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.
Anne-Frédérique Widmann’s documentary traces the long fight of Shewit Tekie, whose search for safety becomes a portrait of resilience and self-determination. Moving from Eritrea to Libya and then to Switzerland, the film follows her struggle to rebuild her life after exploitation, uncertainty, and the threat of deportation. Filmed over ten years, it blends testimony and intimacy in a restrained, human approach that gives full weight to a powerful story of emancipation.
The screening will be followed by a short discussion with the film’s protagonist, Shewit Tekie; the director, Anne-Frédérique Widmann; and the co-head of the organization AMIC, Melete Solomon.
Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner plunges into a rain-drenched, neon metropolis where bounty hunter Rick Deckard tracks synthetic replicants. The film’s measured pacing and lingering frames foreground questions of identity, memory and empathy, probing what separates human from artificial life. Dense, noir-inflected visuals and a melancholic atmosphere give the story an elegiac tone, balancing tense encounters with reflective solitude. Its interrogation of consciousness and longing lingers long after the credits.
Screening featuring live analysis and audience discussion. In French.
Founded in Geneva in 1951 by cinema enthusiasts including Alain Tanner and Claude Goretta, the Ciné-club universitaire de Genève (CCU) has spent 75 years bringing audiences together around singular films and shared discoveries.
To celebrate its 75th anniversary, the CCU looks back across more than seven decades of cinema with a programme of 30 films spanning continents, genres, generations and perspectives — while looking towards the future of the seventh art.
Mark Osborne’s animated adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s tale follows a little girl living in a world governed by success, who meets an old aviator and through his story rediscovers imagination. Mixing digital animation and stop‑motion techniques, the film offers a layered visual poetry that preserves the book’s themes—childhood, curiosity and the need to see beyond appearances—while questioning the place of wonder in a rational, achievement‑driven society. Intimate and visually inventive, it speaks to both children and adults.
In English with French subtitles. Part of the Cinémas du Grütli’s screenings for young audiences, in collaboration with Terre des Hommes.
As part of Anim’Apéro, Animatou and the Centre d’art contemporain Genève welcome Hélène Vayssières, deputy director of ARTE France’s cinema unit, for a curated selection of six animated short films. This carte blanche highlights the perspectives and creative force of women filmmakers, offering a vibrant mix of visual styles, moods, and storytelling voices. The programme features works by Sandra Desmazières, Mathilde Bédouet, Zsuzsanna Kreif, Kiana Naghshineh, Lola Degove, and Ana Mantzaris.
In the presence of the directors before continuing over drinks.
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.
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