"A documentary about spiritual healing."
A documentary about healers from the Swiss canton of Appenzell.
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The people behind it
A record of the ascent of the Jungfrau by Frederick Burlingham accompanied by four mountain guides. The film starts with panoramics of the Eiger North Face from Kleine Scheidegg. The party begin the climb from the Jungfraujoch Station crossing the Jungfrau Firn and reaching the summit of the Jungfrau by the steep Roththal Sattel. Frederick Burlingham was a traveller cinematographer and one of the mountain film pioneers. Continuing the mountain film tradition established by Ormiston-Smith, Burlingham filmed several mountaineering films largely in Switzerland, taking mountain film in a new direction of immediacy and perceived peril. In the early history of factual filmmaking, Burlingham played a substantial role in developing the related genres of the mountaineering and the exploration film.
...where the whole expedition, by the breaking of an ice cornice on the summit, escaped death by a hair's breadth. The miraculous escape is recorded on the screen.
At the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland, we see the red-hot favourites Hungary, led by the legendary Ferenc Puskás eventually beaten by West Germany 3-2 in a classic final.
The two guides Adrien and Félix Veillon with the customer Rotschild climb the Argentine ridge in the Swiss canton of Valais. The film was so successful that it encouraged director Emile Gos, the legendary mountain filmmaker, to make what probably was one of the firsts mountaineering feature films 'La Croix du Cervin'.
Lap up the luxury and opulence of the festive season at Switzerland's Gstaad Palace hotel, as we discover one of the most exclusive hotels in the world, where staff and management work hard to ensure their guests enjoy the ultimate 5-star festive experience. Run by third generation hotelier Andrea Scherz, whose family have owned the hotel since 1938, the hotel is one of the last in Switzerland to close between the summer season and winter. When it reopens in mid-December, with rooms costing up to £18,000 per night, the pressure is on to provide a truly first class Christmas.
Switzerland still carries out special flights, where passengers, dressed in diapers and helmets, are chained to their seats for 40 hours at worst. They are accompanied by police officers and immigration officials. The passengers are flown to their native countries, where they haven't set foot in in up to twenty years, and where their lives might be in danger. Children, wives and work are left behind in Switzerland. Near Geneva, in Frambois prison, live 25 illegal immigrants waiting for deportation. They are offered an opportunity to say goodbye to their families and return to their native countries on a regular flight, escorted by plain-clothes police officers. If they refuse this offer, the special flight is arranged fast and unexpectedly. The stories behind the locked cells are truly heartbreaking.
A collage of five people from different cultures living in Switzerland. They reflect on life by looking at their origins. The liveliness and diversity of life can be divined.
“Namibia Crossings” takes a trip through a country of archaic beauty and bizarre contradictions. The film creates polyphonies of soulful landscapes made up of each individual's highs and lows.
With his vivid oil paintings, Albert Anker captured Swiss folk life like no other. Together with musician Endo Anaconda we discover the "Anker-House", Anker's old studio.
Zurich-born Hugo Koblet was the first international cycling star of the post-war period. He was a stylist on the bicycle and in life, and a huge heartthrob. Koblet had a meteoric rise and won the Giro d'Italia in 1950. Once he had reached the zenith of his career, Koblet was put under pressure by overly ambitious officials and ended up ruining his health with drugs. In 1954, he married a well-known model and they became a celebrity dream couple. After his athletic career ended, Koblet began to lose his footing. Threatened by bankruptcy, he crashed his Alfa into a tree.
The film reconstructs the memories of a divorced family with empathy yet merciless precision. An intimate family story emerges during the investigation into the reasons for the separation. Hinging on the subtle and touching testimonies of the family members, the film delves into complex interrelationships. Actors bring the family's memories alive as if they were their own. The result is a chronicle of a family drama, which the real protagonists complement and comment on – a reflection on the mechanisms and dynamics shaping and directing their family life over the years.
Klaus Rozsa, a well-known and politically active photographer, lived in Zurich for decades as a stateless individual. All of his applications for naturalisation were refused on political grounds. In 1956 he fled Hungary, growing up in Switzerland with a Jewish father who had survived Auschwitz and Dachau. Due to the extreme proximity of such a fate, the camera led him repeatedly to places where injustice was done. It was this particular quality of his camerawork that proved fateful for him.
In 1979 U.S. President Jimmy Carter installed 32 solar hot water panels on the roof of the White House, which were removed after Ronald Reagan took office. This documentary investigates what happened to those panels and why they were removed.
A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.
This unique cinematic experience dives deep into an artist’s work and reveals his life path, inspiration, and creative process. It explores his fascination with myth and history. Past and present are interwoven to diffuse the line between film and painting, allowing the audience to be completely immersed in the remarkable world of one of the greatest contemporary artists, Anselm Kiefer. Wim Wenders shot this unique portrait over the course of two years in stunning 3D.
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
In 2019, Nepalese mountain climber Nirmal “Nims” Purja set out to do the unthinkable by climbing the world’s fourteen highest summits in less than seven months. (The previous record was eight years). He called the effort “Project Possible 14/7” and saw it as a way to inspire others to strive for greater heights in any pursuit. The film follows his team as they seek to defy naysayers and push the limits of human endurance.
THE SPIRIT MOLECULE weaves an account of Dr. Rick Strassman's groundbreaking DMT research through a multifaceted approach to this intriguing hallucinogen found in the human brain and hundreds of plants, including the sacred Amazonian brew, ayahuasca. Utilizing interviews with a variety of experts to explain their thoughts and experiences with DMT, and ayahuasca, within their respective fields, and discussions with Strassman’s research volunteers, brings to life the awesome effects of this compound, and introduces us to far-reaching theories regarding its role in human consciousness.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.
14-year-old Laura Dekker sets out on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone.
An examination of the life of acclaimed 'horse whisperer' Buck Brannaman, who recovered from years of child abuse to become a well-known expert in the interactions between horses and people.
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
Wolfgang Beltracchi got away with forging art masterpieces for over 40 years. He may be egotistical and nihilistic, but his genius in undeniable. He managed to fool gallery owners, historians and investors with the stroke of a brush. This documentary follows his last days as a free man.
A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.
In a crime-plagued neighborhood near Miami, brutal, bare-knuckled backyard fights give young men a chance to earn money -- and self-respect.
Deep Blue is a major documentary feature film shot by the BBC Natural History Unit. An epic cinematic rollercoaster ride for all ages, Deep Blue uses amazing footage to tell us the story of our oceans and the life they support.
Shot under extreme conditions and inspired by Mayan creation theory, the film contemplates the illusion of reality and the possibility of capturing for the camera something which is not there. It is about the mirages of nature—and the nature of mirage.
The film profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, shining a light on how they attract true believers and the things they do in the name of religion.
In 1997, Louis Theroux made a documentary about the world of male porn performers in Los Angeles. 15 years later, he returns to find a business struggling with the deluge of free porn on the internet. Louis revisits some of the original programme's contributors as well as meeting the latest crop of porn performers dreaming of porn stardom.
Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.
A documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next Billy Graham.
