Film Countries Archives: Switzerland

< Back to main Festival page

A woman stands with a shell to her ear.

Hanami

  Denise Fernandes

  Switzerland, Portugal, Cape Verde     96 minutes

Synopsis

Nana is a young girl living on a remote volcanic island that much of her family, including her mother, have long since fled. When Nana falls ill to a strange fever, she is sent to the foot of the island’s volcano for treatment by the local healer. There, she encounters a world steeped in magical realism, suspended between dream and reality.

Hanami is a stunning, surreal look at family and community in Cabo Verde, an island nation whose diaspora far outnumbers its residents. Exploring the necessity of migration and the void it leaves behind, filmmaker Denise Fernandes paints a sweeping portrait of the inherited echoes between daughters and mothers — all set against the otherworldly landscape of Ilha do Fogo, Cabo Verde and its volcano.

 Cape Verdean Creole, Japanese, French, English with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Film Credits

  •   Eugenia Mumenthaler, David Epiney, Luís Urbano, Sandro Aguilar
  •   Denise Fernandes, Telmo Churro
  •   Selin Dettwiler
  •   Alana Mejía González
  •   Sanaya Andrade, Daílma Mendes, Alice Da Luz, Nha Nha Rodrigues, Yuta Nakano
  •   Rahel Zimmermann
  •   Alina film, O Som e a Fúria
  •   https://www.alinafilm.com/hanami-eng

Sponsors

Black Perspectives Program Sponsor

Logo: AllState

New Directors Program Patron

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation

With Support From

logo: Consulate General of Switzerland 283x100

< Back to main Festival page

Two men, bundled in hats and sweaters, sit back to back in a snowy landscape.

Alpha

  Jan-Willem van Ewijk

  Netherlands, Slovenia, Switzerland     100 minutes

Synopsis

In the wake of his mother’s death, Rein moves from the Netherlands to a ski town in the Swiss Alps. There, he is immersed in nature, leading a quiet life teaching snowboarding and befriending visiting skiers. Then his father comes to visit for the first time, rupturing Rein’s tranquil bubble with his domineering presence and heavy baggage from their shared past. When the two embark on a day of backcountry skiing, their tense, competitive rapport reaches a breaking point — until nature threatens to put their petty power struggle into perspective.

With stunning cinematography that captures the intimidating and immense grandeur of the Swiss Alps in winter, Alpha deftly explores the age-old battle of man vs. man vs. mountain. A fight for dominance hangs over this simmering family drama that morphs into a gripping adventure thriller.

 Dutch with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Frank Hoeve
  •   Jan-Willem van Ewijk
  •   Sander Vos, Eline Bakker
  •   Douwe Hennink
  •   Gijs Scholten van Aschat, Reinout Scholten van Aschat, Kaija Ledergerber, Pia Amofa, Daria Fuchs, Julien Genoud
  •   Ella van der Woude
  •   BALDR Film BV
  •   https://www.levelk.dk/films/alpha-10973

Sponsors

With Support From

Logo: See NL / Eye Filmmuseum 160x85logo: Consulate General of Switzerland 283x100