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(A film by Stefan Haupt, Fontana Film, 1 x 90 and 1 x 52 minutes)
In 1944, four-year-old Argyris Sfountouris survived a brutal massacre committed by the German occupying forces, in which he lost his parents and thirty more relatives. The Greek orphan was sent to the Pestalozzi Children’s Village in Trogen, Switzerland and obtained a Ph.D in maths and astrophysics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. Now a 66-year-old man of winning charm and melancholy cheerfulness, Argyris has forever been tackling the horror he had to go through as a little boy. He has not tried to come to terms with it emotionally. Rather, he has tried to learn to live with it and to do his utmost to prevent it from happening again. An intimate, reflective film about the quest for peace and the almost insurmountable difficulties linked to true reconciliation – an open-ended journey.
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IN THE DUNES – A PLACE OUT OF TIME
Matching Event for broadcast: 2014/2015 – Anniversary of End of World War II!
(Produced by: Dagmar Brendecke Filmproduktion, Hanfgarn & Ufer und movedmedia.
A Film by Dagmar Brendecke and Walter Brun, 1 x 90 minutes - various versions)
They were young men, most only in their early 20s, from England and the Commonwealth, France and Poland - World War II airmen, shot down over the North Sea and washed up on the wide beaches of the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog. Then something extraordinary happened. They were buried by the occupying German forces with military honours in a small cemetery in the dunes. Even today this remains a place of great emotions.
In the 70s, Wyb Jan Grondijk took over responsibility for the "Vredenhof" and ever since has been looking after the 118 graves, on 41 of which is still written: unknown airman or unknown seaman. Wyb Jan continues to find out about the fate of the unknown men resting here. He searches around the world for next of kin or friends of the dead in order to give them a place where they can mourn. The families send him photos and information, and many come to visit the "Vredenhof" to look with their children for their long-lost granddad, and to complete the picture they have of them. By that Wyb Jan learns about the life of the soldiers resting here and these dead young men then acquire a history.
The Vredenhof is a metaphor for one of those rare places "out of time', where even amidst the barbarity of war, humanity has prevailed. The film speaks of the power of remembrance, and the deeply human need for a place of mourning. How important it is to have such a place, Wyb Jan Groendijk is finding out right now. He is in contact with two families – one from England and one from Canada – and both have high hopes that their long lost father or uncle might be resting in the Vredenhof in the grave of an unknown soldier. Almost 70 years after the war, both families long for that final certainty. But their hopes are resting on the same grave, and Wyb Jan Groendijk knows he can only satisfy the longing of one of the two families. "In the Dunes" is a film about a very special place and about an unique act of dignity and humanity – a sign of respect for the dead and for life itself.
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A ROAD NOT TAKEN - The Story of the Jimmy Carter White House Solar Installation
Matching Event for broadcast: U.S. Elections 2012!
(Produced by: atelier Hemauer / Keller. A Film by Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller, HD, 1 x 52 and 1 x 66 minutes)
In 1979, Jimmy Carter, in a visionary move, installed solar panels on the roof of the White House. This symbolic installation was taken down in 1986 during the Reagan presidency. In 1991, Unity College, an environmentally-minded centre of learning in Maine, acquired the panels and later installed them on their cafeteria roof. In «A Road not Taken», Swiss artists Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller travel back in time and, following the route the solar panels took, interview those involved in the decisions regarding these panels as well as those involved in the oil crisis of the time. They also look closely at the way this initial installation presaged our own era.
This documentary includes exclusive newly filmed interview passages with Jimmy Carter today, which give further insight into the mindset of U.S. politics in these decisive years of the 70s and 80s. Back then, the scope of the movement for alternative energy was compared to that of the anti-Vietnam-War demonstrations. And as seen in this documentary, prominent figures like Jane Fonda joined the demonstrations during this era, which as one speaker coined it, was thought to be "the beginning of the Solar Age". – Barack Obama has been closely watched about installing a new solar panel on the White House last year, and in 2012 this might become a reality.
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(A 55 minutes "special" written and directed by Felice Zenoni. Produced by Mesch & Ugge TV Produktionen, Switzerland)
500 years of history, 500 years of devout service to the Pope! In May 2006 the Swiss Guards at the Vatican will celebrate their 500th anniversary. It's the right moment to take you behind the walls of the Vatican and give you an intimate and close look at "The Soldiers of the Pope"...
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(Written and directed by Frédéric Gonseth. Produced by Frédéric Gonseth Productions (Switzerland), TSR, SRG SSR Swiss Broadcasting Corp. 1 x 52 / 1 x 90)
Two hundred and fifty Swiss doctors and nurses witnessed the horrors of war on the Eastern Front between 1942 and 1943. Believing they were volunteers for the Red Cross, they were in actual fact part of the German Army, following a secret settlement between Switzerland and Germany. When they came back home, they were ordered not to speak about it...
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| IN THE DUNES – A PLACE OUT OF TIME | |
| MISSION IN HELL | |
| ROAD NOT TO TAKEN (A) | |
| SOLDIERS OF THE POPE | |
