This Swiss documentary by Antshi von Moos follows a poetic inquiry into the hidden chemistry and quiet intelligence of the plant world. From Zurich laboratories to living gardens, it brings together scientific research, ecological thought, and artistic imagination. Biologist Florianne Koechlin traces communication between plants, fungi, insects, and microbes, while Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger shape surreal installations from their living garden. The result is a sensorial reflection on the bonds linking nature, art, and human perception.

Koichi Onishi’s 2018 documentary follows Chikuzan Takahashi, born in 1910 and nearly blind after childhood measles, as he learns the shamisen to survive in northern Japan. Set against poverty and the absence of social support, the film traces how the instrument becomes the centre of his life and art. Through voices rooted in Tsugaru, it evokes the region’s customs, hardships, and enduring soundscape with quiet, humane intensity.

Screening followed by a discussion with director Koichi Onishi.

Koichi Onishi’s documentary journeys to Miyakojima, at the far south of Japan’s archipelago, where music, song, and oral tradition preserve the memory of a community shaped by natural disaster, oppression, and the Second World War. Through attentive, lyrical observation, the film follows women shamans as they continue to sing and pray on the island of Utaki, drawing strength from solidarity and mutual support. At once delicate and resonant, it reflects on intergenerational transmission and the fragility of what is passed on.

Rich Peppiatt’s riotous biopic plunges into Belfast’s restless energy, where a trio of misfits turns hip-hop into a rallying cry for language, identity, and resistance. Mixing irreverent humour with raw urgency, the film follows Kneecap as they rap in Irish and stumble into the front line of a civil-rights movement to protect their mother tongue. Vibrant, anarchic, and sharply political, it celebrates the power of marginal voices refusing to be silenced.