La moitié de la gloire (1995)

A well-preserved mammoth carcass is found in the remote New Siberian Islands in the Arctic Ocean, opening up the possibility of a world-changing “Jurassic Park” moment in genetics.

Un relato de la vida y la obra del pintor, escultor, arquitecto y diseñador suizo H. R. Giger (1940-2014), padre atormentado de criaturas tan temibles como fascinantes, habitantes de mundos biomecánicos de pesadilla.

Pascal y Carole son pastores. En noviembre de 2010 se embarcan en la larga trashumancia invernal: cuatro meses durante los cuales tendrán que recorrer 600 km de la región suizo-francesa, acompañados de tres burros, cuatro perros y ochocientas ovejas.

A behind-the-scenes look at the of how the Paris Opera is run under the direction of Stephane Lissner.

What does a baby's cry have in common with the echo of a mountain yodler, and what connects the head tone of a Tuvin nomad with the stage show of a vocal artist? The answer is: THE VOICE. Against a background of powerful alpine vistas and modern city landscapes, "heimatklänge" enters the wondrous sonic world of three exceptional Swiss vocal artists. Their universe of sound extends far beyond what we would describe as singing. In their engagement with local and foreign traditions, the powerful mountain landscape becomes a stage as do the landscapes and sonic backdrops of modern life.

Filmmaker Peter Mettler embarks on a mission that takes him around the world. He is determined to record the diverse modes of transcendence that people in different cultures adopt in order to live life to the fullest. As he traverses civilization and wilderness and encounters a range of lifestyles and ideas, the filmmaker's mind-expanding trip around the world grows into a poem of images and sounds, reflecting the fragmented but alluring worlds it attempts to capture.

En 1984 el director alemán Phillip Gröning pidió permiso a la Orden de los Cartujos para rodar una película en el interior de uno de sus monasterios. Le dijeron que era demasiado pronto. Quizás más adelante. Dieciséis años después recibió una llamada. Había llegado la hora... Los preparativos llevaron dos años, el rodaje uno y la postproducción dos más. Han transcurrido, por tanto, veintiún años hasta su completa finalización. El Gran Silencio muestra por primera vez el día a día dentro del "Grande Chartreuse", el monasterio de referencia en los Alpes franceses de la legendaria Orden de los Cartujos.

Fernand Melgar ha seguido durante tres meses, día tras día, a un grupo de inmigrantes precarios antes de poder contar con su confianza, necesaria para la realización de su película. "L’abri" se sumerge en el corazón de un centro de asistencia a los sin techo de Lausana en el que cada noche, durante muchas horas, perforados por el frío punzante, estos hombres y mujeres buscan refugio. Los guardianes, impotentes, se ven en la obligación de plegarse cada noche al ritual cotidiano y terrible de elegir a los pocos que podrán acceder finalmente al búnker (como comúnmente lo llaman los propios inmigrantes) y recibir una comida caliente y una cama. (FILMAFFINITY)

Tracing the emigrations of his family over more than half a century, this riveting documentary epic from acclaimed expatriate Iraqi filmmaker Samir pays moving homage to the frustrated democratic dreams of a people successively plagued by the horrors of dictatorship, war and foreign occupation of Iraq.

A documentary. David Sieveking takes the advice of his idol, David Lynch and tries out Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's transcendental meditation technique.

Croacia, 7 de enero de 1992: En plena guerra, se descubre el cuerpo de un joven periodista vestido con el uniforme de un grupo mercenario internacional. Veinte años después, su prima Anja Kofmel investiga su historia

Poco después de la llegada al poder de Castro, la estudiante alemana de 20 años Monica Krause se enamora del capitán de barco cubano Jesús Jiménez y le sigue en su travesía hasta Cuba, donde muy pronto alternaría con las más altas esferas de los cargos de la Revolución, desempeñándose como traductora de Fidel Castro. Algunos años después se extendería por todo el país su fama como promotora oficial de educación sexual con un programa de radio y televisión propios. Se hace famosa de la noche a la mañana como la 'reina del condón'. Su esposo no se aviene bien con esa situación: el matrimonio se disuelve. A la caída del Muro de Berlín, en 1989, Krauze regresa con sus dos hijos a Alemania.

Zurich-born Hugo Koblet was the first international cycling star of the post-war period. He was a stylist on the bicycle and in life, and a huge heartthrob. Koblet had a meteoric rise and won the Giro d'Italia in 1950. Once he had reached the zenith of his career, Koblet was put under pressure by overly ambitious officials and ended up ruining his health with drugs. In 1954, he married a well-known model and they became a celebrity dream couple. After his athletic career ended, Koblet began to lose his footing. Threatened by bankruptcy, he crashed his Alfa into a tree.

Grimsel-West was the name of a project for the expansion of the hydroelectric plant in the Hasli Valley. Submitted on 30 June 1988, its realization seems fairly improbable for the moment. Originally conceived as an expression of opposition to the construction of a new dam, the film tries to fathom the undercurrent of apprehension caused by such plans to exploit the environment.

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

The Grüninger case from Switzerland. This is a documentary about a police officer who showed civil courage back in the forties when he led many refugees fleeing German Nazi terror immigrate to Switzerland, although he was advised not to do so. Grüninger later was sued by the state of Switzerland, lost his job and died in the early seventies. The film constructs a just lawsuit with eye-witnesses and thus fully legitimates what Grüninger did.

After 30 years of chain smoking, Swiss filmmaker Peter Liechti sets out on a journey - three times! - to wean himself off cigarettes. He departs from Zürich and walks to St. Gallen, the place were he grew up und also the place where he started smoking. On his pilgrimage through Switzerland he hopes to find the root of his addiction and waits for a final catharsis to release him. Time and time again though, his sympathy for other smokers and disdain for goody-goody non-smokers gets in the way. And time after time his nicotine addiction gets the best of him. His three attempts to quit by walking it off, turn into an expedition of Liechtis home country. He gives a declaration of independence but also a confession of love to Switzerland.

Memoirs of the Italian Opera by the singers and musicians of the Casa Verdi, Milan, the world’s first nursing home for retired opera singers, founded by composer Giuseppe Verdi in 1896. This documentary, which has achieved cult-like status among opera and music lovers, features former singers who reminisce about their careers and their past operatic roles.

Above and Below is a rough and rhythmic roller coaster ride seating five survivors in their daily hustle through an apocalyptic world. A journey of challenges and beauty in uncomfortable places: Rick & Cindy, Godfather Lalo in the flood channels deep down under the shiny strip of Sin City. Dave in the dry and lonesome Californian desert and April in simulation for a Mars mission in the Utah desert. Through the hustle, the pain and the laughs, we are whisked away to an unfamiliar world, yet quickly discover the souls we encounter are perhaps not that different from our own.