SWISS
SCIENCE FILM ACADEMY
Program 2023
Full-length Films
Basel (Cinema Pathe Küchlin)
Friday 31 March, 16:30
Zurich (Filmpodium Cinema)
Sunday 2 April, 16:30
THE INVISIBLE EXTINCTION
GENRE: Documentary
COUNTRIES: Venezuela, USA, Switzerland, China, Israel
YEAR: 2022
LENGTH: 80 min
LANGUAGES: English
SUBTITLES: French
SARAH SCHENCK (Director & Producer)
Schenck uses storytelling to advance public health goals for diverse audiences. She is an award-winning writer, director, and producer; teaches meditation to people with mental health challenges. Sarah is a self-taught filmmaker.
STEVEN LAWRENCE (Director & Producer)
Lawrence has made award-winning documentaries for over 30 years about activists, artists, and everyday heroes. He co-directed The Cat Rescuers. His many production credits include The Long Way Home, Married in America, and Sarabah.
PODIUM DISCUSSION
Basel: THE FUTURE OF MICROBIOME
Filmmaker: Sarah Schenck (Director and Writer)
Expert: Prof. Dr. Adrian Egli (University of Zurich)
Dr. Frank Petersen (Novartis)
Prof. Dr. Pascale Vonaesch (University of Lausanne)
Moderator: Dr. Marc Creus (University of Basel)
Zurich: THE FUTURE OF MICROBIOME
Filmmaker: Sarah Schenck (Director and Writer)
Expert: Dr. Tomas de Wouters (CEO, PharmaBiome)
Dr. Anton Lavrinienko (ETH Zurich)
Moderator: Julia Ecker (ETH Zurich)
STORY
The Invisible Extinction spotlights the extraordinary work and charismatic personalities of renowned scientists Dr. Martin Blaser author of best-selling Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fuelling Our Modern Plagues, and his partner in the lab and in life, Dr. Gloria Dominguez-Bello, as they endeavor to save our vanishing microbes that are essential for our survival.
The film explores promising treatments in the US, Israel and China as well as diving into the gut-brain axis. As the Covid-19 pandemic hits, Blaser pivots to focus on how our microbes may help protect us from the virus and future pandemics, while Dominguez-Bello spearheads the creation of an international microbe vault to safeguard precious bugs that may help cure chronic illnesses.
Basel (Cinema Pathe Küchlin)
Simultaneous screenings with
Swissnex China, India and Japan
Friday 31 March, 11:30
PRE-FESTIVAL
SRF 'EINSTEIN': EXPEDITION DEEP INTO THE GLACIER (OUT OF COMPETITION)
GENRE: Documentary
COUNTRIES: Switzerland
YEAR: 2021
LENGTH: 39 min
LANGUAGES: German with English subtitles
KATHRIN HÖNEGGER & TOBIAS MÜLLER (Einstein Co-Hosts)
Hönegger has been co-hosting «Einstein» since 2013 and has presented specials from Japan (robotic sciences) as well as Africa (how science supports development aid). She also works for Swiss Radio SRF3 (talk “Fokus”) as well as the art collective “Atelieer”. Hönegger studied journalism (MAZ).
Müller has co-hosted «Einstein» since 2011. His special interest is in digital transformation which has led to contributions to digital highlights with SRF in the past few years (Digitaltag, SRF Mensch-Maschine). Before starting his career in radio and TV journalism, Müller studied journalism (MAZ Luzern) as well as Multimedia Production (MSc at zhaw Chur).
PODIUM DISCUSSION
MAKING SCIENCE ACCESSIBLE TO THE BROAD PUBLIC
Switzerland, Basel
Einstein Co-Hosts: Kathrin Hönegger & Tobias Müller
Moderator: Vincenzo Ribi (Bernet Relations AG)
Japan, Osaka
Expert: Prof. Dr. Shin Sugiyama (Hokkaido University)
China, Shanghai
Expert: Prof. Dr. Shugui Hou (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)
Expert: Yang YANG (Documentary Filmmaker and Producer)
India, New Delhi
Expert: Subhra Priyadarshini (Nature India & Science Journalists Association of India)
India, Mumbai
Expert: Prof. Dr. Arnab Bhattacharya (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
India, Bangalore
Expert: Prof. Dr. Anil V. Kulkarni (Divecha Center for Climate Change)
STORY
The glaciers in the Swiss Alps are melting due to global warming. As a consequence, melting water from the “Plaine Morte” glacier has turned into a threat for the mountain village “Lenk” in the Bernese Alps. This is why scientists explore the water channels inside the glacier. Presenter Tobias Müller delves into this climatic hotspot – on a daring expedition into the middle of the glacier.