11th edition HRFF ZURICH | Program Release 5th March
Program overview
23. September 2025
  1. 19:30
    BERLIN UTOPIEKADAVER – Zeit_Raum_Forum
    Di. 23. Sept.

    Neues Kino Basel
    Infos & Tickets

    DE 92' | Deutschland | Johannes Blume | Doc

    The Zeit_Raum_Forum (ZRF) is a two-day event that has been held annually since 2023. On September 23 and 24, the third edition will take place at HUMBUG Basel on the topic of temporary spaces - this time with the focus: “Interim use - more than a gap filler: from planning tool to permanent temporary solution”. The aim of the event is to network stakeholders from the fields of urban development, architecture, administration, politics, culture, real estate and education and to discuss temporary spaces. With a mixture of lectures, panels, excursions, workshops and other formats, the participants of the forum will deal with interim and conversion uses, circular construction, cultural and open spaces from different perspectives and with different approaches.

    The Human Rights Film Festival Zurich is co-presenting the film BERLIN UTOPIEKADAVER by Johannes Blume at Neues Kino, which follows the latest left-wing autonomous housing projects in Berlin. The film paints a picture of everyday life and the concerns of people far from the middle class, whose way of life is increasingly threatened by advancing gentrification.

    Followed by a Q&A with Johannes Blume (film maker)
    Moderated by Josephine Tedder (HRFF Zurich)

21. November 2025
  1. 20:00
    HRFF ON TOUR – COEXISTENCE MY ASS
    Fr. 21. Nov.

    Cinema Xenix
    Infos & Tickets

    OVe 95' | USA, Frankreich 2025 | Amber Fares | Doc

    After her time working for the UN, Noam Shuster Eliassi devises a one-woman show about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But as the region sinks deeper into devastating violence, she must challenge her audiences with hard truths. A must-see film, driven by a brave and endearing woman, which cannot help but interweave humour and grief.

    The Human Rights Film Festival Zurich is co-presenting the film COEXISTENCE MY ASS by Amber Fares at the Xenix cinema.

10. Dezember 2025
  1. 19:30
    HRFF ON TOUR – KHARTOUM
    Mi. 10. Dez.

    Kino Cameo
    Infos & Tickets

    OVe 80' | Deutschland, Katar, Sudan, Grossbritannien 2025 | Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea M Ahmed, Phil Cox | Doc

    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.

    The Human Rights Film Festival Zurich presents the film KHARTOUM by Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea M Ahmed and Phil Cox at the cinema Cameo, in collaboration with Médecins sans Frontières.

    Followed by a film discussion with Andrea Isenegger, former project coordinator in El Geneina and Aboutengue, moderated by Ines Topi (Médecins sans Frontières).

12. Dezember 2025
  1. 18:30
    HRFF CURATES – ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL
    Fr. 12. Dez.

    Stattkino Luzern
    Infos & Tickets

    OVe 98' | UK 2024 | Rungano Nyoni | Doc

    Late at night, on her way home from a costume party, Shula drives down a deserted street and discovers her uncle lying dead on the ground. As preparations for the funeral ceremony get underway, she and her cousins gradually bring the family's hidden secrets to light, while their aunts would rather have buried them with Uncle Fred. With her Cannes award-winning feature film, oscillating between comedy and social drama, Rungano Nyoni delivers a bitterly angry reckoning with the lies we tell ourselves, breaking several taboos in the process.

    ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL is the opening film of this year's Comundo Human Rights Film Festival in Lucerne. HRFF Zurich, as curating partner, has put together the film selection for this year's edition. The rest of the program:

    Saturday, 13 December 2025
    SEARCHING FOR AMANI | 1.30 pm
    NO OTHER LAND | 4.30 pm
    DREAMERS | 8 pm

13. Dezember 2025
  1. 17:30
    HRFF ON TOUR – KOUTÉ VWA / LISTEN TO THE VOICES
    Sa. 13. Dez.

    Cinema Houdini
    Infos & Tickets

    OVe 77' | Belgien, Frankreich, Französisch Guayana 2024 | Maxime Jean-Baptiste | Doc

    Melrick, a 13-year-old boy, spends his summer with his grandmother Nicole in Cayenne, French Guiana. His presence and his desire to learn how to play the drum bring back the specter of Lucas, Nicole's son, also a drummer, who tragically died 11 years earlier. Faced with the grief that haunts his family and Lucas's best friend's desire for revenge, Melrick seeks his own path to forgiveness.

    The Human Rights Film Festival Zurich is co-presenting the film KOUTÉ VWA / LISTEN TO THE VOICES by Maxime Jean-Baptiste at the Black Film Festival Zurich at the Houdini cinema.