Prosperity on the one side, misery on the other: just how directly the two can be connected comes to light in Luzia Schmid’s film about the meteoric rise of her hometown of Zug upon becoming a tax haven.
In the 1990s, Spanish war photographer Gervasio Sánchez documented the lives of children in besieged Sarajevo. 25 years later he returns and confronts today’s adults with images from that time. What became of them? What was it like growing up after the war? An often overwhelming encounter with the past
In 1944, for the first time in history, the Americans give female journalists press credentials to cover the Normandy invasion. On their way along the frontlines of WWII, Martha Gellhorn, Margret Bourke-White and Lee Miller add a female subtext to war reporting which forever changes our perception of war as the “father of all things”.
What is consciousness? Is it in all living beings? Why are we predisposed for mystical experience? And what happens when we die? AWARE follows six brilliant researchers approaching the mystery from radically different perspectives, opening as a science film but emerging beyond the explicable.
Can feminism be Islamic? The role of women in Islam is a constant subject of controversy. We introduce female scholars of Islam, artists and authors who have set themselves the goal of finding their own path to emancipation.
Osteopaths can feel tensions and release blockages, treating the musculoskeletal system and internal organs with only their hands. More and more patients are turning to this alternative treatment, but the profession is not recognised everywhere and critics cite a lack of studies. We show where the manual healing method can help and where it has its limits.
The story of a rural Jewish family in Germany that was torn apart, its members forced into hard labour, deported and finally murdered. We trace the steps of their destruction, from mere harassment to crimes beyond comprehension. The film takes us to where the Holocaust unfolded: Auschwitz as well as Kaunas and Treblinka.
Flames devastated Brazil’s Amazon rainforests in summer 2019. When the world’s green lungs burn, experts and international politicians suddenly take notice. Because protecting this globally unique ecosystem is of existential importance. We investigate the unfolding ecological and humanitarian catastrophe.
A land where primeval forests meet mountain deserts, with both tropical regions and icy peaks. One of the poorest countries in the world and yet a magical, mystical place, realm of the gods and a spiritual paradise. A journey to discover Nepal’s natural beauty and the people who make their lives in this harsh and remote setting.
In 2013 an oil painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci appears in Lugano: the portrait of Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantua. The owner of the painting, Emidia Cecchini, is about to sell it for 140 million euros when Italy accuses her of illegal export. A search for evidence of an alleged art theft.
At the Mosaik art studio in Berlin, artists with disabilities are absorbed in their work. Filmmaker Sabine Herpich observes the artists in the course of creation and directs her gaze at the institution itself: its processes, staff and spaces. The film succeeds in maintaining its focus on the art itself rather than the handicaps of its creators.
The distance between human and nature, which leads us to make catastrophic miscalculations in how we treat our environment, can be overcome with the help of preserved animal specimens. This is the conviction of the three taxidermists we accompany as they prepare for the European Taxidermy Championships.