Claude Goretta

Claude Goretta directed “L'invitation” in 1973. For filmmaker Lionel Baier, born in 1975, it is like a “travelling companion”, to adapt Serge Daney’s expression. He feels it is definitive proof that a Swiss can be deeply Chekhovian. The young filmmaker goes to Geneva to ask his elder how he achieved the whoosh of water effect in the film, why attention to detail matters so much, and how to film great actors such as François Simon. This encounter with Claude Goretta – but also with Isabelle Huppert, Nathalie Baye, Michel Robin and Frédérique Meininger – leads one of the greatest of Swiss filmmakers to open up about his work.

Biographical film about French writer Jean-Paul Sartre, concentrating on his passionate affairs with women.

Biographical film about French writer Jean-Paul Sartre, concentrating on his passionate affairs with women.

In 1936, the political and marital tribulations of Léon Blum, elected President of the Council at the head of the Popular Front.

The story of Georges Mandel, an anti-Nazi French parliamentarian who refused to abdicate to the Vichy regime.

The residents of a remote Swiss mountain village come to believe an ancient oracle in this drama taken from the novel by Charles Ferdinand Ramuz. With news of the Spanish Civil War on the radio, the people begin to believe the sun will not return and the world will be forever darkened.

The residents of a remote Swiss mountain village come to believe an ancient oracle in this drama taken from the novel by Charles Ferdinand Ramuz. With news of the Spanish Civil War on the radio, the people begin to believe the sun will not return and the world will be forever darkened.

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice, symbol of love, fidelity and excess. A marvelous adaptation by Claude Goretta of Monteverdi's Orfeo, a capital piece in the history of Western music.

A TV reporter and his assisstant go to a small Swiss village to do a programme with a reclusive scientist, an expert on world food shortages. During this time, an Italian immigrant worker is killed in a road crash and the reporter becomes involved in uncovering the truth about his death.

A TV reporter and his assisstant go to a small Swiss village to do a programme with a reclusive scientist, an expert on world food shortages. During this time, an Italian immigrant worker is killed in a road crash and the reporter becomes involved in uncovering the truth about his death.

In this drama, a provincial girl goes to Paris in search of her fortune. Although she finds the City of Light to be quite different from what she'd imagined it to be, the girl manages to retain her dignity. It is only after she is thoroughly disillusioned by her experiences there that she returns to her country life.

French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau (François Simon) lives in 18th-century exile with his mistress (Dominique Labourier).

Pomme is a meek and mild French beautician whose life takes a fateful turn during a vacation to Normandy. She becomes the lover of middle-class literature-student François. The relationship sours when François takes her home to meet his parents, thanks in no small part to their differing social backgrounds.

Pomme is a meek and mild French beautician whose life takes a fateful turn during a vacation to Normandy. She becomes the lover of middle-class literature-student François. The relationship sours when François takes her home to meet his parents, thanks in no small part to their differing social backgrounds.

A manufacturer of furniture sees his business go down and decides to rob banks to pay his staff. Het gets romantically involved with one of his victims.

A manufacturer of furniture sees his business go down and decides to rob banks to pay his staff. Het gets romantically involved with one of his victims.

After the death of his mother, middle-aged insurance employee inherits her small cottage surrounded by a garden. Selling the cottage which is situated on unexploited ground near the center of a big city makes him a rich man and he buys a big house in the countryside. He takes some time off and decides to throw a big garden party at the house and invite all his colleagues from the office. Aided by alcohol, the guests gradually lose all their inhibitions and reveal personality traits and frustrations that they normally keep hidden. Written by Markku Kuoppamäki

After the death of his mother, middle-aged insurance employee inherits her small cottage surrounded by a garden. Selling the cottage which is situated on unexploited ground near the center of a big city makes him a rich man and he buys a big house in the countryside. He takes some time off and decides to throw a big garden party at the house and invite all his colleagues from the office. Aided by alcohol, the guests gradually lose all their inhibitions and reveal personality traits and frustrations that they normally keep hidden. Written by Markku Kuoppamäki

A documentary about the Swiss motorcyclist culture in the early 1970s.

A young man from the city goes on a picnic to the country with his family. They come upon a wedding party, and the young man falls in love with the bride. The girl is getting married for a number of reasons, but not for love.

George (Francois Simon) takes care of his invalid wife and holds down a full-time job. When an investment firm wipes out his life savings, the middle-aged George is soon forced into retirement for health reasons. George takes up a life of crime when the company turns his back on him and the money is gone overnight. He is soon driven to the brink of insanity over the unfortunate series of events that transpire. - Dan Pavlides

George (Francois Simon) takes care of his invalid wife and holds down a full-time job. When an investment firm wipes out his life savings, the middle-aged George is soon forced into retirement for health reasons. George takes up a life of crime when the company turns his back on him and the money is gone overnight. He is soon driven to the brink of insanity over the unfortunate series of events that transpire. - Dan Pavlides

Jean-Luc persécuté is the story about how a man is turned mad by a woman and by a suspicion about his fatherhood.

A montage of the night-life of Piccadilly Circus across the hours, from early evening to the last lingering passers-by.

A montage of the night-life of Piccadilly Circus across the hours, from early evening to the last lingering passers-by.