Mark Olexa

In the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, a Japanese farmer ekes out a solitary existence within the radiation red zone.

Even now, in times of an ubiquitous sexualisation of everyday life, the female orgasm continues to remain a mystery. In the documentary essay LA PETITE MORT, women of different ages and with different sexual preferences share how they experience orgasms, describe what it feels like and open up about a failed climax. Removed from pornography and excessive eroticism, they open up in indirect conversation with director-narrator Annie Gisler, who illustrates the sensual narratives of her protagonists with poetic, abstract and metaphorical images. Driven by the desire to overcome taboos and expectations that still overshadow female sexuality, the young Swiss filmmaker provides a sensitive and humorous examination of feminine intimacy in all its multifaceted richness. A dialogue among women, for women. And men.

A cinematic journey into one of the greatest European noble families, the Radziwiłłs. Even the King would stand up when Radziwiłł the Black entered the room. Members of the Radziwiłł family weren’t afraid to defend the Reformers when the fires of the Inquisition burned across Europe. It was a Radziwiłł who went on one of the most challenging pilgrimages from Vilnius to Jerusalem and then published an account, becoming the pioneer of travel literature. A mix of documentary and fiction, past and present, and history and its re-enactment, brings to life the essence of a once-popular saying: “I don’t want to be a king. I want to be a Radziwiłł.”

Around a fire in the middle of the forest, two former members of the armed anti-capitalist group La Bande à Fasel meet three young activists from the Mormont ZAD, XR Rébellion and anti-racist groups active in Switzerland. During a night as blank as a page, the five characters reflect on revolt, its forms and its limits, past and present.

A life of political commitment led filmmaker Michèle Firk from the underground support network of the Algerian FLN to the guerrilla struggle in Guatemala. In 1966, she was in Havana when the Tricontinental took place, a conference aimed at forming a united anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist front of countries from the Global South.

Andrès is a truck driver for a small transport company in Europe. As he puts in the hours, stuck in a race for profit, Andrès serves as a cog in a system that exhausts the men who make it function, and in so doing exhausts itself.

Valentina creates roses out of wool while her father tends to the plants, which are now wilting. They are surrounded by “MUOSters” that intrude into their lives. One day, the young woman realizes that thanks to her ability to create beauty, she is able to change her destiny.

The poetry of the passage of time is seen on the faces of the elderly and in the voices of a youth choir.

Summer 2014. Rural Bangladesh. 'I came from Heaven. I came to destroy all bad things in the world. I'm a police officer. I'm a flower angel. I got a job at the police station. I will punish them. I will put them in jail.' This is the story of a girl and the tragedy that changed her life.

In a hidden place, the daily routine of a retirement home unfolds as time seems to stand still. The penciled residents come to life on paper. Some are active, others rest or follow a fixed schedule that repeats each day: medication, meals, games… Around them, machines are flashing, caregivers are busy and crucifixes remind them of the death that lies in wait. Time fades away and a forest stretches out nearby.

A woman fishing in turbid waters, a suffering nature, the broken chant of the muezzin, all linked by a thin black line.

This documentary explores the life of fiery 20th-century Swiss painter Lélo Fiaux, who pursued art and love with passion.

Dan is a young man who spends a lot of time in his flat. His routine is always accompanied by electronic music pumping through his headphones. But when he steps outside, he feels disconnected from the world around him and only finds solace in nightclubs. Techno music and drugs transport him to a world where he can be himself, where he feels free. One day, he catches the eye of a baby which will change his perception of the world around him.

A film about the four-year journey of a girl named Rupa. It is the story of her dream and her endeavor to escape from a predetermined destiny. The tea gardens lost in the misty hills of northeastern Bangladesh are the background to Rupa’s struggle. She fights against a life of hardships and against the perspective of an arranged marriage. Will she search independence or give in to the pressure of this ancient land?