Assessment

In the 1980s the breathtaking scenery of the Engadine is the setting of a social tragedy. The local youth rejects the rigid rules of traditional society. Along with juvenile get-togethers, heroin appears in the mountain valley. As more and more die from overdose, society reacts to the crisis by isolating itself and averting its eyes. The film lifts the veil on the stories untold. Can the memories of this bleak past become part of the Engadine’s acknowledged heritage?

Comprised entirely of archive material, drawing on a rich seam of documents to reveal how Swiss filmmaker and travel writer René Gardi left his mark on how a whole generation viewed Africa from the 1950s onwards. The film doesn’t just highlight Gardi’s colonialist way of thinking, but also functions as a reflection on the projections of Africa of today.

A man realises he doesn't remember what number comes after six. Inspired by the work of the Russian avant garde author Daniil Kharms, Fälle is an ode to the absurd, a tale in which logic and the principle of cause and effect are sharply mocked. In the surrealist adventures of our hero, it is not difficult to find a reflection of the inane ferocity of contemporary society, in which logic often gives way to nourish power.