DEBATE

ZURICH: Eldorado – The Swiss landscape, between yearning and the gated community

Markus Imhoof (Director), Prof. Dr. Susan Thieme (Geographer, University of Bern), Prof. Dr. Caroline Wiedmer (Franklin University). 

Moderator: Prof. Dr. Christoph Küffer (ETH Zurich & University of Applied Sciences Eastern Switzerland)

BERN: A discussion on migration and mobility justice

(Additional Short Film: Bashir in Wonderland) 

Dr. des Eda Elif Tibet (Social Anthropologist, University of Bern), Prof. Dr. Shahram Koshravi (Social Anthropologist, Stockholm University), Jyothi Kanics (Migration Researcher, European Network on Statelessness), Prof. Dr. Susan Thieme (Geographer, University of Bern)

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STORY

Drawing inspiration from his personal encounter with the Italian refugee child Giovanna during World War II, Markus Imhooftells how refugees and migrants are treated today on the Mediterranean Sea, in Italy and in Switzerland.

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DEBATE

The role of women in (natural) sciences

ZURICH

Filmmakers: Dr. Anne Innis Dagg (Main protagonist) & Alison Reid (Director and Writer)

Scientist: Prof. Dr. Susanne Ulbrich (Animal Physiologist, ETH Zurich)

Moderator: Isabella Sedivy (Swiss National TV, SRF)

BERN

Filmmakers: Dr. Anne Innis Dagg (Main protagonist) & Alison Reid (Director and Writer)

Scientist: Prof. Dr. Catherine Peichel (Evolutionary Biologist, University of Bern)

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STORY

In 1956, four years before Jane Goodall ventured into the world of chimpanzees and seven years before Dian Fosseyleft to work with mountain gorillas, in fact, before anyone, man or woman had made such a trip, 23-year old Canadian biologist, Anne Innis Dagg, made an unprecedented solo journey to South Africa to become the first person in the world to study animal behaviour in the wild on that continent. When she returned home a year later armed with ground-breaking research, the insurmountable barriers she faced as a female scientist proved much harder to overcome. In 1972, having published 20 research papers as an assistant professor of zoology at University of Guelph, the Dean of the university denied her tenure. She couldn't apply to the University of Waterloo because the Dean there told Anne that he would never give tenure to a married woman. This was the catalyst that transformed Anne into a feminist activist. The film retraces the steps of Anne's ground-breaking 1956 journey to South Africa to study giraffes in the wild -- and discovers a startling contrast between the world of giraffes she once knew and the one it has become.

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DEBATE

Love, family and kinship in times of global migration

ZURICH

Filmmakers: Janus Metz (Director and Writer) & Sine Plambech (Director and Writer) via Skype

Scientist: Andrea Zimmermann  (SNF-Fellow, PhD thesis on “The Relevance of Buddhist Religiousness in the Daily Life of Female Thai Marriage Migrants in Switzerland”, Lucerne University)

Moderator: Joel Lüthi (University of Zurich & REATCH) 

BERN

Filmmakers: Janus Metz (Director and Writer) & Sine Plambech (Director and Writer) via Skype

Scientist: Prof. Dr. Susan Thieme (Geography & Sustainability, University of Bern)

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STORY

939 Thai women live in the windswept Northern Jutland. 25 years ago, that number was close to zero, and included Sommai, a former sex worker from Pattaya. Sommai came to Denmark to marry Niels. Ever since, she has helped women from her village in Thailand marry lonely men from Northern Jutland. The two small communities in different parts of the world are now closely linked. Now, Sommai'sniece, Kae, is on her way to Denmark. With Niels' help, Sommai places a personal ad in the local newspaper and soon, Kjeld comes forward as a suitor. The network of Thai/Danish married couples in Northern Jutland begin to teach Kae about Danish norms and prepare her for the meeting with Kjeld. So while Kae is settling in at Kjeld's 'little home' where the two strangers must try to overcome shyness and language difficulties, Saeng follows her female friend Lom to the city of Pattaya to sell sex to tourists. From here, Saeng must provide for her son and the family back home. Ten years later, we meet the women and their husbands from Northern Jutland again.

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DEBATE

Guilt and Justice - The fragile human ecosystem

ZURICH

Filmmaker: Oliver Laxe (Director and Writer)

Scientist: Prof. Dr. Martino Mona (Criminal Law and Philosophy of Law, Bern University)

Moderator: Dr. Jasmin Winkler (Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies,Zurich University)

BERN

Filmmaker: Oliver Laxe (Director and Writer)

Scientist: Dr. Patricia Fry (Biologist and Social Learning Expert, Zurich)

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STORY

Amador Coro has been condemned for having provoked a fire. When he gets out of prison, nobody is waiting for him. He returns to his home town, a small village hidden in the mountains of rural Galicia, to live with his mother, Benedicta, and their three cows. Life goes by, following the rhythm of nature. Until one night when a fire starts to devastate the region.

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DEBATE

The search for the impossible in science and the power of the individuals behind it

ZURICH

Filmmaker: Jagan Shakti (Director and Writer)

Scientist: Prof. Dr. Susanne Wampfler (Eccellenza Professorial Fellow in Astrochemistry at the Centre for Space and Habitability, University of Bern)

Moderator: Dr. Savas Ceylan ( Institute of Geophysics, ETH Zurich)

BERN

Filmmaker: Jagan Shakti (Director and Writer)

Scientist: Dr. Maria N. Drozdovskaya (Center for Space and Habitability , University of Bern)

Moderator: Dr. Payal Parekh (Climate Scientist and Activist)

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STORY

In November 2013, India launches its first interplanetary spacecraft, making India the fourth country in the world to launch a spacecraft into the Mars orbital. Mission Mangal traces the story of women and men from the Indian Space Research Organisation recruited to send a probe around Mars. The Mars Orbiter Mission, at first thought impossible, is a real challenge due to the tight budget, tensions among the crew and the pressure to realize a genuine technological breakthrough.

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DEBATE

What can sound do to the brain and the emotional fabric?

ZURICH

Filmmakers: Michael Tyburski (Director & Co-writer) & Ben Nabors (Producer & Co-writer),

Scientist: Marte Roel (Scientist for composition, electronic production, philosophy of science, cognitive systems and interactive media. Currently he’s a PhD candidate at the department of psychology, cognitive neuropsychology (focus: body, self and Plasticity) at the University of Zurich).

Moderator: Prof. Dr. Marcus Hall (Environmental Humanity, University of Zürich) 

BERN

Filmmakers: Michael Tyburski (Director & Co-writer) & Ben Nabors(Producer & Co-writer)

Scientist: Prof. Dr. Michael Harenberg (Sound Artist and Musicologist, University of the Arts Bern)

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STORY

There are a symphony of almost undetectable sounds that make up a moment of silence, and Peter Lucian (Peter Sarsgaard) is determined to catalogue them all. Through his job as a New York City "house tuner”, the hyper-methodical Peter works meticulously to diagnose the discordant ambient noises – produced by everything from wind patterns to humming electrical appliances – adversely affecting his clients' moods. When he takes on the particularly difficult case of Ellen (Rashida Jones), a lonely woman plagued by chronic exhaustion, Peter finds that the mysteries of the soul may be even greater than the mysteries of sound.

DEBATE

Wildlife Trafficking: the disparity of miracle healing, global trade and organized crime

ZURICH

Filmmakers: Susan Scott (Director and Writer) & Bonnéde Bod (Presenter)

Scientist: Dr. Gian Ege (Senior Assistant for Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law, expert on illegal animal trafficking)

Moderator: Dr. Henriette Bornkamm(Film Studies, University of Zurich)

BERN

Filmmakers: Susan Scott (Director and Writer) & Bonnéde Bod (Presenter)

Scientists: Dr. Mathias Lörtscher (President: CITES – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora)

               Prof. Dr. Olivier Graefe (Professor in Human Geography, University of Fribourg) 

Moderator: Dr. Jevgeniy Bluwstein (Geographer, University of Fribourg)

STORY

Two filmmakers explore the war for rhino horns. Initially setting out on a six-month project, the duo leave their jobs, sell their homes, move in with their mothers and give up nearly four years of their lives to document not just the rhinos but the various people connected to this iconic animal. In this roller-coaster ride between Africa and Asia, the two women embed themselves on the front-line of a species genocide where they are given exclusive access to the enforcement aspect of the fight. From rangers, pilots and K9 units patrolling the hardest hit national parks to elite police units raiding wildlife trafficking dens in major cities, they find themselves in some hair-raising situations.

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DEBATE

How does water affect humanity and how does humanity affect the balance of water?

ZURICH

Filmmaker: Aimara Reques (Co-Writer and Producer)

Scientist & Moderator: Prof. Dr. Janet Hering (Director EAWAG, Swiss Federal Institute for Acquatic Science and Technology), and Prof. Scientist & Moderator: Prof. Dr. Konrad Steffen (Director WSL, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape)

BRERN

Filmmaker: Aimara Reques (Co-Writer and Producer)

Scientist: Dr. Aurea Chiaia-Hernández (Institute of Geography, Bern University)

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STORY

Water is the main protagonist, seen in all its great and terrible beauty. Mountains of ice move and break apart as if they had a life of their own. Kossakovsky's film travels the world, from the precarious frozen waters of Russia's Lake Baikal and Miami in the throes of Hurricane Irma, to Venezuela's mighty Angel Falls in order to paint a portrait of this fluid life force in all its glorious forms. Fragile humans experience life and death, joy and despair in the face of its power. The Most Dangerous Documentary Ever Made! When the filmmakers first watched the rough cut of the movie, they asked each other “did we experience this and we are still alive?“

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