Heidi (2015)
Section: Welcome to Switzerland
Directed by: Alain Gsponer
Switzerland, Germany, 2015, 105 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 2
Score:
Heidi is an orphaned girl who spends the happiest days of childhood together with her friend Peter while watching a herd of goats, playing together and enjoying the freedom of the Swiss Alps, where she lives in a simple cabin with her grandfather. This all ends when Heidi is taken by her Aunt Dee to Frankfurt, Germany, where she's to provide company for a sick girl named Klara, who's from a wealthy family. The girls quickly become friends, but Heidi's longing for her grandfather, Peter and the mountains is too great...
Bold Heroes (2010)
Section: Welcome to Switzerland
Directed by: Michael Schaerer
Switzerland, 2010, 90 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 4
Score:
The lives of five teenagers intersect in a hospital. Four of the five have cancer – one is waiting for his diagnosis. Each reacts to the situation in a different manner: although Benji battles the constant pain in his leg, he keeps the station in good spirits. Michi is waiting for his leg prosthesis, aiming to be out on the football pitch again soon. Kevin discovers newfound courage thanks to Laura, who’s on the 7th floor. Jonas' passion for flying is stronger than any medicine he’s taken. And Sascha learns how to be a true friend. Together the five “station pirates” confront the fatal illness head on. Together they seize life.
Normal (2010)
Section: Welcome to Switzerland
Directed by: Bernard Weber
Switzerland, 2010, 60 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
A portrait of an extraordinary teacher and her class. She teaches children who are disabled, who have learning difficulties, and who are highly gifted together in one classroom. While the school administration worries about if and how a disabled child should be integrated into secondary school, we observe daily life in this exceptional class, where children philosophize about, for example, God and death. A portrait about how the classroom returns to normal by defining new norms. The children do not perceive their divergent abilities as a deficit, but rather as a chance and source of enrichment.
The Children from the Napf (2011)
Section: Welcome to Switzerland
Directed by: Alice Schmid
Switzerland, 2011, 87 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
Fifty children of mountain farmers, six miles of walking to school, a childhood in the heart of Switzerland. We accompany the children early in the morning, plodding through deep snow to the village school, back to the farms in the afternoon, where every child has its chores. At an early age the youngest generation is initiated to the livelihood of mountain farming. The story takes us from farm to farm and introduces us to an isolated, but also sheltered life. Through the eyes of the children we closely experience what it means should a wolf turn up or a hawk get the chickens, and how the children face the inclement whims of the weather.
My Life as a Zucchini (2016)
Section: Welcome to Switzerland
Directed by: Claude Barras
Switzerland, France, 2016, 66 min
Projection place: Mala scena
Score:
Zucchini is a rather unusual nickname for a 9-year-old boy and his unique story is surprisingly universal. After his mother’s sudden death, Zucchini is befriended by a kind police officer Raymond, who accompanies Zucchini to his new foster home, which is filled with other orphans his age. At first Zucchini struggles to find his place in this strange, at times, hostile environment. Yet with Raymond’s help and his new found friends, he eventually learns to trust, finds true love and at last a new family of his own.
Swing It Kids! (2016)
Section: Welcome to Switzerland
Directed by: Fabian Kimoto
Switzerland, 2016, 82 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 6
Score:
The Swiss children’s band Swing Kids entertains young and old wherever they go: at the Montreux Jazz Festival as well as on tour through Switzerland, the USA and Japan. The film accompanies several Swing Kids starting off with their first auditions, taking a journey to Japan for several weeks until tearfully leaving the band at the age of eighteen. They must make space for new talents who get the chance to make music and experience their own exciting adventures.
Jan - Challenge at the net (2013)
Section: Welcome to Switzerland
Directed by: Benjamin Kempf Siemens, Rafael Benito
Switzerland, 2013, 94 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
The Guler family has a dream: to take their youngest son Jan to the top of the tennis world. When his classmates start an apprenticeship or attend grammar school, Jan enters the Swiss professional tennis camp. This is a challenge for the whole family and we are witness over a period of five years to how the Guler family deals with the sport, family, and the social demands of a professional tennis career. The teenager Jan develops gradually into a young man.
Silver Forest (2011)
Section: Welcome to Switzerland
Directed by: Christine Repond
Switzerland, 2011, 85 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
A coming-of-age story set in a small Swiss town in a bleak winter landscape. A group of boys struggle with their mounting anger with the mundane world, resulting in a string of escalating acts of violence. Deep in the forest they finally find release for their aggression by joining a skinhead gang – only to discover a boundary where harmless play turns into murder.