one after another, and close their eyes. They are asked to picture Alis, an imaginary friend, and to bring her story to life in a creative dialogue with the filmmakers. Like the interviewees, Alis used to live on the streets of Bogotá. This imaginary companion is the seed for an extraordinary documentary format, serving as a reflective and delicate point of entry to the protagonists’ own stories. Alis becomes a surface for the projection of past traumas, or the travails of companions who fell by the wayside, and also for life visions and desires for the future. The imaginary friend is a blank slate for exploring individual ideas of freedom, as well as battles that have yet to be fought. (Berlinale)

  8. OVe 85' | Tschechien, Norwegen, Slowakei 2022 | Veronika Lišková | Doc

    A young anthropologist, Zdenka, moves with her family to Svalbard, Norway, to study how life is changing in polar regions. After falling in love with her new home, she discovers that not just icebergs and permafrost are vanishing in the Arctic. She has to work out to what extent she can get involved in the local community that she originally only intended to observe. (Semaine de la Critique, Locarno Film Festival)

December 5, 2022
  1. 10:00
    Un Triomphe - School screening
    Fd 107' | Frankreich 2020 | Emmanuel Courcol | Spielfilm

    Un acteur en galère accepte pour boucler ses fins de mois d’animer un atelier théâtre en prison. Surpris par les talents de comédien des détenus, il se met en tête de monter avec eux une pièce sur la scène d’un vrai théâtre. Commence alors une formidable aventure humaine. Inspiré d’une histoire vraie. (allocine)

    Moderation: Sandrine Charlot-Zinsli, aux arts etc... and Barbara Peyer, Teacher in the penal system

    In cooperation with aux arts etc...

  2. 13:30
    Animal - School screening
    Odf 105' | Frankreich 2021 | Cyril Dion | Dok

    16-year-old Bella and Vipulan are part of a generation convinced its very future is in danger. Between climate change and the 6th mass extinction of wildlife, their world could well be inhabitable 50 years from now. They have sounded the alarm over and over, but nothing has really changed. So they've decided to tackle the root of the problem: our relationship with the living world. Over the course of an extraordinary journey, they come to realize just how deeply humans are tied to all other living species.
    And that by saving them... we're also saving ourselves. Humans thought they could distance themselves from nature, but humans are part and parcel of nature. For man is, after all, an Animal. (Cannes Film Festival)

    Followed by a talk with Marie-Claire Graf, speaker for just sustainable development and ambitious climate action, in cooperation with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation Switzerland

  3. 14:00
    Kalle Kosmonaut - School Screening
    D (SDH)* 99' | Deutschland 2022 | Tine Kugler, Günther Kurth | Doc

    The Allee der Kosmonauten does not lead to the stars. If you grow up in the prefabricated high-rises here in north-eastern Berlin, your path is more likely to be mapped out in other directions. Even if you’re as smart as Pascal, also known as Kalle, who is ten-years-old at the beginning of the film. Tine Kugler and Günther Kurth have accompanied him for over a decade. Sometimes full of hope and ambition, sometimes burdened by fears and problems, tormenting thoughts and experiences, he looks for his place in life. A documentary observation in which animated sequences complement what is transpiring beyond the camera. Empathetic, poetic and humorous, the directing duo not only draws a precise portrait of the charismatic protagonist, but it also creates a kaleidoscopic picture of the unglamorous side of Berlin, far from the landmarks and trendy neighbourhoods. (Berlinale)

    Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers
    Moderation: Aline Juchler

  4. 18:00
    Rotzloch
    Od 96' | Schweiz 2022 | Maja Tschumi | Doc

    In a godforsaken place called “Snot hole”, on the edge of a quarry, a new life begins for four young refugee men. Having a long escape behind them, they try to get back on their feet. Above all, they are searching for contact with women, encounters, love and sex. They find themselves in a different culture and faced with unexpected conflicts. In the film, these young men trace their paths through this new reality and thus are confronted with themselves, their masculinity and their sexuality. (Swiss Films)

    KOSMOPOLITICS | 20:00 Forum
    A COLD WELCOME TO SWITZERLAND?
    How do we establish meeting spaces for refugees and local Swiss people? Which places are intended for refugees and under which conditions? What prejudice and inhibition stands in the way? A conversation with with filmmaker Maja Tschumi, Ivo Grossert from Architecture for Refugees and Hatim Baloch from Solinetz Zurich talk about exclusion and what it means to be truly welcomed.
    Moderation: Natalia Guecheva

  5. 18:30
    Chaylla
    Fe 72' | Frankreich 2022 | Paul Pirritano, Clara Teper | Doc

    Lens, in Northern France. 23-year-old Chaylla is fighting to free herself from a violent relationship. However, her determination comes up against a part of herself that still hopes to share her life with the father of her children. And if Chaylla, head held high, decides to press charges and reclaim her rights in the face of the society and the patriarchy in which she has no confidence, it is also thanks to the support of a duo of women – her mother-in-law and her best friend – who accompany her on a daily basis. It is with them that she shares her sorrow and passions, that she holds back her tears, smiles softly or sings at the top of her voice. The camera, always as close as possible to her face, enhances its strength, while the expressivity and magnetism of the close-ups are reminiscent of those of Renée Falconetti. Clara Teper and Paul Pirritano have made a magnificent first feature-length film shedding upsetting light on violence against women and the difficulties of finding one’s own way to justice. This social drama is infused with the extreme humanity and sincerity of a woman, Chaylla. (Visions du Réel)

    DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: ABOUT TABOOS, POWERLESSNESS AND THE COURAGE TO ACT
    The filmmakers Clara Teper and Paul Pirritano (filmmakers) and Rozë Berisha (Responsible Counselling, Brava) talk about their experiences in dealing with victims of domestic violence. Why is detachment often difficult and what problems do victims face? Why is it so difficult to get help and what role can counselling centres play?
    Moderation: Christina Caprez, journalist, sociologist, author

    Presented with Brava (former TERRE DES FEMMES Switzerland)

  6. 20:30
    Kalle Kosmonaut
    D (SDH)* 99' | Deutschland 2022 | Tine Kugler, Günther Kurth | Doc

    The Allee der Kosmonauten does not lead to the stars. If you grow up in the prefabricated high-rises here in north-eastern Berlin, your path is more likely to be mapped out in other directions. Even if you’re as smart as Pascal, also known as Kalle, who is ten-years-old at the beginning of the film. Tine Kugler and Günther Kurth have accompanied him for over a decade. Sometimes full of hope and ambition, sometimes burdened by fears and problems, tormenting thoughts and experiences, he looks for his place in life. A documentary observation in which animated sequences complement what is transpiring beyond the camera. Empathetic, poetic and humorous, the directing duo not only draws a precise portrait of the charismatic protagonist, but it also creates a kaleidoscopic picture of the unglamorous side of Berlin, far from the landmarks and trendy neighbourhoods. (Berlinale)

    Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers
    Moderation: Aline Juchler

  7. 21:00
    Fly So Far
    OVe 88' | El Salvador, Schweden 2021 | Celina Escher | Doc

    Once accused and imprisoned for aggravated homicide for having a late-term miscarriage, Teodora Vásquez has become the spokesperson for all such victims of El Salvador’s cruel anti-abortion laws, and a symbol of empowerment, resistance and solidarity.

    MY BODY, MY RIGHTS: WORLDWIDE ATTACKS ON THE RIGHT TO ABORTION
    Discussion with Celina Escher (filmmaker) and Cyrielle Huguenot (women's rights expert Amnesty Switzerland). El Salvador maintains its ban on abortion, Poland has introduced a complete ban, the US Supreme Court has struck down the right to abortion - and even in Switzerland popular initiatives are calling for new restrictions: Are we at a turning point? How can we defend ourselves against this?Moderation: Stephanie Eger, Women's Group Amnesty Zurich

    Presented with Amnesty International Switzerland

December 6, 2022
  1. 09:30
    Kalle Kosmonaut - School Screening
    D (SDH)* 99' | Deutschland 2022 | Tine Kugler, Günther Kurth | Doc

    The Allee der Kosmonauten does not lead to the stars. If you grow up in the prefabricated high-rises here in north-eastern Berlin, your path is more likely to be mapped out in other directions. Even if you’re as smart as Pascal, also known as Kalle, who is ten-years-old at the beginning of the film. Tine Kugler and Günther Kurth have accompanied him for over a decade. Sometimes full of hope and ambition, sometimes burdened by fears and problems, tormenting thoughts and experiences, he looks for his place in life. A documentary observation in which animated sequences complement what is transpiring beyond the camera. Empathetic, poetic and humorous, the directing duo not only draws a precise portrait of the charismatic protagonist, but it also creates a kaleidoscopic picture of the unglamorous side of Berlin, far from the landmarks and trendy neighbourhoods. (Berlinale)

    Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers
    Moderation: Aline Juchler

  2. 10:00
    Animal - School screening
    Odf 105' | Frankreich 2021 | Cyril Dion | Dok

    16-year-old Bella and Vipulan are part of a generation convinced its very future is in danger. Between climate change and the 6th mass extinction of wildlife, their world could well be inhabitable 50 years from now. They have sounded the alarm over and over, but nothing has really changed. So they've decided to tackle the root of the problem: our relationship with the living world. Over the course of an extraordinary journey, they come to realize just how deeply humans are tied to all other living species.
    And that by saving them... we're also saving ourselves. Humans thought they could distance themselves from nature, but humans are part and parcel of nature. For man is, after all, an Animal. (Cannes Film Festival)

    Followed by a talk with Marie-Claire Graf, speaker for just sustainable development and ambitious climate action, in cooperation with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation Switzerland

  3. 18:00
    Casablanca Beats
    OVe 101' | Marokko, Frankreich 2021 | Nabil Ayouch | Fiction

    Anas, a former rapper, is hired as an animator in a cultural centre in Casablanca. With his help, the teenagers will embrace rap and hip-hop as a means of expressing their rage, fears and rejection of tradition. Inspired by his childhood, Nabil Ayouch (Much Loved, Razzia) captures the energy of a Moroccan youth on the verge of implosion, its furious need for change and the liberating power of music, carried by an outstanding cast of young non-professional actors. (FIFDH)

    With an introduction by Jasmin Basic, FIFDH

    Presented with The Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH)

  4. 18:30
    The Hamlet Syndrome
    OVe 85' | Polen, Deutschland 2022 | Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosołowski | Doc

    The film depicts the young Ukrainian generation scarred by war and political upheaval since 2014. The film’s starting point is the preparation for a play based on the motifs of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. A powerful portrait of a generation having to confront their war trauma and tackle the painful past, which now after the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine becomes their present and future alike. (Semaine de la Critique, Locarno Film Festival)

  5. 20:30
    Regra 34
    OVe 100' | Brasilien, Frankreich 2022 | Julia Murat | Fiction

    Simone is a young lawyer who just started a preparatory course for being a public defender of women’s rights. Her daily life consists of law studies and kung fu classes. One day while watching a BDSM film online, she is taken by the expression she sees on the girl’s face – a mixture of fear and ecstasy – which profoundly fascinates her. This video seems to entice both her impulse for sexual gratification and her most internal fears, amalgamating in a single urgent desire.
    Gradually an insatiable hunger for losing control takes over, leading her to expose herself to the BDSM world in a journey with her friend, Lucia. But Lucia isn’t able to follow the same path, positioning Simone’s desire as a reflection of a male chauvinist society. For Lucia this is in juxtaposition to their stance on violence against women.
    Simone then begins to perform BSDM scenes with Coyote her roommate and fellow prep course student. With him she exposes herself to progressively more dangerous situations. Eventually he becomes afraid of hurting Simone and stops the partnership. Now, on her own, she moves closer to the edge of her own internal precipice. (Visonssudest)

    CLOSING NIGHT
    WORDS OF WELCOME
    Team Porny Days
    Giona Nazzaro, Artistic Director Locarno Film Festival
    Presented with Porny Days and Locarno Film Festival

    SAVE THE DATE: On the International Day of Human Rights, 10th December, we are hosted by the Neubad Lucerne with a screening of REGRA 34 at the beautiful swimming pool cinema.

  6. 21:00
    Kalle Kosmonaut
    D (SDH)* 99' | Deutschland 2022 | Tine Kugler, Günther Kurth | Doc

    The Allee der Kosmonauten does not lead to the stars. If you grow up in the prefabricated high-rises here in north-eastern Berlin, your path is more likely to be mapped out in other directions. Even if you’re as smart as Pascal, also known as Kalle, who is ten-years-old at the beginning of the film. Tine Kugler and Günther Kurth have accompanied him for over a decade. Sometimes full of hope and ambition, sometimes burdened by fears and problems, tormenting thoughts and experiences, he looks for his place in life. A documentary observation in which animated sequences complement what is transpiring beyond the camera. Empathetic, poetic and humorous, the directing duo not only draws a precise portrait of the charismatic protagonist, but it also creates a kaleidoscopic picture of the unglamorous side of Berlin, far from the landmarks and trendy neighbourhoods. (Berlinale)

Program 2021
December 2, 2021
  1. 19:00
    Flee
    Odf 83' | Dänemark, Frankreich, Schweden 2021 | Jonas Poher Rasmussen | Documentary

    For over 20 years, Amin has been hiding a secret that threatens to ruin the life he has built for himself since arriving in Copenhagen. Haunted by the traumas of his past - that he reveals implicitly - he decides to share his story for the first time, with the director, a close friend, who encourages him to come clean. The story then reveals Amin’s harrowing voyage, from his childhood in post-communist Afghanistan to his present as a respected academician in Denmark, about to marry his partner. Created mainly with remarkable images of animation so as to maintain the anonymity of its protagonists, the film takes us on the trying journey of a refugee to find asylum abroad, and invites us into his relationship with homosexuality. Told in the first person, Flee conveys a feeling of closeness and the sensation of genuinely accessing the captivating memories of the main character. It succeeds in subtly interweaving genres, while retaining a healthy touch of humour. A poignant intimate tale, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. (Astrid Silva, Visions du Réel)

    Images: © FinalCutforReal

    OPENING NIGHT

    Words of Welcome

    Sascha Lara Bleuler, Director HRFF Zurich
    Katharina Morawek, President HRFF Zürich
    Ambassador Simon Geissbühler, Peace and Human Rights, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA)

    Talk with Jonas Poher Rasmussen. (Engl.)
    Moderation: Katharina Morawek, President HRFF Zurich

  2. 20:30
    Ostrov – Lost Island
    Odf 90' | Schweiz 2021 | Svetlana Rodina, Laurent Stoop | Documentary

    On the desert island of Ostrov, lost out in the Caspian Sea, a handful of inhabitants live without roads, electricity or jobs, abandoned by the Russian state since the fall of the Soviet Union. Caviar fishing, once the heart of the island’s economy, is now illegal. To feed his family, Ivan regularly goes to sea and, although he has already been imprisoned twice by the authorities for poaching, he remains convinced that Putin will one day save him from misery. Like the majority of Ostrov’s inhabitants, he continues to follow the beliefs and traditions of a country to which he no longer really seems to belong. In this slightly dystopian atmosphere, Svetlana Rodina and Laurent Stoop weave the portrait of a family forced to imagine a future for itself amidst the ruins or to turn towards the outside world, towards Russia and its current events. A documentary with poignant images on an island full of mysteries and contradictions, which reflects the vast expanse of the Russian territory where the myth of a national identity and unity still seem to find a place. (Camille Kaiser, Visions du Réel)

    ARTISTIC WORK AT THE FRINGE OF AN AUTHORITARIAN SOCIETY (Engl.)
    Following the film will be a discussion with the Russian social scientist Dilyara Müller-Suleymanova and the filmmakers Svetlana Rodina and Laurent Stoop on the artistic dialogue concerning life in Russia today.

    Moderation: Emanuel Schäublin, Board HRFF Zurich

December 3, 2021
  1. 10:00
    SHADOW GAME - School Screening
    OVe 90' | Holland | Eefje Blankevoort, Els van Driel | Documentary

    If it's a game, then it's one of the most dangerous. Every day, teenagers flee war-torn countries, attempting to cross European borders in search of a better future. Hostile nature, fences or armed guards - every step they take towards their final destination might also prove a step towards death. A stunning coming-of-age film in which lives are consumed on the clandestine roads of a fortress continent. (FIFDH Geneva)

    Followed by a talk with the film maker Els van Driel
    Moderation: Lea Bloch, Journalist

  2. 13:30
    My Name is Baghdad - School screening
    OVd 96' | Brasilien 2020 | Caru Alves De Souza | Fiction

    Bagdá is surrounded by self-confident role models in her family. However, outside on the streets, in the venues and clubs, the old machismo continues to dominate. Bagdá and her fellow comrades-in-arms confront it defiantly. (MUBI)

    Followed by an animated film talk.
    Moderation: Anna Rosenwasser, LGBT-Expert and feminist author

    Presented with Latin American Center UZH

    Registration for schools by 10.11. at schuleundkultur.zh.ch

  3. 14:00
    Lunana - A Yak in the Classroom - School screening
    Odf 109' | Bhutan 2020 | Pawo Choyning Dorji | Fiction

    Struggling with his profession as a teacher, Ugyen is sent to Lunana in northern Bhutan for his final year of training. With a warm welcome, the local children try to win him over but they do not have much time. (Trigon Film)

    Followed by an animated film talk.
    Moderation: Lea Bloch, Journalist

    Presented with Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation Switzerland

    Registration for schools until 10.11. at schuleundkultur.zh.ch

  4. 18:00
    Les Enfants Terribles
    OVe 92' | Frankreich, Deutschland, Türkei 2021 | Ahmet Necdet Çupur | Documentary

    In Ahmed Necdet Cupur's film, Les Enfants terribles are his own siblings, all of whom want to escape the life their parents have planned for them, as he did. Mahmut is barely a man but his wedding to bride far too young is already falling apart. Zanep has fire in her veins and is determined not to marry her cousin. Instead, she will do whatever it takes to go to University. The parents struggle to assert their authority and wonder what is happening to the world around them. Les Enfants terribles is a timeless epic disguised as a domestic drama. Zanep and Mamhut fight a war of independence with determination and strategy, in a game of attack and retreat, while never forgetting their main aim: to be able to choose their own path. Ahmed Necdet Cupur captures these heroic fights with consideration and respect through the characters’ subtle emotions. Directed with sobriety, Les Enfants Terribles is a memorable family roman which reflects Turkish society and its current mutations. (Rebecca de Pas, Visions du Réel)

    After the screening there will be a talk with the filmmaker Ahmet Necdet Çupur. (Engl.)
    Moderation: Lea Bloch, Journalist

  5. 18:30
    I am Samuel
    OVe 68' | Kenia, Kanada, UK, USA 2020 | Peter Murimi | Documentary

    Samuel grew up on a farm in the Kenyan countryside, where tradition is valued above all else. He moves to Nairobi in search of a new life, where he finds belonging in a community of fellow queer men where he meets and falls in love with Alex. Their love thrives even though Kenyan laws criminalize anyone who identifies as LGBTQ, and together they face threats of violence and rejection. Samuel’s father, a preacher at the local church, doesn’t understand why his son is not yet married and Samuel must navigate the very real risk that being truthful to who he is may cost him his family’s acceptance. Filmed over five years, I Am Samuel is an intimate portrait of a Kenyan man balancing pressures of family loyalty, love, and safety and questioning the concept of conflicting identities. (Human Rights Watch Film Festival)

    WHEN LOVE IS A CRIME (Engl.)
    After the film, the director Peter Murimi will talk via Zoom about social exclusion, discrimination and criminalisation of people in Kenya based merely on who they love. Graeme Reid, Director of the LGBT rights section at Human Rights Watch, contextualises the theme in a wider human rights context of the region.

    Moderation: Marguerite Meyer, Journalist

  6. 20:30
    Brother's Keeper
    OVe 85' | Türkei, Rumänien 2021 | Ferit Karahan | Documentary

    Strict rules prevail at a remote boarding school in the mountains of Anatolia where Turkish teachers educate gifted Kurdish pupils from the surrounding area. Once a week, the boys are allowed to shower and, like everything else here, this process is monitored. One night, twelve-year-old Memo asks his friend Yusuf if he can sleep in his bed. But, afraid of gossip, Yusuf refuses. The next morning, Memo is sick and cannot attend class. The school’s heating has broken down and an icy winter’s day takes its course. Memo’s condition worsens. He is no longer responsive and Yusuf is only allowed to talk when prompted. Gradually, the events of the previous night are revealed.
    Ferit Karahan’s finely spun drama illuminates a microcosm marked by poverty and fear. Surrounded by snow and frost, the emotional coldness which prevails between teachers and pupils in this authoritarian educational institution become almost physically tangible. (Berlinale)

    Images: © Diren Düzgün

    After the film there will be a talk with the filmmaker Ferit Karahan. (Engl.)
    Moderation: Aline Juchler

  7. 21:00
    The World on a Screen
    Deutsch 60' | Schweiz | Katharina Morawek | Late Night Lecture

    Series are extremely popular. Besides the usual candidates such as Netflix or Sky, producers in Latin America, the Middle East and in North Africa serve coherent regional markets as well. Series are a form of «Soft Power» that mirror geopolitical and power play issues away from cinema screens. For the audience too, who look beyond local references. This evening combines information and entertainment whilst in a relaxed salon atmosphere. With Anisha Imhasly (Advisor for Diversity and Transcultural Issues) and Ali Sonay (Assistant Lecturer, Institute for Islamic Studies and Modern Oriental Philology, Bern University).

    Moderation: Katharina Morawek, President HRFF Zurich

  8. 21:00
    Imad's Childhood
    OVe 78' | Schweden, Lettland 2021 | Zahavi Sanjavi | Documentary

    After two and a half years in captivity, Imad, his little brother Idan, and their mother Ghazala are released into a displaced persons’ camp in Kurdistan. Healing from the trauma is hard for all of them, but it seems Imad is having a particularly tough time. Not yet five, he has already spent over half his life enduring terror, abuse, and “training” meant to make him heartless. Speaking only Arabic, he cannot communicate with his family, and the only means of expression at his disposal is violence. He hits and spits, and his only game is pretending to be an ISIS fighter who shoots, blows things up, and kills. This poignant film follows him as he takes hesitant steps on the hard road to recovery, guided and held by his mother, his grandmother, and an incredibly supportive therapist. (Docaviv)

    CHILDREN AFTER ISIS IMPRISONMENT: HOW TO REACH PROTECTION AND HEALING? (Engl.)
    Talk with Nicolette Waldmann, Amnesty International expert on the topic of children in armed conflict. For years she has worked on Irak and Syria and is the author of the Amnesty report "Heritage of Terror: The destiny of Yesidi children who survived ISIS.". She has spoken to many Yesidi children und is invested in the elucidation of ISIS criminalities as well as for justice, protection and the healing of survivors.

    Moderation: Alexandra Karle (Manager Amnesty International Switzerland)

    Presented with Amnesty International Switzerland
    Winner of Film Prix Célestine by Interfilm Switzerland

  9. 23:00
    District 9
    E 112' | USA | Neill Blomkamp | Fiction

    Thirty years ago, aliens arrive on Earth -- not to conquer or give aid, but -- to find refuge from their dying planet. Separated from humans in a South African area called District 9, the aliens are managed by Multi-National United, which is unconcerned with the aliens' welfare but will do anything to master their advanced technology. When a company field agent (Sharlto Copley) contracts a mysterious virus that begins to alter his DNA, there is only one place he can hide: District 9. (rottentomatoes)

    Images: © 2009 Columbia TriStar Marketing Group, Inc.

    NOCTURNE
    The cult film produced by Peter Jackson will be shown as a Late Night Special with an introduction by film specialist and sci-fi-expert Simon Spiegel.

December 4, 2021
  1. 11:30
    Imad's Childhood
    OVe 78' | Schweden, Lettland 2021 | Zahavi Sanjavi | Documentary

    After two and a half years in captivity, Imad, his little brother Idan, and their mother Ghazala are released into a displaced persons’ camp in Kurdistan. Healing from the trauma is hard for all of them, but it seems Imad is having a particularly tough time. Not yet five, he has already spent over half his life enduring terror, abuse, and “training” meant to make him heartless. Speaking only Arabic, he cannot communicate with his family, and the only means of expression at his disposal is violence. He hits and spits, and his only game is pretending to be an ISIS fighter who shoots, blows things up, and kills. This poignant film follows him as he takes hesitant steps on the hard road to recovery, guided and held by his mother, his grandmother, and an incredibly supportive therapist. (Docaviv)

  2. 13:00
    Brother's Keeper
    OVe 85' | Türkei, Rumänien 2021 | Ferit Karahan | Documentary

    Strict rules prevail at a remote boarding school in the mountains of Anatolia where Turkish teachers educate gifted Kurdish pupils from the surrounding area. Once a week, the boys are allowed to shower and, like everything else here, this process is monitored. One night, twelve-year-old Memo asks his friend Yusuf if he can sleep in his bed. But, afraid of gossip, Yusuf refuses. The next morning, Memo is sick and cannot attend class. The school’s heating has broken down and an icy winter’s day takes its course. Memo’s condition worsens. He is no longer responsive and Yusuf is only allowed to talk when prompted. Gradually, the events of the previous night are revealed.
    Ferit Karahan’s finely spun drama illuminates a microcosm marked by poverty and fear. Surrounded by snow and frost, the emotional coldness which prevails between teachers and pupils in this authoritarian educational institution become almost physically tangible. (Berlinale)

    Images: © Diren Düzgün

  3. 15:00
    Wet Sand
    OVd 115' | Schweiz, Georgien 2021 | Elene Naveriani | Fiction

    A village at the Georgian Black Sea with friendly people believing to know each other. One day, Eliko is found hanged and his granddaughter Moe is called to organise the funeral. She is confronted with a web of lies and the tragic consequences of Eliko’s hidden love life with Amnon over the last twenty-two years. The truth however freed Moe’s capability to love and provokes the villagers to take a stand. (Swiss Films)

    Images: © Maximage Sister distribution

    A talk follows the screening with the director Elene Naveriani.
    Moderation: Jenny Billeter, Kino Xenix

  4. 15:30
    Writing with Fire
    OVe 94' | India 2021 | Sushmit Ghosh, Rintu Thomas | Documentary

    Meera films the testimony of a rape victim with her iPhone before confronting the police for their inaction. For Meera, thorough journalism is the key to justice. That's why she founded the only newspaper in the whole of India published entirely by Dalit women, the so-called "untouchables" – the very lowest caste. Every day, they report on the most explosive issues and fight for social change, even if it means risking their own safety. WRITING WITH FIRE follows at close quarters a determined group of women who question the social system and boldly break with tradition. (ZFF)

    Images: © Black Ticket Films

    NEW(S) WAVES BY WOMEN (Engl.)
    We are joined via Skype by the film protagonists Meera Devi, Bureau Chief and Shyamkali Devi, Senior Reporter of Khabar Lahariya to receive an update on the status of their newspaper and its legitimacy to fight women’s rights. How has the newspaper evolved since the films’ release in 2014 and how have its new(s) waves contributed to the battle for women's rights in India? Together with Elena Valdameri (Postdoctoral Researcher, History of the Modern World, ETH Zürich), we discuss how activist efforts such as done by the Khabar Lahariya team can help the emancipation of women in Indian society.

    Moderation: Josefa Haas, Reporters without Borders
    Presented with Reportagen

  5. 18:00
    Grosser Baum auf Reise – Taming the Garden
    Odf 92' | Schweiz, Deutschland, Georgien 2021 | Salomé Jashi | Documentary

    A powerful man, who is also the former Prime Minister of Georgia, buys some 100-year-old trees. His men uproot them, some of them as tall as 15-storey buildings, and bring them to his private garden: through villages, over hills and across the Black Sea. To archieve this, other trees must be cut, electric cables moved and new roads paved through mandarin plantations. The film takes the concept of uprooting from its metaphorical meaning to an oppressive, tangible and yet surreal reality. An ode to the rivalry between men and nature. (Swiss Films)

    Followed by a talk with the director Salomé Jashi and a respresentative of Greenpeace. (Engl.)
    Moderation: Chantal Hirschi

    Presented with Greenpeace Schweiz and Film Festival Diritti Umani Lugano

  6. 18:30
    The Case You
    OVe 80' | Deutschland 2020 | Alison Kuhn | Documentary

    Just how far is it acceptable to push actors in the name of cinema? And at what point do you cross the boundary where acting becomes sexual assault? These are the questions raised by the testimony of six young women who were manipulated and sexually abused during an audition. They knew beforehand that the film they were auditioning for was about incest, and they were familiar with the director’s controversial work. But during the audition, without prior discussion, they were groped, beaten, and forced to undress. These traumatizing experiences resurfaced when a few years later it transpired that the footage of the auditions had been made into a documentary.

    The women aren’t just fighting back through the courts. They have banded together to tell their story on camera, in a sort of antidote to the toxic audition. The director of The Case You, Alison Kuhn, is one of them. This neutralizes the camera’s potentially predatory eye and turns the lens into a liberating channel to express anger and demand justice. (IDFA)

    Images: © Lenn Lamster

    SEXUALISED VIOLENCE IN FILM AND BEYOND IT
    Alison Kuhn (Director) und Aileen Lakatos (Protagonist), Agota Lavoyer (Opferhilfe Kanton Solothurn) und Simone Eggler (Brava) speak of sexualised violence in film business and beyond it. How do such violations happen? Which relevant power plan and societal images are at play here? What does it mean for the involved parties? And what needs to change?

    Moderation: Rafaela Roth, Journalist NZZ am Sonntag

    Presented with Brava (former TERRE DES FEMMES Switzerland)
    Supported by SWAN – Swiss Women’s Audiovisual Network Association

  7. 20:30
    Should the Wind Drop
    OVe 100' | Armenien, Frankreich, Belgien 2021 | Nora Martirosyan | Fiction

    Alain, played by the captivating Grégoire Colin, arrives in Stepanakert, capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, to assess the airport and open this self-proclaimed republic to the world. But Alain knows nothing about this strange territory or its inhabitants, and things don't go according to plan... Selected at Cannes, Armenian director Nora Martirosyan's first film impresses with its formal mastery and its restrained and delicate screenplay. (FIFDH Geneva)

    Images: © SISTER PRODUCTIONS

    Introduction by Eliane Menghetti, board member of ICJ-CH

    Presented with ICJ-CH – International Commission of Jurists - Swiss Section

  8. 21:00
    I am growing a moustache - Transtrender Chronicles
    D 60' | Schweiz | Sascha Rijkeboer | Performance

    Sascha Rijkeboer is a pop activist, visibilist, Instagram story-quing and featured at this years Human Rights Film Festival Zurich with a new Spokenword programme. Sascha performs texts that deal with the identity of trans and non-binary people, transmasculinity and the constraints of a heteronormative society. A mix of themes are reflected upon: Our own privileges, the complexity of a pluralist society offering a million subject formats, but a set of coercive rules too. But most and for all, the performance invites us to laugh out loud about being different, not being, as well as being «normal».

    Free entry

    Tip: Sascha Rijkeboer is the protagonist of the short film «Being Sascha» (OVe 35’ | Manuel Gübeli | Switzerland, Germany 2020 | Doc), visible here online on demand. Sascha’s name wasn’t always Sascha. But now it is. Sascha doesn’t identify as a man or as a woman, but as trans non-binary. A story about what it means to live in a society that wasn’t expecting you. A glimpse into a life that allows us to question our own categories. And a film about what it means to be oneself.

  9. 21:00
    Shadow Game
    OVe 90' | Holland 2021 | Eefje Blankevoort, Els van Driel | Documentary

    If it's a game, then it's one of the most dangerous. Every day, teenagers flee war-torn countries, attempting to cross European borders in search of a better future. Hostile nature, fences or armed guards - every step they take towards their final destination might also prove a step towards death. A stunning coming-of-age film in which lives are consumed on the clandestine roads of a fortress continent. (FIFDH Geneva)

    «THE GAME» AS A DANGEROUS REALITY - HOW CAN NGOs AND CIVIL SOCIETY HELP? (Engl.)
    Talk with Michel Anglade (Director and UN Representative, Geneva Advocacy Office, Save the Children) and Els van Driel (filmmaker Shadow Game) on the situation of unaccompanied children and youth along migrant routes and ways in which NGOs and civil society can help improve the situation.

    Moderation: Marcy Goldberg

    Presented with Save the Children

December 5, 2021
  1. 11:00
    Should the Wind Drop
    OVe 100' | Armenien, Frankreich, Belgien 2021 | Nora Martirosyan | Fiction

    Alain, played by the captivating Grégoire Colin, arrives in Stepanakert, capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, to assess the airport and open this self-proclaimed republic to the world. But Alain knows nothing about this strange territory or its inhabitants, and things don't go according to plan... Selected at Cannes, Armenian director Nora Martirosyan's first film impresses with its formal mastery and its restrained and delicate screenplay. (FIFDH Geneva)

    Images: © SISTER PRODUCTIONS

  2. 11:30
    Ostrov – Lost Island
    Odf 90' | Schweiz 2021 | Svetlana Rodina, Laurent Stoop | Documentary

    On the desert island of Ostrov, lost out in the Caspian Sea, a handful of inhabitants live without roads, electricity or jobs, abandoned by the Russian state since the fall of the Soviet Union. Caviar fishing, once the heart of the island’s economy, is now illegal. To feed his family, Ivan regularly goes to sea and, although he has already been imprisoned twice by the authorities for poaching, he remains convinced that Putin will one day save him from misery. Like the majority of Ostrov’s inhabitants, he continues to follow the beliefs and traditions of a country to which he no longer really seems to belong. In this slightly dystopian atmosphere, Svetlana Rodina and Laurent Stoop weave the portrait of a family forced to imagine a future for itself amidst the ruins or to turn towards the outside world, towards Russia and its current events. A documentary with poignant images on an island full of mysteries and contradictions, which reflects the vast expanse of the Russian territory where the myth of a national identity and unity still seem to find a place. (Camille Kaiser, Visions du Réel)

  3. 13:00
    Les Enfants Terribles
    OVe 92' | Frankreich, Deutschland, Türkei 2021 | Ahmet Necdet Çupur | Documentary

    In Ahmed Necdet Cupur's film, Les Enfants terribles are his own siblings, all of whom want to escape the life their parents have planned for them, as he did. Mahmut is barely a man but his wedding to bride far too young is already falling apart. Zanep has fire in her veins and is determined not to marry her cousin. Instead, she will do whatever it takes to go to University. The parents struggle to assert their authority and wonder what is happening to the world around them. Les Enfants terribles is a timeless epic disguised as a domestic drama. Zanep and Mamhut fight a war of independence with determination and strategy, in a game of attack and retreat, while never forgetting their main aim: to be able to choose their own path. Ahmed Necdet Cupur captures these heroic fights with consideration and respect through the characters’ subtle emotions. Directed with sobriety, Les Enfants Terribles is a memorable family roman which reflects Turkish society and its current mutations. (Rebecca de Pas, Visions du Réel)

  4. 15:00
    Grosser Baum auf Reise – Taming the Garden
    Odf 92' | Schweiz, Deutschland, Georgien 2021 | Salomé Jashi | Documentary

    A powerful man, who is also the former Prime Minister of Georgia, buys some 100-year-old trees. His men uproot them, some of them as tall as 15-storey buildings, and bring them to his private garden: through villages, over hills and across the Black Sea. To archieve this, other trees must be cut, electric cables moved and new roads paved through mandarin plantations. The film takes the concept of uprooting from its metaphorical meaning to an oppressive, tangible and yet surreal reality. An ode to the rivalry between men and nature. (Swiss Films)

  5. 15:30
    Mis hermanos sueñan despiertos
    OVe 85' | Chile 2021 | Claudia Huaiquimilla | Fiction

    Ángel and his younger brother Franco have been incarcerated in a juvenile prison for a year. Despite the difficulties, they have formed a solid group of friends with whom they spend their days sharing dreams of freedom. Everything changes when the arrival of a rebellious young man offers a possible escape: the only door to make those dreams come true. (Locarno Film Festival)

    Presented with the Latin American Center UZH

  6. 18:00
    Flee
    Odf 83' | Dänemark, Frankreich, Schweden 2021 | Jonas Poher Rasmussen | Documentary

    For over 20 years, Amin has been hiding a secret that threatens to ruin the life he has built for himself since arriving in Copenhagen. Haunted by the traumas of his past - that he reveals implicitly - he decides to share his story for the first time, with the director, a close friend, who encourages him to come clean. The story then reveals Amin’s harrowing voyage, from his childhood in post-communist Afghanistan to his present as a respected academician in Denmark, about to marry his partner. Created mainly with remarkable images of animation so as to maintain the anonymity of its protagonists, the film takes us on the trying journey of a refugee to find asylum abroad, and invites us into his relationship with homosexuality. Told in the first person, Flee conveys a feeling of closeness and the sensation of genuinely accessing the captivating memories of the main character. It succeeds in subtly interweaving genres, while retaining a healthy touch of humour. A poignant intimate tale, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. (Astrid Silva, Visions du Réel)

    Images: © FinalCutforReal

    FLIGHT FROM AFGHANISTAN
    Panel about the current situation in Afghanistan und the conditions for LGBT* asylum seekers in Switzerland. With Corinne Troxler (Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe) and Stefan Faust (Queeramnesty Switzerland).
    Moderation: Nicola Diday

  7. 18:30
    Shadow Game
    OVe 90' | Holland 2021 | Eefje Blankevoort, Els van Driel | Documentary

    If it's a game, then it's one of the most dangerous. Every day, teenagers flee war-torn countries, attempting to cross European borders in search of a better future. Hostile nature, fences or armed guards - every step they take towards their final destination might also prove a step towards death. A stunning coming-of-age film in which lives are consumed on the clandestine roads of a fortress continent. (FIFDH Geneva)

  8. 20:30
    Der Ast, auf dem ich sitze
    Odf 102' | Schweiz, Deutschland 2020 | Luzia Schmid | Documentary

    The wealth of the world is unequally distributed. One of the profiteers is the canton of Zug, a tax haven in the heart of Switzerland, where more and more wealth is accumulating – and missing elsewhere? Since the middle of the 20th century, the small town on the shores of an idyllic lake has risen to become an important business location. Filmmaker Luzia Schmid remembers her childhood in Zug and lets those people speak who have experienced the changes at first hand: her father, her sister, a trustee, a politician and other contemporary witnesses, critics and profiteers. A personal economic film that embeds tax policy both historically and globally, exposes barefaced ambivalences and dares to question morality. (Zurich Film Festival)

    TAX HAVEN SWITZERLAND – BOOSTER FOR GLOBAL INEQUALITY
    Dominik Gross (Expert for International Finance and Tax Policy, Alliance Sud) and Rita Kesselring (Anthropologist with research focusing on global extractivism in Southern Africa, Basel University) discuss how the fight against global inequality is simultaneously one of international tax justice and the responsibility of politics and economics therein.

    Moderation: Iwan Schauwecker

    Presented with Solidar Suisse

  9. 21:00
    Writing with Fire
    OVe 94' | India 2021 | Sushmit Ghosh, Rintu Thomas | Documentary

    Meera films the testimony of a rape victim with her iPhone before confronting the police for their inaction. For Meera, thorough journalism is the key to justice. That's why she founded the only newspaper in the whole of India published entirely by Dalit women, the so-called "untouchables" – the very lowest caste. Every day, they report on the most explosive issues and fight for social change, even if it means risking their own safety. WRITING WITH FIRE follows at close quarters a determined group of women who question the social system and boldly break with tradition. (ZFF)

    Images: © Black Ticket Films

December 6, 2021
  1. 09:30
    Lunana - A Yak in the Classroom - School screening
    Odf 109' | Bhutan 2020 | Pawo Choyning Dorji | Fiction

    Struggling with his profession as a teacher, Ugyen is sent to Lunana in northern Bhutan for his final year of training. With a warm welcome, the local children try to win him over but they do not have much time. (Trigon Film)

    Followed by an inciteful film talk.
    Moderation: Claudia Solanes

    Presented with Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation Switzerland

    Registration of schools by 10.11. at schuleundkultur.zh.ch

  2. 10:00
    My Name is Baghdad - School screening
    OVd 96' | Brasilien 2020 | Caru Alves De Souza | Fiction

    Bagdá is surrounded by self-confident role models in her family. However, outside on the streets, in the venues and clubs, the old machismo continues to dominate. Bagdá and her fellow comrades-in-arms confront it defiantly. (MUBI)

    Followed by an animated film talk.
    Moderation: Annina Brühwiler, journalist und skate-coach

    Presented with Latin American Center UZH

    Registration for schools by 10.11. at schuleundkultur.zh.ch

  3. 13:30
    SHADOW GAME - School Screening
    OVe 90' | Holland | Eefje Blankevoort, Els van Driel | Documentary

    If it's a game, then it's one of the most dangerous. Every day, teenagers flee war-torn countries, attempting to cross European borders in search of a better future. Hostile nature, fences or armed guards - every step they take towards their final destination might also prove a step towards death. A stunning coming-of-age film in which lives are consumed on the clandestine roads of a fortress continent. (FIFDH Geneva)

    Followed by a talk with the filmmaker Els van Driel
    Moderation: Claudia Solanes

  4. 14:00
    La mif School screening
    Ode 110' | Schweiz 2021 | Fred Baillif | Fiction

    «Ihr sagt, ihr seid für uns da, aber in Wirklichkeit sind wir alleine!» In einem Heim in Genf für Mädchen aus schwierigen familiären Verhältnissen zanken sich die Heimleiter*innen und die jungen Frauen täglich. Auch zwischen den Teenagern knallt es oft, sie beleidigen einander, schreien, schlagen zu und versöhnen sich wieder. Der Filmemacher Fred Baillif, selber ehemaliger Sozialarbeiter, beweist mit seinem zweiten Spielfilm erneut sein grosses Talent in Laien-Schauspielführung und für den gewieften Wechsel zwischen Inszenierung und Improvisation. Über zwei Jahre hat er mit den tatsächlich im Heim wohnhaften Mädchen im Vorfeld gearbeitet und jede einzelne ihre Geschichte erzählen lassen. Eindrücklich verwebt er diese oft von sexualisierter Gewalt geprägten Traumata mit dem emotional intensiven Heim-Alltag in der «Ersatzfamilie». Gleichzeitig entlarvt der Film gravierende Mängel des Schweizerischen Jugendschutzsystems und die Überforderung der Sozialarbeiter*innen. (slb)

    Followed by talk with protagonists (FR/DE)
    Moderation: Sandrine Charlot Zinsli

    Presented with Aux Arts Etc ... and Ambassade de France en Suisse

    Registration for schools until 10.11. at schuleundkultur.zh.ch

    Images: © Joseph Areddy / Stephane Gros

  5. 17:30
    La mif
    Ode 110' | Schweiz 2021 | Fred Baillif | Fiction

    A group of teenage girls have been placed in a residential care home with social workers. This forced “family” experience creates unexpected tensions and intimacies. An incident triggers a chain of over-reactions. The fall-out reveals the weaknesses of the retrograde juvenile system, as well as the demons that haunt “La Mif”. A social drama, mirroring our ill-mannered morals. (Swiss Films)

    Followed by talk with protagonists (FR/DE)
    Moderation: Sandrine Charlot Zinsli

  6. 18:30
    Mis hermanos sueñan despiertos
    OVe 85' | Chile 2021 | Claudia Huaiquimilla | Fiction

    Ángel and his younger brother Franco have been incarcerated in a juvenile prison for a year. Despite the difficulties, they have formed a solid group of friends with whom they spend their days sharing dreams of freedom. Everything changes when the arrival of a rebellious young man offers a possible escape: the only door to make those dreams come true. (Locarno Film Festival)

    Presented with the Latin American Center UZH

  7. 20:30
    Rouge
    OVe 86' | Frankreich, Belgien 2020 | Farid Bentoumi | Fiction

    Nour has just been hired as a nurse at the chemical plant where her father, a worker's union representative and loyal employee, works. In the midst of the factory's health inspection, a journalist is carrying out an investigation on waste management. These two young women discover little by little that the factory, a pillar of the local economy, is hiding plenty of secrets. Between lies about pollutant emissions, false medical records and accident cover-ups, Nour will have to choose: keep quiet or betray her father to let the truth be heard.(Festival de Cannes)

    Followed by a talk with the Director Farid Bentoumi.
    Moderation: Marcy Goldberg

    Presented with Public Eye

  8. 21:00
    Wet Sand
    OVd 115' | Schweiz, Georgien 2021 | Elene Naveriani | Fiction

    A village at the Georgian Black Sea with friendly people believing to know each other. One day, Eliko is found hanged and his granddaughter Moe is called to organise the funeral. She is confronted with a web of lies and the tragic consequences of Eliko’s hidden love life with Amnon over the last twenty-two years. The truth however freed Moe’s capability to love and provokes the villagers to take a stand. (Swiss Films)

    Images: © Maximage Sister distribution

December 7, 2021
  1. 10:00
    La mif School screening
    Ode 110' | Schweiz 2021 | Fred Baillif | Fiction

    «Ihr sagt, ihr seid für uns da, aber in Wirklichkeit sind wir alleine!» In einem Heim in Genf für Mädchen aus schwierigen familiären Verhältnissen zanken sich die Heimleiter*innen und die jungen Frauen täglich. Auch zwischen den Teenagern knallt es oft, sie beleidigen einander, schreien, schlagen zu und versöhnen sich wieder. Der Filmemacher Fred Baillif, selber ehemaliger Sozialarbeiter, beweist mit seinem zweiten Spielfilm erneut sein grosses Talent in Laien-Schauspielführung und für den gewieften Wechsel zwischen Inszenierung und Improvisation. Über zwei Jahre hat er mit den tatsächlich im Heim wohnhaften Mädchen im Vorfeld gearbeitet und jede einzelne ihre Geschichte erzählen lassen. Eindrücklich verwebt er diese oft von sexualisierter Gewalt geprägten Traumata mit dem emotional intensiven Heim-Alltag in der «Ersatzfamilie». Gleichzeitig entlarvt der Film gravierende Mängel des Schweizerischen Jugendschutzsystems und die Überforderung der Sozialarbeiter*innen. (slb)

    Followed by talk with protagonists (FR/DE)
    Moderation: Sandrine Charlot Zinsli

    Presented with Aux Arts Etc ... and Ambassade de France en Suisse

    Registration for schools until 10.11. at schuleundkultur.zh.ch

    Images: © Joseph Areddy / Stephane Gros

  2. 18:00
    Zinder
    OVe 82' | Frankreich, Niger, Deutschland 2021 | Aïcha Macky | Documentary

    In the city of Zinder, Niger, in the heart of the Sahel, young people form gangs to deal with the lack of work and prospects. These groups called “Palais” come from the Kara Kara district, historically home to lepers and outcasts. Zinder-born director and activist Aicha Macky returns to her hometown to tell the story of this disenfranchised youth. She talks with these men, whose bodies and the territory in which they live are profoundly scarred by the violence that has passed through them—a pervasive violence the roots of which go back to the time of colonisation. Among them: Siniya Boy, a member of the “Palais Hitler”, who wants to set up a security company with his fellow bodybuilders; and Bawa, a former Palais leader who turned taxi driver, haunted by memories of the atrocities committed. Their friends live off black market petrol, smuggled from the Nigerian border. Aicha Macky paints a moving portrait of Zinder, which she dedicates to the youth of her country. (Visions du Réel)

    Words of Welcome
    Léo Kaneman, Honorary President HRFF Zurich
    Christine Löw, Representative Director Department of Peace and Human Rights (DPHR), Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA

    PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE SAHEL (Engl.)
    Many countries in the Sahel region, which stretches from Senegal and Mali across the entire African continent to Sudan and Eritrea, are confronted with poverty, social inequality, high population growth as well as impunity, corruption and human rights violations. In the city of Zinder, in the heart of the Sahel, young Nigeriens organise themselves into gangs to face the lack of prospects. Zinder-born director and activist Aicha Macky returns to tell the story of these young people.
    The Sahel is a priority region of Swiss foreign policy, as stated in the Sub-Saharan Africa Strategy 2021-2024. Switzerland is committed to the protection of fundamental individual rights, compliance with international humanitarian law, including humanitarian access, and civil society freedoms. Through its engagement, Switzerland contributes to the promotion of peace and the resolution of conflicts. It promotes dialogue with and between all actors as well as preventive measures against terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crime.
    Human rights violations or the insufficient guarantee of fundamental freedoms are a sign that peace and security are at risk. How is this reflected in the different countries of the Sahel? How can the basic needs of the population be brought into focus and stability in the region be promoted?

    Participants of the podium:
    - Aicha Macky, Filmmaker, Director of Zinder
    - Marie-Emilie Dozin, Head of Advocacy and Communication for the Global Protection Cluster at UNHCR

    Moderation: Flavia Giorgetta

    Presented with the Federal Department for Foreign Affairs, FDFA

  3. 18:30
    La mif
    Ode 110' | Schweiz 2021 | Fred Baillif | Fiction

    A group of teenage girls have been placed in a residential care home with social workers. This forced “family” experience creates unexpected tensions and intimacies. An incident triggers a chain of over-reactions. The fall-out reveals the weaknesses of the retrograde juvenile system, as well as the demons that haunt “La Mif”. A social drama, mirroring our ill-mannered morals. (Swiss Films)

  4. 20:30
    Réveil sur Mars – Wake up on Mars
    Odf 74' | Schweiz, Frankreich | Dea Gjinovci | Documentary

    A 10-year-old Roma boy living in Sweden attempts to come to terms with the mysterious Resignation syndrome that has put his two sisters in a coma. The tight-knit family is trying to rebuild a normal life far from their native Kosovo where they were victims of persecution. While their entire future hangs in the balance of a pending asylum request, the little boy dreams of building a spaceship to leave it all behind. (Swiss Films)

    MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES CAUSED BY FLIGHT AND RESIGNATION (Engl.)
    The two girls in Réveil sur Mars are affected by a rare virus: The «resignation syndrom» is triggered by traumatic experience of flight as well as fear of a decision regarding asylum in the arrival country. Following the film, Dea Gjinovci (Director) and Marcos Moyano (Psychologist and Mental Health Advisor at MSF with longtime experience in the treatment of victims in regions affected by war and conflict) enter discussion.

    Moderation: Dana Landau

    Presented with mit Doctors Without Borders

  5. 21:00
    Rouge
    OVe 86' | Frankreich, Belgien 2020 | Farid Bentoumi | Fiction

    Nour has just been hired as a nurse at the chemical plant where her father, a worker's union representative and loyal employee, works. In the midst of the factory's health inspection, a journalist is carrying out an investigation on waste management. These two young women discover little by little that the factory, a pillar of the local economy, is hiding plenty of secrets. Between lies about pollutant emissions, false medical records and accident cover-ups, Nour will have to choose: keep quiet or betray her father to let the truth be heard.(Festival de Cannes)

Program 2020
December 3, 2020
  1. 19:00
    Cat in the Wall
    OVe 92' | Bulgarien, UK, Frankreich 2019 | Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova | Fiction

    Cat in the Wall tells the true story of how a cat, stuck in a wall, changes the lives of aspirational migrants, benefit fraudsters and gentrified Brexiteers.
    As documentarians, Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova have always been fearless. The duo’s rage permeates their first foray into fiction, Cat in the Wall. An examination of society’s absurdities and unfairness through the eyes of Irina, a single Bulgarian mother whose place in London is challenged in every way, turning her into a metaphoric “cat in the wall”, just like the real one. (Locarno Film Festival)

    Words of Welcome
    Sascha Lara Bleuler, Direktorin HRFF Zurich
    Katharina Morawek, Präsidentin HRFF Zurich
    Kathrin Frey, Filmbeauftragte Stadt Zürich Kultur

    Screening followed by a Q6A with the filmmakers Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova

  2. 20:30
    Exil
    OVe 121' | Deutschland, Belgien, Kosovo 2020 | Visar Morina | Fiction

    First, there’s a dead rat hanging on the door of the house where Xhafer lives with his wife and children. Then the emails he sends are ‘accidentally’ no longer being received. The signs that this pharmaceutical engineer is being bullied and harassed in his workplace are increasing. Even if neither his wife nor his colleagues seem to believe him, this man, who is originally from Kosovo but who has been well integrated for years, feels more and more outcast from his (German) community. Or is he losing touch with reality?
    In his second feature-length film, director Visar Morina dissects the psychological effects of social exclusion and presents them here as an interplay between belonging and alienation. Morina combines subtle images that gradually shift according to his protagonist’s state with meticulous performances from his ensemble, to describe the importance of personality when it comes to integrating into another society, and how quickly cracks can develop in the supposedly firm construct that is identity. (Berlinale 2020)

December 4, 2020
  1. 09:30
    Los Lobos – School Screening
    Odf 94' | Mexiko 2019 | Samuel Kishi Leopo | Fiction

    “You are strong wolves. Wolves don´t cry. Wolves bite. They howl. And they protect their home.”

    Eight year old Max and his younger brother Leo don't have much, but they have each other and their mother Lucía. And they share a dream as well: To visit Disneyland one day. The family has recently emigrated to the USA from Mexico, and while Lucía tries to finance their new life by doing odd jobs, the two brothers spend their days in their sparsely furnished one-room flat. The walls of the room, which they are forbidden to leave, become a projection screen for imaginative adventures and open a window on their new life. Director Samuel Kishi Leopo recalls aspects of his own childhood in Los Lobos and resituates them in a currently highly charged context – brutally honest and yet poetic, melancholic and full of hope. (Berlinale 2020)

    Im Anschluss animiertes Gespräch mit Jennifer Niedermann, Moderatorin und Spoken Word Artistin

  2. 10:00
    The Grizzlies – School Screening
    OVd 104' | Kanada 2018 | Miranda de Pencier | Fiction

    In a small Arctic town struggling with the highest suicide rate in North America, a group of Inuit students' lives are transformed when they are introduced to the sport of lacrosse.
    An unflinching and uplifting story of how northern youth transformed a town.
    From the producers of Angry Inuk and Beginners.

    Anschliessendes Filmgespräch mit RFK Human Rights und Andreas Graf, Head of Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination bei der FIFA.
    Die Robert F. Kennedy Stiftung Schweiz hat gemeinsam mit dem Kompetenzzentrum für Menschenrechte der Universität Zürich «Speak Truth To Power» ein facettenreiches Programm zur Menschenrechtsbildung an Schulen entwickelt. Das begleitende Buch kann über info@rfkhumanrights.ch bestellt werden.

  3. 13:30
    And Then We Danced – Schulvorstellung
    OVd 106' | Schweden, Georgien 2019 | Levan Akin | Fiction

    Merab is a dreamy and passionate young dancer, of whom his coach thinks to be a bit too soft: after all, traditional Georgian dancers are supposed to embody strength. Hailing from a family of dancers, Merab has trained with his dance partner Mariam since childhood, and everything seems to develop towards a relationship even beyond the ballroom. One day, when a new dancer appears on the scene, electricity fills the room. The mysterious Irakli’s ability to dominate the characters he dances with precision not only attracts the coach’s attention. While Merab and Irakli compete for a sought-after place in the main ensemble of the Georgian State Ballet, an affection between the two begins to bloom, becoming ever more difficult to supress. AND THEN WE DANCED is a light-hearted narration about yearning, self-realisation and the rebellion of a liberal generation in a conservative and highly homophobic society. (ZFF 2019)

    Im Anschluss animiertes Gespräch mit Tobias Urech (LGBTIQ-Aktivist und Vorstandsmitglied Milchjugend)

  4. 14:00
    Les Hirondelles de Kaboul – School Screening
    Fd 80' | Frankreich, Schweiz 2019 | Zabou Breitman, Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec | Animation

    Summer 1998 – Kabul under Taliban rule. Zunaira and Mohsen are young and in love. Despite the daily violence and misery, they hope for a better future. One day, a foolish gesture causes life to take an irrevocable turn.

    Anschliessendes Filmgespräch mit RFK Human Rights und Farooq Haq, Mitglied der afghanischen Königsfamilie im Exil in der Schweiz.
    Die Robert F. Kennedy Stiftung Schweiz hat gemeinsam mit dem Kompetenzzentrum für Menschenrechte der Universität Zürich «Speak Truth To Power» ein facettenreiches Programm zur Menschenrechtsbildung an Schulen entwickelt. Das begleitende Buch kann über info@rfkhumanrights.ch bestellt werden.

  5. 17:30
    Los Lobos
    Odf 94' | Mexiko 2019 | Samuel Kishi Leopo | Fiction

    “You are strong wolves. Wolves don´t cry. Wolves bite. They howl. And they protect their home.”
    Eight year old Max and his younger brother Leo don't have much, but they have each other and their mother Lucía. And they share a dream as well: To visit Disneyland one day. The family has recently emigrated to the USA from Mexico, and while Lucía tries to finance their new life by doing odd jobs, the two brothers spend their days in their sparsely furnished one-room flat. The walls of the room, which they are forbidden to leave, become a projection screen for imaginative adventures and open a window on their new life. Director Samuel Kishi Leopo recalls aspects of his own childhood in Los Lobos and resituates them in a currently highly charged context – brutally honest and yet poetic, melancholic and full of hope. (Berlinale 2020)

    Welcome remarks
    Leo Kaneman, founder and honorary president HRFF Zurich
    Pietro Mona, Swiss Ambassador for Development, Refugee and Migration

    Education plays a key role in ensuring that migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons have better socio-economic prospects in their destination countries or after their return. Education is a fundamental human right and a catalyst for the creation of a just and peaceful society.
    The panelists and the audience will discuss what can be done to protect the right to education for children with a migration background. The film "Los Lobos" will be presented before.

    Participants of the podium:
    -Michael Anders, Director of Education, City of Zurich
    -Valeria Kunz, Head of Education, Save the Children Switzerland
    -Christine Löw, Director of the UN Women's Liaison Office in Geneva

    Moderation: Dana Landau

  6. 18:15
    Otac/Father
    OVe 120' | Serbien, Frankreich, Deutschland 2020 | Srdan Golubović | Fiction

    After Nikola’s wife has attempted suicide, the casual labourer’s two children are taken away from him and placed with foster parents. A temporary arrangement, it is alleged. However, following an assessment of Nikola’s housing conditions, the head of the social welfare office in their small Serbian village decides that Nikola is too poor to provide an adequate living environment for his children. The reticent Nikola decides to lodge a complaint with the Ministry of Social Affairs in Belgrade. He is determined to cover the 300 kilometres to the capital on foot. In this way, he intends to show the authorities how far he is willing to go for his children – literally.
    Srdan Golubović finds authentic, moving images to tell this tale of inequality. His quiet but resilient protagonist explores not only the country, but also the boundaries between right and wrong. Resolved not to give in to his mounting desperation, this tenacious father embarks on a heroic journey that redefines the word hero. (Berlinale 2020)

  7. 20:30
    Made in Bangladesh
    OVe 95' | Bangladesch, Dänemark, Frankreich 2019 | Rubaiyat Hossain | Spielfilm

    Shimu, 23, works in a garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka. Faced with increasingly harsh working conditions, she decides to form a trade union. Regardless of the management's threats and disagreement of the husbands: together, the female workers decide to go through with it. The young director Rubaiyat Hossain accurately depicts both the difficult conditions in which our clothes are made and the boundless courage of these women. Based on a true story, the film is carried by admirable performances. (FIFDH 2020)

    FAST FASHION: RESPONSIBILITY FOR FASHION LABELS AND CONSUMERS (Panel in German)

    Panelists: Simone Wasmann (Solidar Suisse) and Elisabeth Schenk (Public Eye)
    Moderation: Marcy Goldberg

    Co-presented byPublic Eye, Solidar Suisse and International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, Geneva

  8. 21:00
    Cat in the Wall
    OVe 92' | Bulgarien, UK, Frankreich 2019 | Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova | Fiction

    Cat in the Wall tells the true story of how a cat, stuck in a wall, changes the lives of aspirational migrants, benefit fraudsters and gentrified Brexiteers.
    As documentarians, Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova have always been fearless. The duo’s rage permeates their first foray into fiction, Cat in the Wall. An examination of society’s absurdities and unfairness through the eyes of Irina, a single Bulgarian mother whose place in London is challenged in every way, turning her into a metaphoric “cat in the wall”, just like the real one. (Locarno Film Festival)

December 5, 2020
  1. 11:00
    Made in Bangladesh
    OVe 95' | Bangladesch, Dänemark, Frankreich 2019 | Rubaiyat Hossain | Spielfilm

    Shimu, 23, works in a garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka. Faced with increasingly harsh working conditions, she decides to form a trade union. Regardless of the management's threats and disagreement of the husbands: together, the female workers decide to go through with it. The young director Rubaiyat Hossain accurately depicts both the difficult conditions in which our clothes are made and the boundless courage of these women. Based on a true story, the film is carried by admirable performances. (FIFDH 2020)

  2. 11:30
    A Thousand Cuts
    OVe 110' | USA 2020 | Ramona S. Diaz | Doc

    In 2016, outsider candidate Rodrigo Duterte upset the political establishment in the Philippines by winning the presidency and promising vengeance and violence. Within hours of taking office, bodies piled up in the streets. Rappler, the country’s top online news site, investigated the murders and revealed a government-sanctioned drug war targeting poor addicts instead of lucrative dealers. In an attempt to suppress independent reporting, Duterte unleashed a powerful disinformation campaign that spread like wildfire throughout social media.
    Filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz follows key players from two sides of an increasingly dangerous war between press and government. Representing the journalists is fearless Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, who, despite arrests and harassment, continues to publish articles holding a lawless regime accountable. On the other side, influencers such as pop-star-turned-government-secretary Mocha Uson start incendiary social media movements and General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa spearheads a public execution campaign against addicts. As each side digs in, we become witness to an epic and ongoing fight for the integrity of human life and truth itself—a conflict that extends beyond the Philippines into our own divisive backyard. (Sundance 2020)

    PHILIPPINES: DEMOCRACY IN DANER

    Skype Talk with Carlos Conde, Philippines Expert of Human Rights Watch
    Moderation: Annette Hug, author and translator of Philippines Literature

    Präsentiert mit Human Rights Watch und Reportagen

  3. 13:00
    Otac/Father
    OVe 120' | Serbien, Frankreich, Deutschland 2020 | Srdan Golubović | Fiction

    After Nikola’s wife has attempted suicide, the casual labourer’s two children are taken away from him and placed with foster parents. A temporary arrangement, it is alleged. However, following an assessment of Nikola’s housing conditions, the head of the social welfare office in their small Serbian village decides that Nikola is too poor to provide an adequate living environment for his children. The reticent Nikola decides to lodge a complaint with the Ministry of Social Affairs in Belgrade. He is determined to cover the 300 kilometres to the capital on foot. In this way, he intends to show the authorities how far he is willing to go for his children – literally.
    Srdan Golubović finds authentic, moving images to tell this tale of inequality. His quiet but resilient protagonist explores not only the country, but also the boundaries between right and wrong. Resolved not to give in to his mounting desperation, this tenacious father embarks on a heroic journey that redefines the word hero. (Berlinale 2020)

  4. 14:45
    Exil
    OVe 121' | Deutschland, Belgien, Kosovo 2020 | Visar Morina | Fiction

    First, there’s a dead rat hanging on the door of the house where Xhafer lives with his wife and children. Then the emails he sends are ‘accidentally’ no longer being received. The signs that this pharmaceutical engineer is being bullied and harassed in his workplace are increasing. Even if neither his wife nor his colleagues seem to believe him, this man, who is originally from Kosovo but who has been well integrated for years, feels more and more outcast from his (German) community. Or is he losing touch with reality?
    In his second feature-length film, director Visar Morina dissects the psychological effects of social exclusion and presents them here as an interplay between belonging and alienation. Morina combines subtle images that gradually shift according to his protagonist’s state with meticulous performances from his ensemble, to describe the importance of personality when it comes to integrating into another society, and how quickly cracks can develop in the supposedly firm construct that is identity. (Berlinale 2020)

  5. 15:45
    Days of Cannibalism
    OVe 78' | Frankreich, Südafrika, Niederlande 2020 | Teboho Edkins | Doc

    Days of Cannibalism accounts the social impact of a completely different economic model on a traditional society. When Chinese entrepreneurs arrive in Lesotho, in the district of Thaba Tseka, everything changes. Old structures begin to disintegrate, and latent violence threatens to explode. What is it going to be: to eat or to be eaten? (Visions du Reel 2020)

    Followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker Teboho Edkins (Engl.)
    Moderation: Josephine Tedder

  6. 17:30
    The Cave
    OVe 106' | Dänemark, Deutschland, Katar 2019 | Feras Fayyad | Doc

    In the besieged Syrian city of Ghutta, which suffered the worst chemical attack recorded in the last 25 years, the inhabitants have built a makeshift hospital in the cavernous depths of the earth. As the conflict rages on, pediatrician Amani Ballour tries to do her job, despite some patients refusing to be treated by a woman. Above all, it is about saving lives, comforting people, obtaining medicines, feeding staff and the patients. After winning an Oscar for Last Men in Aleppo, Feras Fayyad returns to the FIFDH with this documentary, also nominated for the Oscar. (FIFDH 2020)

    MEDICAL ORDER WITHIN THE CHAOS OF WAR (Engl.)
    Panel with the filmmaker Feras Fayyad and Imad Aoun, Communications & Advocacy Adviser of MSF Switzerland.
    Moderation: Rafaela Roth (Journalist NZZ am Sonntag)
    Co-presented by Médecins Sans Frontières

    The Cave ist the winner of the Prix Célestine awarded by Interfilm Schweiz.

  7. 18:00
    Lovemobil
    OVe 106' | Deutschland 2019 | Elke Margarete Lehrenkrauss | Doc

    When night falls in rural Germany, old VW-caravans decorated with flashy lights line the highway roads which lead through potato fields and dark forests. Inside these buses prostitutes from Eastern Europe and Africa await their clients who are passing by. The film portrays these women who came from far away in search for money and a better life. Until one day, in the ghostly atmosphere, a murder of one of the sex workers happens and shakes up the whole scene causing everybody to take action. A film about a microcosm that describes a society at the outer edge of globalized capitalism. (Locarno 2019)

    SEX FOR SALE: SEXWORKERS BETWEEN SELF-DETERMINATION AND PRECARIATE (Panel in German)

    Panelists:
    Filmmaker Elke Lehrenkrauss
    Lelia Hunziker (Geschäftsführerin FIZ – Fachstelle Frauenhandel und Frauenmigration).
    Moderation: Noëmi Landolt (Journalistin WOZ)

  8. 20:30
    17 Blocks
    E 98' | USA 2019 | Davy Rothbart | Doc

    In 1999, nine-year-old Emmanuel Sanford-Durant and his family began filming their daily lives in America’s most dangerous neighbourhood — just 17 blocks behind the U.S. Capitol. They’ve been filming ever since. Made in a unique collaboration with filmmaker and journalist Davy Rothbart, and spanning two decades, 17 BLOCKS illuminates a nation’s ongoing crisis through one family’s raw, stirring, and deeply personal saga.

    RACISM AND CLASSISM (Panel in German & English)
    Panelists:
    Fork Burke, poet
    Tarek Naguib, lawyer and activist
    Moderation: Mandy Abou Shoak

    Co-presented by Black Film Festival Zurich

  9. 21:00
    «How Does it Feel?» Concert by Soya the Cow
    D 60' | Berlin | Daniel Hellmann | Concert

    Soya ist die erste sex-positive, feministische, vegane Drag-Kuh der Welt. Singend, tanzend, muhend und sprechend kämpft sie für die Befreiung von allen. Sie sprengt die Grenzen von Gender und Spezies und steht ein für eine Welt voller Freude und Mitgefühl.
    Für ihre Performance am Human Rights Film Festival Zurich kombiniert Soya Elektropop-Songs aus der Perspektive einer Milchkuh mit persönlich-menschlichen Geschichten und Träumen. Wie würde unser Leben aussehen, wenn wir damit aufhörten, andere in Stücke zu schneiden? Können wir frei sein, wenn nicht alle frei sind? Soyas Musik bewegt, regt zum Denken an und rüttelt am Selbstbild, welches den Menschen stets ins Zentrum stellt.

  10. 21:00
    The Earth Is Blue as an Orange
    OVe 74' | Ukraine, Litauen 2020 | Iryna Tsilyk | Doc

    “War is when some people shoot. And other people shoot the people who shot first. When they start to shoot, mum wakes us up and we go to the corridor. And when they stop, we go back to sleep.”
    Outside, the streets echo with the sound of gunfire and exploding grenades. Inside their house, four siblings, together with their mother, cats and turtle, attempt to maintain some semblance of peace and normality in their everyday lives. War has been raging in Ukraine’s Donbas for five years. Nastja says it has made her easily irritable and angry. Her sister Myroslava, who dreams of studying cinematography, remarks that war is like a void. To fight back against the black hole, she decides to make a film, one about her family’s life in wartime, about the fears and small joys. Director Iryna Tsilyk observes everyday life under the shadow of war and one family’s collective creative response in a testament to resilience and the power of cinema. (Berlinale 2020)

    Followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker Iryna Tsilyk
    Moderation: Aline Juchler

December 6, 2020
  1. 11:00
    I am Greta
    Odf 102' | Schweden 2020 | Nathan Grossman | Doc

    Activist Greta Thunberg began making the international news in 2018, with her Friday climate strikes. While this film documents the fearless Swedish teen's meteoric rise and how much her efforts have affected and inspired people around the world, it also captures the moments of her daily life and considers her detractors and their attacks on her Asperger’s Syndrome. Arriving at a time of global crisis—when the portents of a pandemic, wildfires, hurricanes, and other climate change evidence are undeniable—the film has an urgency we cannot ignore.

    HOW DOES THE WORK FOR CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH THE NEW CLIMATE MOVEMENT? (in German)
    Talk with Greenpeace Switzerland

    Co-presented by Greenpeace Schweiz und Film Festival Diritti Umani Lugano

  2. 11:30
    Los Lobos
    Odf 94' | Mexiko 2019 | Samuel Kishi Leopo | Fiction

    “You are strong wolves. Wolves don´t cry. Wolves bite. They howl. And they protect their home.”
    Eight year old Max and his younger brother Leo don't have much, but they have each other and their mother Lucía. And they share a dream as well: To visit Disneyland one day. The family has recently emigrated to the USA from Mexico, and while Lucía tries to finance their new life by doing odd jobs, the two brothers spend their days in their sparsely furnished one-room flat. The walls of the room, which they are forbidden to leave, become a projection screen for imaginative adventures and open a window on their new life. Director Samuel Kishi Leopo recalls aspects of his own childhood in Los Lobos and resituates them in a currently highly charged context – brutally honest and yet poetic, melancholic and full of hope. (Berlinale 2020)

  3. 13:30
    Reunited
    OVe 78' | Dänemark 2020 | Mira Jargil | Doc

    Fleeing war-torn Syria, two doctors and their children have to face extremely painful consequences and choices. The intricacies and the hypocrisies of bureaucracy split the family apart. The kids, still underage, are stuck in Turkey. The father is shipped off to Canada while the mother struggles in Denmark trying to get her children to join her. A film as moving as necessary. (Visions du Reel 2020)

    WAITING FOR ASYLUM – PERSPECTIVES ON LEGAL AND EVERYDAY CHALLENGES OF REFUGEES IN SWITZERLAND (Panel in German)

    Panelists: Stephanie Motz, Asylum Lawyer and Malek Ossi, activist Autonomen Schule Zürich and student for social work.

    Moderation: Nicola Diday

  4. 14:00
    Days of Cannibalism
    OVe 78' | Frankreich, Südafrika, Niederlande 2020 | Teboho Edkins | Doc

    Days of Cannibalism accounts the social impact of a completely different economic model on a traditional society. When Chinese entrepreneurs arrive in Lesotho, in the district of Thaba Tseka, everything changes. Old structures begin to disintegrate, and latent violence threatens to explode. What is it going to be: to eat or to be eaten? (Visions du Reel 2020)

  5. 15:45
    17 Blocks
    E 98' | USA 2019 | Davy Rothbart | Doc

    In 1999, nine-year-old Emmanuel Sanford-Durant and his family began filming their daily lives in America’s most dangerous neighbourhood — just 17 blocks behind the U.S. Capitol. They’ve been filming ever since. Made in a unique collaboration with filmmaker and journalist Davy Rothbart, and spanning two decades, 17 BLOCKS illuminates a nation’s ongoing crisis through one family’s raw, stirring, and deeply personal saga.

  6. 16:15
    Lovemobil
    OVe 106' | Deutschland 2019 | Elke Margarete Lehrenkrauss | Doc

    When night falls in rural Germany, old VW-caravans decorated with flashy lights line the highway roads which lead through potato fields and dark forests. Inside these buses prostitutes from Eastern Europe and Africa await their clients who are passing by. The film portrays these women who came from far away in search for money and a better life. Until one day, in the ghostly atmosphere, a murder of one of the sex workers happens and shakes up the whole scene causing everybody to take action. A film about a microcosm that describes a society at the outer edge of globalized capitalism. (Locarno 2019)

  7. 18:00
    I Owe You a Letter About Brazil
    OVe 90' | Brasilien 2020 | Carol Benjamin | Doc

    Brazil, 1971, César Benjamin is 17 years old. After a student demonstration, he is tortured and sentenced to 13 years in prison. Thanks to a campaign led by his mother Iramaya and backed by Amnesty International, the teenager is released after 5 years in solitary confinement. Exiled in Sweden, César will never speak of this tragedy, just as the fiery Iramaya becomes the figurehead of "Mother Courage" in Brazil. In the form of a moving letter to her father, who refused to appear in the film, Carol Benjamin uses video archives and letters to reconstruct the pieces of a family puzzle and a tragedy that is also one of a whole country. Her film letter pits words against the silence, memory against oblivion, but is above all a love letter to a father and his courage. (FIFDH 2020)

    SAVING DEMOCRACY IN BRAZIL: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?

    Panel with the filmmaker Carol Benjamin and Lisa Salza from Amnesty International.

    Co-presented by Amnesty International Schweiz, International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights and Latin American Center UZH

  8. 18:30
    A Thousand Cuts
    OVe 110' | USA 2020 | Ramona S. Diaz | Doc

    In 2016, outsider candidate Rodrigo Duterte upset the political establishment in the Philippines by winning the presidency and promising vengeance and violence. Within hours of taking office, bodies piled up in the streets. Rappler, the country’s top online news site, investigated the murders and revealed a government-sanctioned drug war targeting poor addicts instead of lucrative dealers. In an attempt to suppress independent reporting, Duterte unleashed a powerful disinformation campaign that spread like wildfire throughout social media.
    Filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz follows key players from two sides of an increasingly dangerous war between press and government. Representing the journalists is fearless Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, who, despite arrests and harassment, continues to publish articles holding a lawless regime accountable. On the other side, influencers such as pop-star-turned-government-secretary Mocha Uson start incendiary social media movements and General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa spearheads a public execution campaign against addicts. As each side digs in, we become witness to an epic and ongoing fight for the integrity of human life and truth itself—a conflict that extends beyond the Philippines into our own divisive backyard. (Sundance 2020)

  9. 20:30
    iHUMAN
    OVe 99' | Norwegen 2019 | Tonje Hessen Schei | Doc

    One of the major challenges of our times is how the global community is going to deal with artificial intelligence (AI). Who will control this technology? Has the train left the station, never to be stopped? What sort of society do we want to create and live in? Who knows the destination we are heading to?
    With great access to influential voices on this subject, iHuman presents a wide range of views, from tech optimism in Jurgen Schmidhuber “the father of AI,” to more cautious voices like technology journalist Kara Swisher and human rights lawyer Philip Alston. Animated computer graphics visualize a polymorphous, self-developing structure with ever-greater autonomy guiding us forward.
    AI can infinitely increase our potential for great good but it is already capable of contributing towards total surveillance states and a distortion of truth. AI development is hurtling forward with tech companies affiliated to the defence industry and algorithms in law enforcement enhancing existing biases. Will we allow the use of such powerful technology to open an unchecked Pandora’s Box dictating our future? (IDFA 2019)

    ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: CURSE OR BLESSING? (Panel in German)

    Talk with Sanija Ameti, Senior Advisor ICT4Peace and Sophie Charlotte Fischer from the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich about the dangers and potential of artificial intelligence.

    Moderation: Marguerite Meyer

    Co-presented by ICT4Peace Foundation, ETH for Development and the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, Geneva

  10. 21:00
    The Cave
    OVe 106' | Dänemark, Deutschland, Katar 2019 | Feras Fayyad | Doc

    In the besieged Syrian city of Ghutta, which suffered the worst chemical attack recorded in the last 25 years, the inhabitants have built a makeshift hospital in the cavernous depths of the earth. As the conflict rages on, pediatrician Amani Ballour tries to do her job, despite some patients refusing to be treated by a woman. Above all, it is about saving lives, comforting people, obtaining medicines, feeding staff and the patients. After winning an Oscar for Last Men in Aleppo, Feras Fayyad returns to the FIFDH with this documentary, also nominated for the Oscar. (FIFDH 2020)

December 7, 2020
  1. 09:30
    The Grizzlies – School Screening
    OVd 104' | Kanada 2018 | Miranda de Pencier | Fiction

    In a small Arctic town struggling with the highest suicide rate in North America, a group of Inuit students' lives are transformed when they are introduced to the sport of lacrosse.
    An unflinching and uplifting story of how northern youth transformed a town.
    From the producers of Angry Inuk and Beginners.

    Anschliessendes Filmgespräch mit RFK Human Rights und Andreas Graf, Head of Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination bei der FIFA.
    Die Robert F. Kennedy Stiftung Schweiz hat gemeinsam mit dem Kompetenzzentrum für Menschenrechte der Universität Zürich «Speak Truth To Power» ein facettenreiches Programm zur Menschenrechtsbildung an Schulen entwickelt. Das begleitende Buch kann über info@rfkhumanrights.ch bestellt werden.

  2. 13:30
    Les Hirondelles de Kaboul – School Screening
    Fd 80' | Frankreich, Schweiz 2019 | Zabou Breitman, Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec | Animation

    Summer 1998 – Kabul under Taliban rule. Zunaira and Mohsen are young and in love. Despite the daily violence and misery, they hope for a better future. One day, a foolish gesture causes life to take an irrevocable turn.

    Anschliessendes Filmgespräch mit RFK Human Rights und Farooq Haq, Mitglied der afghanischen Königsfamilie im Exil in der Schweiz.
    Die Robert F. Kennedy Stiftung Schweiz hat gemeinsam mit dem Kompetenzzentrum für Menschenrechte der Universität Zürich «Speak Truth To Power» ein facettenreiches Programm zur Menschenrechtsbildung an Schulen entwickelt. Das begleitende Buch kann über info@rfkhumanrights.ch bestellt werden.

  3. 14:00
    And Then We Danced – Schulvorstellung
    OVd 106' | Schweden, Georgien 2019 | Levan Akin | Fiction

    Merab is a dreamy and passionate young dancer, of whom his coach thinks to be a bit too soft: after all, traditional Georgian dancers are supposed to embody strength. Hailing from a family of dancers, Merab has trained with his dance partner Mariam since childhood, and everything seems to develop towards a relationship even beyond the ballroom. One day, when a new dancer appears on the scene, electricity fills the room. The mysterious Irakli’s ability to dominate the characters he dances with precision not only attracts the coach’s attention. While Merab and Irakli compete for a sought-after place in the main ensemble of the Georgian State Ballet, an affection between the two begins to bloom, becoming ever more difficult to supress. AND THEN WE DANCED is a light-hearted narration about yearning, self-realisation and the rebellion of a liberal generation in a conservative and highly homophobic society. (ZFF 2019)

    Im Anschluss animiertes Gespräch mit Tobias Urech (LGBTIQ-Aktivist und Vorstandsmitglied Milchjugend)

  4. 18:00
    ACASA, MY HOME
    OVe 86' | Rumänien 2020 | Radu Ciorniciuc | Doc

    For two decades, the Enache family—nine kids and their parents—lived in a shack in the wilderness of Bucharest Delta: an abandoned water reservoir, one of the biggest urban natural reservations in the world, with lakes and hundreds of species of animals and rare plants. When the authorities decide to claim back this rare urban ecosystem, the Enache family is evicted and told to resettle in the city—a reality they know nothing about. Kids that used to spend their days in nature have to learn about city life, go to school instead of swimming in the lake, and swap their fishing rods for mobile phones. Their identity has been questioned and transformed, along with their sense of freedom and family ties.
    Radu Ciorniciuc’s heartbreaking debut is a thoughtful study of gentrification, seen through the eyes of a family trying to adapt to the new life they never asked for. Is it better to go back to their “paradise lost,” with its life free yet harsh, or to become part of the society that offers comforts but comes with pressures and conflict? (Sundance 2019)

    KOSMOPOLITICS (STREAMING) 8pm
    URBAN LIVING, URBAN DREAMS – WHO OWNS OUR CITY? (Panel in German)
    Panelists: Monika Streule (Stadtethnologin Departement Architektur ETH), Felix Bosshard (Präsident Gemeinnützige Bau- und Mietergenossenschaft Zürich) and Anna Schindler (Direktorin Stadtentwicklung, Stadt Zürich)

    Moderation: Rahel Bains (Journalistin Tsüri.ch)

    Co-presented by Tsüri.ch

  5. 18:30
    The Earth Is Blue as an Orange
    OVe 74' | Ukraine, Litauen 2020 | Iryna Tsilyk | Doc

    “War is when some people shoot. And other people shoot the people who shot first. When they start to shoot, mum wakes us up and we go to the corridor. And when they stop, we go back to sleep.”
    Outside, the streets echo with the sound of gunfire and exploding grenades. Inside their house, four siblings, together with their mother, cats and turtle, attempt to maintain some semblance of peace and normality in their everyday lives. War has been raging in Ukraine’s Donbas for five years. Nastja says it has made her easily irritable and angry. Her sister Myroslava, who dreams of studying cinematography, remarks that war is like a void. To fight back against the black hole, she decides to make a film, one about her family’s life in wartime, about the fears and small joys. Director Iryna Tsilyk observes everyday life under the shadow of war and one family’s collective creative response in a testament to resilience and the power of cinema. (Berlinale 2020)

  6. 20:30
    DAS NEUE EVANGELIUM
    Odf 107' | Deutschland, Schweiz 2020 | Milo Rau | Hybrid Doc

    What would Jesus preach in the 21st century? Who would his apostles be? The filmmaker and his team return to the origins of the gospel and stage it as a passion play for an entire population. Together with Yvan Sagnet, a former farm worker and activist from Cameroon, Milo Rau creates a new gospel for the 21st century: A manifesto of solidarity for the poorest, a cinematic uprising for a fairer, more humane world.

    Followed by a Q&A with guests.
    Moderation: Katharina Morawek, president HRFF Zurich

  7. 21:00
    I Owe You a Letter About Brazil
    OVe 90' | Brasilien 2020 | Carol Benjamin | Doc

    Brazil, 1971, César Benjamin is 17 years old. After a student demonstration, he is tortured and sentenced to 13 years in prison. Thanks to a campaign led by his mother Iramaya and backed by Amnesty International, the teenager is released after 5 years in solitary confinement. Exiled in Sweden, César will never speak of this tragedy, just as the fiery Iramaya becomes the figurehead of "Mother Courage" in Brazil. In the form of a moving letter to her father, who refused to appear in the film, Carol Benjamin uses video archives and letters to reconstruct the pieces of a family puzzle and a tragedy that is also one of a whole country. Her film letter pits words against the silence, memory against oblivion, but is above all a love letter to a father and his courage. (FIFDH 2020)

December 8, 2020
  1. 13:30
    Los Lobos – School Screening
    Odf 94' | Mexiko 2019 | Samuel Kishi Leopo | Fiction

    “You are strong wolves. Wolves don´t cry. Wolves bite. They howl. And they protect their home.”

    Eight year old Max and his younger brother Leo don't have much, but they have each other and their mother Lucía. And they share a dream as well: To visit Disneyland one day. The family has recently emigrated to the USA from Mexico, and while Lucía tries to finance their new life by doing odd jobs, the two brothers spend their days in their sparsely furnished one-room flat. The walls of the room, which they are forbidden to leave, become a projection screen for imaginative adventures and open a window on their new life. Director Samuel Kishi Leopo recalls aspects of his own childhood in Los Lobos and resituates them in a currently highly charged context – brutally honest and yet poetic, melancholic and full of hope. (Berlinale 2020)

    Im Anschluss animiertes Gespräch mit Jennifer Niedermann, Moderatorin und Spoken Word Artistin

  2. 18:00
    DAS NEUE EVANGELIUM
    Odf 107' | Deutschland, Schweiz 2020 | Milo Rau | Hybrid Doc

    What would Jesus preach in the 21st century? Who would his apostles be? The filmmaker and his team return to the origins of the gospel and stage it as a passion play for an entire population. Together with Yvan Sagnet, a former farm worker and activist from Cameroon, Milo Rau creates a new gospel for the 21st century: A manifesto of solidarity for the poorest, a cinematic uprising for a fairer, more humane world.

  3. 18:30
    Reunited
    OVe 78' | Dänemark 2020 | Mira Jargil | Doc

    Fleeing war-torn Syria, two doctors and their children have to face extremely painful consequences and choices. The intricacies and the hypocrisies of bureaucracy split the family apart. The kids, still underage, are stuck in Turkey. The father is shipped off to Canada while the mother struggles in Denmark trying to get her children to join her. A film as moving as necessary. (Visions du Reel 2020)