Film tips for April

Born the son of a fisherman in Senegal, the self-taught Ousmane Sembène has become one of Africa's most influential intellectuals. His ironic, affectionate and sensually staged films are aimed at his fellow countrymen. The writer and filmmaker cared little about reaching a Western audience. He criticised colonial and post-colonial structures until the end of his life. His militant work can be discovered in a retrospective at the Filmpodium. Sembène's short films, which he created at the beginning of his film career with few resources but a great deal of ingenuity, provide a good introduction.

Wednesday, 3 April 2024, Filmpodium Kino, 18:15

The news is anything but good at the moment: war in Palestine and Ukraine, a shift to the right, the climate crisis. The Human Rights Film Festival counters this feeling of powerlessness that arises when looking at the current world situation. For one week, documentaries and feature films will be screened at the Riffraff and Houdini that take an uncomfortable look, but also show hopeful perspectives. Many of the screenings will be accompanied by panels with filmmakers, activists and experts in the field of human rights issues.

From Thursday, 4 April 2024, Riffraff & Houdini cinemas, 18:30

The Pink Apple is considered an institution in Zurich. Since 1997, the festival has brought films to the big screen that often receive less attention. Films that address issues of the LGBTQ+ community and are made by queer filmmakers. The festival thus makes an important contribution to the diversity of the film landscape. Pink Apple provides Zurich audiences with queer film highlights not only in spring, but throughout the year: In addition to "Uto goes Pink!", the new monthly film series "Queer Things" starts in April at the Riffraff cinema. The series kicks off with Ira Sachs' Passages (2023) - a little foretaste of the 27th Pink Apple, where the film will also be shown as part of the bisexuality focus.

Wednesday, 17. April 2024, Riffraff cinema, 20:30
Festival: From Tuesday, 23 April 2024, various locations in Zurich

The April programme at Xenix is dedicated to an omnipresent and yet often taboo subject: sex, or more precisely: sexual representations in film. The selected works deal with pornography without being pornographic themselves. They range from provocative narratives to sensitive portraits and explore the depths of human relationships. In this context, Xenix is showing the premiere of Pornomelancolía (2022), a semi-documentary film about the mechanisms of the porn industry. The screening will be followed by a discussion with filmmaker Fabienne Bieri and porn star Jamal Phoenix.

Saturday, 13 April 2024, Cinema Xenix, 20:30