Jolly Roger

"Jolly Roger" could mean Roger Schawinski. But by definition, a "Jolly Roger" is the classic black pirate flag with skull and crossbones. This documentary tells the unvarnished story of the Swiss radio pirates who emerged in the 1970s. The focus is on Radio 24 in its wild years, when Schawinski's team broadcast from Italy, with the strongest FM station in the world at the time, straight down from Pizzo Groppera, 130 kilometers all the way to the Zurich area. Supported by numerous original documents from private filmmakers and from the SRG archives, the viewer relives the absurd radio war between David and Goliath that lasted almost four years, 24 years after this war between the radio pirates and the state power began on November 13, 1979. The many known and unknown fighters, who rallied behind their Radio Winkelried Schawinski in 1979 to help usher Switzerland into a new media age, remember the good and bad times, the demonstrations and the numerous threatened and actual closures.

Tough Guys

10 years before the debut of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In 1979, Bill Viola and Frank Caliguri dreamed up a contest pitting barroom bigmouths against wrestlers, martial artists, boxers, bouncers and brawlers, billed as no-holds-barred new type of competitive fighting. When the fights succeeded beyond their wildest expectations, they were swept up in a chain of events that ended in the first mixed-martial arts ban in the nation. “Tough Guys” chronicles the inception of Caliguri and Viola’s first bouts and the colorful, crazy cast of fighters who made them a hit as well as the politicians who brought it all crashing down. The film brings to life a moment when the national martial arts craze was building to a crescendo as the economies of Pennsylvania steel towns were plummeting to levels of unemployment never seen, breeding desperate men looking for a chance to prove their worth and make some money in the ring.

Nemesis

The film explores the destruction of a unique train station in Zurich and the construction of the new prison and police centre in its place. From the perspective of the filmmaker’s window, and with testimony from prisoners awaiting deportation, the film probes how we deal with the extinction of history and its replacement with total security.

Zürcher Tagebuch

Bounce: Behind The Velvet Rope

Steven Cantor's award-winning documentary chronicles of the lives of bouncers - the burly boys who guard both sides of the door in nightclubs across America. The film takes an inside look at the mindset of these frequently ridiculed, but always feared enforcers of the night and examines whether they are skilled experts in security, hired to anticipate trouble, or just hired thugs meant to intimidate. Revealed within is a world of notorious nightclub bouncers, including New York's Terence "The Black Prince" Buckley and British legend Lenny "The Guv'nor" McLean who appeared in "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" Written by Sujit R. Varma

Kaya Yanar - Reiz der Schweiz

Stand-up comedian Kaya Yanar dissects the allure of Switzerland through the eyes of a German who's lived there.

Werner We Love You

When Werner Herzog was still a child, his father was beaten to death before his eyes. His mother was overwhelmed with his upbringing and thereupon shipped him off to one of the toughest youth welfare institutions in Freistatt. This was followed by a career as a bouncer in the city's most notorious music club and an attempt to start a family. Today, the 77-year-old from Bielefeld lives with his dog Lucky in a lonely house in the country. Despite adverse living conditions, he has survived in his own unique and inimitable way.

Boxing Libreville

Libreville, Gabon, Africa, 2016. Christ Olsen Mickala, a young boxer, trains tirelessly during the day and earns his living by night as a bouncer in nightclubs. At the same time, the combat of the presidential elections is taking place. As Christ hopes to succeed, a whole country hopes that a democratic transition finally triumphs.

Chicago am Rhein

We were the milieu! Dummse Tünn, Schäfers Nas and Beckers Schmal, Abels Män, Frischse Pitter and the Lange Tünn ... Names that still have a ring to them in Cologne. Men who came to fame and fortune through their activities in Cologne's underworld and whose stories are brutal and evil, ice-cold and hard-boiled, but also naive, quirky and above all authentic. In the 1960s and 1970s, Cologne was dubbed "Chicago on the Rhine" by the tabloid press.

Der Spitzel und die Chaoten – Die Zürcher Jugendbewegung 1980

Natural Selection

The lives of Mexico City’s nightclub bouncers—what they see, what they hide, and what no one dares to ask.

Road House

The Double Deuce is the meanest, loudest and rowdiest bar south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and Dalton has been hired to clean it up. He might not look like much, but the Ph.D.-educated bouncer proves he's more than capable – busting the heads of troublemakers and turning the roadhouse into a jumping hot spot. But Dalton's romance with the gorgeous Dr. Clay puts him on the bad side of cutthroat local big shot Brad Wesley.

Snow White

The life of 20-year-old Nico from upper class Zurich is all party, sex and drugs when she meets Paco, the front man of a rap band. She finds herself drawn to his independent, creative and profound way of life, so different from her own. With naiveté and infinite self-confidence, she tries to adopt his lifestyle - without anticipating the consequences.

The Working Man

After his parents' death, construction worker Sigi doesn't know what to do with his life. He can't do much with his pay, and as a working-class man, women aren't interested in him. But things start to change after a colleague advises him to start moonlighting as a private builder and he meets the beautiful Hannah.

Lili Marleen

The story of a German singer named Willie, who while working in Switzerland, falls in love with a Jewish composer named Robert, whose family is helping people to flee from the Nazis. Robert’s family is skeptical of Willie, thinking she could be a Nazi as she becomes famous for singing the song “Lili Marleen”.

It Happened in Broad Daylight

The search for a child murderer drags a once-respected detective into an all-consuming obsession.

Fraulein

Ruža left Serbia, her country, over 30 years ago and lives in Zurich. Her daily life is a string of repetitive moments until, one day, Ana arrives on the scene and upsets Ruža's painstakingly organized world. A subtle friendship develops between the two strong willed women.

Strip Club Slayer

When a strip club goer is killed, the dancers hire a bouncer to protect themselves. As the sexual tension grows between one of the women and the bouncer, the mystery of the dangerous killer unravels.

The Toughest Man in the World

Mr. T's first starring made-for-TV movie role has him playing a tough and scowling, but softhearted, nightclub bouncer who finds himself involved with a bunch of kids after being conned into taking over a youth center.

A Short Stay in Switzerland

Just after losing her husband to a similar condition, Dr Anne Turner is diagnosed with a fatal neurological condition. So she plans to end her life herself. Based on a true story.