11th edition HRFF ZURICH | Program Release 5th March 26th March – 1st April 2026 | RIFFRAFF

A street in central Warsaw is the focus of this witty and personal portrait of Poland. Filmmaker Arjun Talwar immigrated to the country a decade ago but still struggles to fit in. Ulica Wilcza, the street where he lives, has not really helped matters. In an attempt to accelerate his integration, he begins filming his neighbours, sounding out his relationships with them and seeking ways to overcome his own feelings of alienation. With the help of his friend Mo, another immigrant-turned-filmmaker, Arjun uncovers the hidden secrets of the street, revealing a host of charming inhabitants. He finds other people like himself who are living between the past and present, between an imagined homeland and the real one. The street connects them all like an invisible thread, offering solace in the melancholy of everyday life. Along this kilometre-long stretch, a picture of modern Europe emerges, exposing a kaleidoscope of contradictions and anxieties as a foreign filmmaker holds up a mirror to a country that is often perceived as homogeneous, unwelcoming and politically right-wing. (Berlinale)

Floria, a dedicated nurse, navigates the relentless pace of her hospital’s understaffed surgical ward with humanity and warmth. As the day intensifies, she is pushed to the brink in a race against time.

Floria, a dedicated nurse, navigates the relentless pace of her hospital’s understaffed surgical ward with humanity and warmth. As the day intensifies, she is pushed to the brink in a race against time.

Alyssa, a rebellious 19-year-old girl, and her friend Mehdi, an introverted 23-year-old man, use their imagination to escape their unpromising reality. When they discover a contest in the south of Tunisia that may allow them to flee, they undertake a road trip regardless of the obstacles in their way.

Award Ceremony & Context Talk (english), followed by a screening of I AM TRULY A DROP OF SUN ON EARTH and Q&A

The sun has not quite risen in Tbilisi, Georgia, when April is released after having spent another night in jail for prostitution. Although, for April and her fellow sex workers, the sun will probably never come up. They live in a masculine world in which women are a disposable commodity – something to vent your anger on. In the shadow of a luxury hotel, April meets Dije, a young Nigerian immigrant – an outsider even among outsiders. He once thought he was on his way to Georgia, USA, but ended up here instead. Another dream dashed. In this place, at the edge of the world where the only option is day-to-day survival , these two souls recognise one another’s lonely journey. In this powerful debut filmed in black-and-white – how else – and with a layer of ink-black, biting humour, Elene Naveriani sketches lives in suspended animation – a living death, until death comes. (IFFR)

At just 16, Soraya is already creating stunning drawings and sculptures that are as beautiful as they are dark. This strong-willed Afghan sculptor and illustrator has been trying for five years to escape Iran and join her mother in Austria. This subtly textured self-portrait interweaves chilling scenes of her escape attempts with political news from Afghanistan and videos in which she sings and dances—or shows her bruises. Soraya is married to a violent man, and she is determined to shape her own future. Mehrdad Oskouei directed this film entirely remotely, with Soraya filming all the footage herself over five years using her phone.
This material is interspersed with shots of her drawings and surreal animations. Making art is no idle pastime for Soraya: she puts all her worries, joys, and fears into her drawings and the sculptures she makes from soaked egg cartons or clay that she finds along her escape routes. Many of her drawings feature recurring figures: a loyal fox who is her traveling companion, a pink moon that always watches over her, and a clown who never laughs—a character Soraya identifies with. (IDFA)

A street in central Warsaw is the focus of this witty and personal portrait of Poland. Filmmaker Arjun Talwar immigrated to the country a decade ago but still struggles to fit in. Ulica Wilcza, the street where he lives, has not really helped matters. In an attempt to accelerate his integration, he begins filming his neighbours, sounding out his relationships with them and seeking ways to overcome his own feelings of alienation. With the help of his friend Mo, another immigrant-turned-filmmaker, Arjun uncovers the hidden secrets of the street, revealing a host of charming inhabitants. He finds other people like himself who are living between the past and present, between an imagined homeland and the real one. The street connects them all like an invisible thread, offering solace in the melancholy of everyday life. Along this kilometre-long stretch, a picture of modern Europe emerges, exposing a kaleidoscope of contradictions and anxieties as a foreign filmmaker holds up a mirror to a country that is often perceived as homogeneous, unwelcoming and politically right-wing. (Berlinale)

Tbilisi, Georgia. A man is dead. He leaves behind his half-grown son Gonga and uncle Bart. The two of them drift around the suburbs while Bart (who used to be Gonga’s aunt) tries to teach Gonga how to be a real man and everything that goes with it – like how to park a car, smoke weed, drink and put on a condom properly.
Bart is a hustler who owes money and finds things at the dump and sells them on. On a day of drifting, they find a suitcase full of rusty crosses and Bart has a bright idea: turn the crosses into neon crucifixes to sell to the townspeople by going door-to-door. The business is a success, the money is flowing in, but then Bart goes to the casino.
‘Holy Electricity’ is a playful fable and an endearing portrait of Tbilisi and its people. An audience favorite where imaginative fiction and stylized social realism are each other’s best friends – and an example of why Georgian cinema is on a roll right now. (CPH:DOX)

A village at the Georgian Black Sea with friendly people believing to know each other. One day, Eliko is found hanged and his granddaughter Moe is called to organise the funeral. She is confronted with a web of lies and the tragic consequences of Eliko’s hidden love life with Amnon over the last twenty-two years. The truth however freed Moe’s capability to love and provokes the villagers to take a stand. (Swiss Films)

Images: © Maximage Sister distribution

In 2022, four Sudanese filmmakers and a British writer-director began filming the everyday lives and dreams of five very different residents of Khartoum. Street boys Lokain and Wilson scour a garbage dump so they can buy two beautiful shirts; tea seller and single mother Khadmallah diligently studies maths so she can start her own business; resistance committee volunteer Jawad protests against the military regime; civil servant Majdi escapes office life by racing pigeons with his son. When filming begins, they are all living under a military regime that had recently overthrown the civilian government in Sudan. A short time later, the regime splits and a war begins between the military and the Rapid Support Forces militias that displaces more than ten million people. The filmmakers and their protagonists, too, are forced to flee to East Africa. Using animation, green screen reconstructions and dream sequences, they find alternative ways to tell their stories. The result is an emotional, lyrical portrait of five people from Khartoum at a key moment in African history. (Berlinale)

Italian director Parsifal Reparato’s film questions the working conditions of Vietnamese women workers in a huge electronics factory that employs nearly 80,000 people. Without ever filming directly inside the factory, the filmmaker chooses a unique procedure: he asks the workers to replay certain scenes of their daily lives in a bare, almost abstract setting, which emphasises the mechanical and repetitive aspect of their hand movements. These re-enactments, combined with huge close-ups of hands and faces, allow us to get a feel of the reality of a mostly invisible system.
The recorded testimonies express aspects that are rarely relayed: these women describe chronic fatigue, constant surveillance, and the feeling of alienation that stems from an imposed rhythm. They also express their aspirations to go elsewhere, their wish to study, to regain a kind of freedom. Their ubiquitous mobile phones evoke the fragile link with their loved ones, their children whom they barely see grow up. By combining performance, personal narrative and documentary procedure, She questions the violence of globalised work. Between constraint and dignity, the women’s voices express a hint of resistance and affirm a glimmer of persisting hope despite confinement. (Adrien Kuenzy, Semaine de la Critique Locarno)

After her father Asllan has lived in exile for sixty years, Dea returns with him to Makermal. This Kosovar village that was once his home was destroyed in the war, leaving only the stories of the survivors. Together with the remaining villagers, Swiss-Kosovar director Dea Gjinovci and her father embark on a search for traces of the past and are confronted with the collective scars of a community. THE BEAUTY OF THE DONKEY is a moving meditation on the fragility of memory, blending documentary reality with an almost fairy-tale-like visual language. «A lyrical narrative about reconciliation and the inability to forget across generations emerges between memory and destruction. The painful poetry of this documentary moved me deeply.» (ZFF)

In the borderless Europe of the 21st century, one border still separates Spain from France, marked by the Bidasoa River. On this river lies Pheasant Island, a tiny piece of land that alternates between Spain and France every six months. When the body of an illegal immigrant is discovered on the day of the border shift, Nassim, one of the survivors, becomes the target of a violent manhunt by French authorities as he tries to cross the border. This chilling event will change the lives of Laida and Sambou, an interracial couple. (Latido Films)

ETERNAL YOU examines the story of people who live on as digital replicants in the pockets of their loved ones. With the help of artificial intelligence and Big Data, a dream comes true that is as old as mankind itself: eternal life. It’s probably the biggest business idea of the digital age. Following tech start-ups which use a wealth of data to develop “digital doppelgangers,” which promise to immortalize people on earth. The film raises a number of questions, such as: Can a digital entity compensate for the loss of a loved one? How will human memory be affected? And do we not have the right to forget? (Dogwoof)

As he pedals through the streets of Paris to deliver meals, Souleymane repeats his story. In two days, he has to go through his asylum application interview, the key to obtaining papers. But Souleymane is not ready. (Trigon)

As he pedals through the streets of Paris to deliver meals, Souleymane repeats his story. In two days, he has to go through his asylum application interview, the key to obtaining papers. But Souleymane is not ready. (Trigon)

Sofia is the breakout star of her high-school volleyball team. She’s also just discovered she’s pregnant. In a country where abortion is illegal, her choices seem limited – particularly so when an abortion clinic in her economically impoverished neighbourhood is actually run by right-wing activists in an attempt to dissuade women and girls from seeking one. Sofia’s mother was Uruguayan, but she doesn’t have the money to travel, and that would mean telling her father about the situation. But supporting her at every step is Sofia’s team, a non-binary and female-identifying group, including love interest Bel.

Pasha is an ordinary schoolteacher in a small Russian village. He works at the same school he attended as a child and has dedicated himself completely to teaching. The students love him for being creative, mischievous, progressive and not as rigid as his colleagues. But when Russia invades Ukraine, Pasha loses control of the school timetable. Putin orders a new direction for the school system. Overnight, primary schools across Russia are transformed into recruitment zones. State ideology and militarisation are added to the curriculum, and critical, independent thinking disappears. Unable to come to terms with working in a propagandist system, Pasha goes undercover in his own workplace. Under the guise of his real role as the school’s videographer, he documents how propaganda and war affect life at the school. The result is an unflinching insight into a state-sanctioned, patriotic education policy. But when Pasha realises he is about to be exposed and his life may be in danger, he begins to plan his escape from Russia. (CPH:DOX)

As he pedals through the streets of Paris to deliver meals, Souleymane repeats his story. In two days, he has to go through his asylum application interview, the key to obtaining papers. But Souleymane is not ready. (Trigon)

As he pedals through the streets of Paris to deliver meals, Souleymane repeats his story. In two days, he has to go through his asylum application interview, the key to obtaining papers. But Souleymane is not ready. (Trigon)

Since the tragic deaths of their parents, Howard and Juliette have been close to each other. Their kind-hearted Uncle Chris has taken care of them so that they could remain in the only world they know: Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana in the American Deep South. A long, thin piece of land surrounded by water on all sides. And the water is rising.
In 2021, Hurricane Ida destroyed nearly every home on the peninsula and forced residents to flee. Since then, the authorities have worked to move the entire community further inland, and now Howard and Juliette must leave their childhood behind as they and the rest of the small community watch their world disappear.
Young Danish documentary filmmaker Sandra Winther has created a sensual and intimate film about pain and unity, and about the new realities of being a climate refugee in the American South. (CPH:DOX)

Boca Chica, Texas. Hemmed in by the Gulf of Mexico and the Rio Grande, the sound of the waves defines the rhythm of village life. But this wild country is in the midst of irreversible change. For the swamps have been drained, the beaches closed and the homes bought out: the shadow looming over the beach is that of a 50-story rocket, being readied to be launched into space. It is astonishing how much filmmaker Julien Elie, like the space geeks around him, had access to the facilities of Elon Musk's SpaceX. But we are no longer in the era of public space missions, the galaxy is a privatized marketing terrain of conquest, and the display of omnipotent means is part of a strategy that politics has learned well from technology. A little further south, across the border that the same policy seeks to militarize, Mexicans flock to admire the launches, far to the north, two academics keep track of the thousands of satellites sent into orbit: the sky up there, which seemed infinite, is becoming the frontier of a catastrophic cosmic pollution caused by a neoliberal takeover of space. (Visions du Réel)

Presented with Greenpeace Schweiz und Reportagen

After a lifetime under the Taliban’s ultra-conservative regime, Hawa was learning to read, write and start her own business as an adult. She was also breaking free from the domineering, 30 years older and increasingly demented husband she was married off to when she was 13 years old. Hawa’s daughter Najiba is a filmmaker documenting her mother’s transformation. But in 2021, US troops leave Afghan soil and in a split second, the Taliban are back in power. Hawa’s 14-year-old granddaughter, who fled to her because of an abusive father, must be sent back to another part of the country so the Taliban won’t force her into a marriage. Najiba herself flees to France, where she writes letters to her mother and finishes the movie remotely. Over the course of five years, ‘Writing Hawa’ introduces us to the struggle that Afghan women have to fight for just a little independence and freedom. A loving portrait of a mother and a touching, personal account of three generations of Afghan women whose dreams are shattered in an instant. (CPH:DOX)

Alyssa, a rebellious 19-year-old girl, and her friend Mehdi, an introverted 23-year-old man, use their imagination to escape their unpromising reality. When they discover a contest in the south of Tunisia that may allow them to flee, they undertake a road trip regardless of the obstacles in their way.

Floria, a dedicated nurse, navigates the relentless pace of her hospital’s understaffed surgical ward with humanity and warmth. As the day intensifies, she is pushed to the brink in a race against time.

In this quietly powerful, first-ever Rohingya-language feature, Japanese filmmaker Akio Fujimoto offers a haunting, intimate portrait of two siblings fleeing persecution in Myanmar. With nothing but vague directions and each other, nine-year-old Somira and her younger brother Shafi begin a harrowing journey to join an uncle in Malaysia, crossing borders by sea and land and navigating a world shaped by smugglers, fear and exploitation. With a cast of non-professional actors, most of whom lived refugee experiences, the film blends realism with lyrical restraint. Eschewing melodrama for quiet observation, Fujimoto captures the disorientation of displacement and the uncertainty of fragile hopes. Lost Land is a timely, deeply human reflection on survival, resilience and the Rohingya’s eternal search for a place to call home. (Red Sea IFF)