Frau Mercedes

Sex, Lies And Zumba

August 2013 •English

A behind-the-scenes inside a news story that swept the US: a Zumba instructor, Alexis Wright, who lead a double life as a prostitute. With never-before-seen interviews from men on “the List,” local media and even her husband, Sex, Lies and Zumba will delve deeper into the operation, those involved, and just how this scandal took place in the small town of Kennebunk, Maine.

Namibia Crossings

November 2004 •German

“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.

Fight

November 2024 •Armenian

In a conservative Armenian family a 16 years old Karine dreams to become a veterinarian, but her family, especially her father, who is a well-known dog-fighter, is against it. They say it’s not a proper job for women. Karine needs to choose: to follow her dreams or to listen to her patriarchal family.

Into Great Silence

September 2005 •German

An intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, high in the French Alps (Chartreuse Mountains). The idea for the film was proposed to the monks in 1984, but the Carthusians said they wanted time to think about it. The Carthusians finally contacted Gröning 16 years later to say they were now willing to permit Gröning to shoot the movie, if he was still interested.

Lucie et Maintenant

April 2007 •French

In May of 1982 Julio Cortázar, the Argentinean writer and his companion in life, Carol Dunlop set out in their VW bus on a journey along the highway from Paris to Marseille that, for each of them, was to be their final one. Twenty-five years later, Océane Madelaine and Jocelyn Bonnerave set out to undertake the journey again.

Journey to the Safest Place on Earth

October 2013 •German

Over 350,000 tons of highly radioactive waste and spent fuel rods are in temporary storage on site at nuclear power complexes and at intermediate storage sites all over the world. More than 10,000 additional tons join them every year. It is the most dangerous waste man has ever produced. Waste that requires storage in a safe final repository for hundreds of thousands of years. Out of reach of humanity and other living creatures. The question is, where? Together with Swiss-British nuclear physicist Charles McCombie, who has been searching for a safe final storage site for highly radioactive nuclear waste for thirty-five years, director Edgar Hagen investigates the limitations and contradictions involved in this project of global significance. Supporters and opponents of nuclear energy struggle for solutions whilst dogmatic worldviews are assailed by doubt

Sexwork & Me

January 2012 •English

21st century legal prostitution through the frank stories of Amsterdam red-light district sex workers at a time when tighter regulation threatens their livelihood.

Show!

November 2013 •Czech

A surprisingly intimate portrait of how the dream of running one’s own business can take on monstrous contours. Managed by the father of one of the singers, over the course of five years the girl band 5Angels had reached the gates of pop fame. But it is a path paved not only with the songs of Michal David, but also with the dogged determination of a man who loses any notion of where his role as manager ends and his role as parent begins. An emotionally moved Karel Gott, five angelic girls, and one overly involved father, thanks to whom the behind-the-scenes pre-Christmas atmosphere melts away just as rapidly as the fat should disappear from the belly. “A singer can’t be a lard bucket!”

Picture of Light

June 1994 •English

A documentary of an expedition to Churchill, Manitoba to film the Northern Lights.

Augusta

January 1976 •English

This short documentary is the portrait of an 88-year-old woman who lives alone in a log cabin without running water or electricity in the Williams Lake area of British Columbia. The daughter of a Shuswap chief, Augusta lost her Indian status as the result of a marriage to a white man. She recalls past times, but lives very much in the present. Self-sufficient, dedicated to her people, she spreads warmth wherever she moves, with her songs and her harmonica.

Mabel

December 2021 •Spanish

Mabel tells us through her experiences how it is that at such a young age she starts in a world of prostitution, leading her to a process of evolution and transformation throughout her life.

Int.Anouchka-Night

Invalid date •French

Anouchka is a 30 year old screenwriter who works in a wine bar for a living. She traces her last 15 years of alcoholism thanks to a screenplay she wrote.

The Paris Opera

April 2017 •French

A behind-the-scenes look at the of how the Paris Opera is run under the direction of Stephane Lissner.

Resa till jordens medelpunkt

January 1976 •Swedish

Interview with artist Jan Håfström about his art.

Never a Backward Step

January 1966 •English

This feature documentary is a profile of Canadian press tycoon Roy Thomson, whose single-minded attention to business brought him riches, power, and even a baronetcy in England. A native of Timmins, Ontario, Thomson had a tremendous career as publisher, television magnate, financier, and owner of many newspapers, including leading London dailies. The film is a frank study of an equally frank man.

TYSON

November 2019 •English

Mike Tyson escaped a life of poverty and petty crime to make a name for himself, becoming the youngest Heavyweight Champion of the World and a household name—but his rise was followed by a very public fall. In this remarkably candid portrait, the boxer addresses his controversial past, including the rape charge that sent him to prison and his struggles with substance abuse, while also detailing his ultimate recovery and comeback.

Exit: The Right to Die

October 2006 •French

Switzerland is presently the only country in the world where suicide assistance is legal. Exit: The Right to Die profiles that nation's EXIT organization, which for over twenty years has provided volunteers who counsel and accompany the terminally-ill and severely handicapped towards a death of their choice.

Max Frisch, Citoyen

March 2008 •German

Max Frisch was the last big Swiss intellectual widely respected as a “voice” in its own right – a character hardly found today. The film retells Frisch’s story as a witness of the unfolding 20th century, wondering if such “voices” are needed at all, or if we could do without them.

Laurent Ruquier, on ne demande qu'à le connaître

December 2012 •French

A Home Far Away

April 2012 •English

The extraordinary destiny of two people. After the Second World War, Lois is an actress in Broadway theatre, television and Hollywood films. Her husband, Edgar Snow, is world famous. A pioneer fascinated by China, he is the first journalist to film and interview Mao Tse-tung. Suspected by the American authorities of Communist sympathies, Ed and Lois are blacklisted. Together with their two small children, they go to Switzerland, mid-way between China and America, where they find a new home. A story of revolution, utopia, disillusionment, and hope.