HRFF Zurich goes Riffraff 9th edition: 4 – 10 April 2024

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

“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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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.

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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).

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)

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.

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

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

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)

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

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

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».

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)

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

«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)

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)

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)

«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)

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)

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)

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)

“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)

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.

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)

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.

“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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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.

“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)

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.

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)

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)

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)

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.

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.

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)

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)

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.

“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)