Willy

Snow, sweat, testosterone and the sound of chainsaws. Every four years, over a period of three months in winter, wood is being cut in a steep mountain, high above Lake Ägeri, and prepared for log rafting. Neither economic change nor technology has been able to replace this traditional and sustainable craft in Switzerland.

Wolves divide and fascinate us. 150 years after they were driven to extinction in Central Europe, they are returning slowly but inexorably. Are they dangerous to humans? Is it possible to coexist? Using Switzerland as a point of departure, where wolves have returned in the very recent past, this documentary sheds light on the wolf situation in Austria, eastern Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, and even Minnesota, where freely roaming packs of wolves are more common sight.

At the Swiss public swimming pool, teenagers enjoy their new-found freedom as much as their fries. Two years later, they are still the same, but their outside and inside have changed. The demolition of the orange slide and the modernisation of the pool make them think back to their childhood. A new, diverse generation is growing up in the Badi.

Quartz crystals have been attracting “crystal hunters” to the Uri Alps for centuries. The film traces their passion and accompanies them in their dangerous work in the archaic mountain landscape.

What next after secondary school? Before they finish school, Sven, Florina and Mara need to figure out what’s right for them. It’s not that easy. In the 2021 SRF DOK documentary “Mein Leben und der Notenschnitt”, they were grappling with their school grades in Year 6. Today, they are no longer children and face new questions: What do I want? What am I capable of? What do my parents think? An emotional rollercoaster ride in search of their own path.

Sixth-graders have many things on their minds. But they are confronted with an important decision: do they continue their education in secondary school A, B, or C, or do they go to grammar school after all? And what even are those things? How do children deal with the hopes and fears associated with this step?