{"id":28851,"date":"2024-09-09T14:49:50","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T12:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fifdh.org\/?p=28851"},"modified":"2025-08-21T10:29:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T08:29:24","slug":"back-to-school-new-films-to-watch-in-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fifdh.org\/en\/schools\/news\/back-to-school-new-films-to-watch-in-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to school \u2014 new films to watch in class"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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With the start of the new school year, several films have been added to the Schools screening platform<\/strong><\/a>. We are delighted to share with you four films <\/strong>that have had a major impact on our school programme and have been seen by hundreds of pupils, in our cinemas and in schools’ auditoriums.<\/h4>\n\n\n
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MIGRATION \u00b7 LABOR<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Who are the foreign workers that built Geneva?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Some answers lie in this film which allows classes to discuss Switzerland’s relationship with economic immigration, particularly in the context of current debates on this topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Katarine Dominic\u00e9<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lettres ouvertes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SWITZERLAND, 2023, 61′, OV ALBANIAN, FRENCH, PORTUGUESE, ST FRENCH<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

From 1931 to 2002, Switzerland issued some six million seasonal residence permits, known as “A” permits, to immigrant workers. This status carried drastic rules. The workers were not allowed to bring their families, and their stay in Switzerland was limited to nine months per year.
In a series of open letters, former seasonal workers and their children tell of the impact this system had on their lives. It remains tangible and its disclosure questions the apparent indifference of the Swiss towards these human beings who were destined to build their country while at the same time remaining invisible.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \n Trailer<\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\n \n Watch in class<\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Initiated by the City of Geneva and designed by the Archives contestataires, the Coll\u00e8ge du travail and Rosa Brux, the exhibition “Nous, saisonniers, saisonni\u00e8res\u2026 1931-2019<\/a>” (We, seasonal workers\u2026 1931-2019) highlighted the history of tens of thousands of immigrant workers who arrived in large numbers in Switzerland to fill labour shortages. From construction to agriculture, hotels and restaurants, some six million seasonal residence permits, known as \u2018A\u2019 permits, were issued between 1931 and 2022. This status imposed drastic rules. Workers were not allowed to bring their families, and their stay in Switzerland was limited to nine months a year. The film is based on open letters written for the exhibit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After its world premiere at the 2023 FIFDH, Lettres ouvertes<\/a><\/em> was released in French-speaking Switzerland in May and June of the same year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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systemic racism \u00b7 identity<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Is Switzerland immune to systemic racism?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

June 2020. Thousands of white and black Swiss citizens take to the streets of Geneva, Zurich and Lausanne to denounce racial discrimination. It was the first time that the stories of visible minorities had emerged. Black women took centre stage, denouncing systemic racism and challenging the stereotype of humanitarian Switzerland as an island of peace and prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rachel M’Bon et Juliana Fanjul<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je suis Noires<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SWITZERLAND, 2022, 50′, OV FRENCH, GERMAN, ST FRENCH<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

In Switzerland, a land of consensus and neutrality, unprecedented voices are being raised by women fighting for recognition of structural racism, deconstructing stereotypes and asserting their dual Swiss and black identity. Against this backdrop, Rachel, a Swiss-Congolese journalist, embarks on her own quest for identity. As she makes her way towards emancipation, she questions her past and her present, and holds up a mirror to her country and her peers.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \n TRAILER<\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\n \n WATCH IN CLASS<\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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In a country that has made blamelessness its dogma, it is difficult to tackle its dark side and to reveal its links with colonialism. It’s hard to get people to understand that the legacy of this colonial past still feeds the racist undertones deeply rooted in the collective unconscious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After being selected as part of the FIFDH’s Impact Days in 2022 to develop an impact campaign, as well as in the same year’s schools programme, Je suis Noires<\/em> was selected in the Festival’s Creative Documentaries competition in 2023. It then went on to receive the 2023 Swiss Film Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, the film’s social impact strategy has been pursued through the creation of the NWAR<\/a> association and the #JeSuisNoires<\/em> movement, with the aim of valuing and making visible black and\/or people of color on cultural, social and political levels. The association can help you organise a screening<\/a> (page in French) and offers an educational toolkit<\/a> (also in French) to accompany the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Digital \u00b7 Data protection<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What can we learn about a person from their search history?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Can you build a doppelg\u00e4nger of a person you don\u2019t even know from their search history? Record, recreate, and replay the life of someone and their personality in detail? This is the experiment undertaken in the film Made to Measure<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck & Cosima Terrasse<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Made to Measure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SWITZERLAND & GERMANY, 2021, 44′, VO ENGLISH, GERMAN, ST FRENCH<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Five years of a woman’s life have been excavated to create a composite portrait, subsequently played by an actress. The original is then presented to its double. Part experiment, part cross-media project, part documentary, Made to Measure<\/a><\/em> is a dizzying project about the surrender of our private lives, directed by the filmmakers behind The Cleaners<\/em> (FIFDH 2018). <\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \n Trailer<\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\n \n WATCH IN CLASS<\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Several studies have shown that over the last few years, a fraction of a person\u2019s online data is enough to identify their interests, tendencies, and even intimate personality traits like fears, weaknesses, or addictions, and predict their behavior. Quite often, this is explained with the power of algorithms. The filmmakers wanted to show that even without the supposed magical powers of artificial intelligence, we can still create intimate conclusions from the digital trails we all draw on the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film was selected for the FIFDH 2022 Schools programme, then for the 2023 Grand Reportage competition. It has since been shown on numerous occasions in schools’ auditoriums, for screenings followed by discussions on data protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Migration \u00b7 unaccompanied minors<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What obstacles do unaccompanied minors face when they arrive in Europe?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You were struck by the story of SK and that of his peers in Shadow Game<\/a><\/em> (2021)? This film, which was presented in the 2023 Schools programme, offered a poignant insight into the many \u2018games\u2019 played by teenagers fleeing their country en route to Europe. The train game, the race game, the border crossing one… a way of lightening up reality and retaining a semblance of hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We now present The Mind Game <\/em>(2023), which deals with the post-arrival period, highlighting the many administrative and psychological difficulties faced by unaccompanied minors once they arrive in the country where they will lodge their asylum application. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n \"Suitcase_Project_Opening_Mind_Game\"

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Sajid Khan Nasiri, Els Van Driel & Eefje Blankevoort<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mind Game<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

NETHERLANDS, 2023, 61\u2019, VO ENGLISH, DUTCH, PASHTO, ST FRENCH<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

SK, the film director and protagonist, undertakes the difficult task of navigating European asylum systems and societies. A whole new \u2018game\u2019 begins for him, which he describes as a \u2018game of the mind\u2019. The integration phase begins: learning the language, going to school or training, looking for a job, finding and arranging accommodation, trying to bring their families over, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \n TRAILER<\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\n \n Watch in class<\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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His smartphone is a constant companion for SK, serving as his camera and witness throughout his journey. It allows him to document every stage of his journey to Europe and to regularly share videos on platforms such as TikTok. Through these videos, he makes the difficulties of the migration journey visible. Using his phone also enabled him to maintain close contact with the two other film-makers, Eefje Blankevoort and Els van Driel. They were able to follow his journey from a distance and contact him whenever they could, thus contributing to the making of the two films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n \u201c The film is very touching, with poignant personal accounts. It raises awareness, makes you angry and makes you want to help. \u201d
\n Secondary school student who attended the Festival screening<\/span>\n <\/div>\n\n\n

Shadow Game<\/em> took part in Impact Days 2021, and was then shown at an Impact Days 2022 Masterclass. The film was also selected for the Schools 2023 programme, while The Mind Game<\/em> was included the following year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the start of the new school year, several films have been added to the Schools screening platform. We are delighted to share with you four films that have had a major impact on our school programme and have been seen by hundreds of pupils, in our cinemas and in schools’ auditoriums. Who are the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28849,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,27],"class_list":["post-28851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fifdh","category-schools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fifdh.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fifdh.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fifdh.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fifdh.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fifdh.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28851"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/fifdh.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28875,"href":"https:\/\/fifdh.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28851\/revisions\/28875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fifdh.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fifdh.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fifdh.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}