Browse 13 movies from Televisione Svizzera Italiana (TSI)
This European existential drama utilizes complex symbols inspired by abstract psychological theories to explore the effects and reasons behind a young classical actor's decision to stop talking. No one knows why Massimo has vowed to stop talking. Other than speaking dialog from classical plays, Massimo refuses to say a single word. His father, a classic-literature professor believes it reflects to a disappointing love affair. His new girlfriend thinks Massimo is rebelling against his mother, a poet. A director learns of Massimo and commissions his mother to write a play about him. Though Massimo plays himself in the play, and does speak, he returns to silence when the play is finished.
Mar 1994
Feb 1995
Apr 1999
Between the 1980s and 1990s, architect Mario Botta and painter Enzo Cucchi turned a common utopia into reality, engaging their respective imaginations to construct and decorate the chapel on Monte Tamaro, Ticino, 1,600 meters above sea level. Brimming with evocative elements, Villi Hermann’s documentary investigates the sacredness of a shared creative process in profound dialogue with nature.
Oct 1998
Documentary on the first photograph in history, taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.
Aug 1991
The story of a middle-aged bookshop owner, who becomes embroiled in a surreal swirl of romance and family secrets of infidelity, her energy levels registering in bursts of electrical interference - causing lightbulbs, traffic lights, toasters and computers to spontaneously spark and malfunction.
Feb 2004
The highway of the title is a 2,000 mile dirt road in Kazakhstan. Along this route, a traveling family circus journeys in their crowded hand-cranked bus, stopping in villages. The filmmaker accompanies the Tadjibajevs, capturing their quarrels, performances, and intimate moments.
Sep 1999
A biographical film, in English throughout, telling the story of film director Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948) from his childhood in Riga, Latvia to receiving the 'Stalin Prize' in Moscow. Based on his own writings, the film uses actual film clips of Eisenstein at various points of his life as well as photographs, illustrations and archival film of a variety of locations around the world. Eisenstein's talent as a satirical cartoonist and later an artist is particularly highlighted with many photographs of his work. Films discussed include "Strike", "Battleship Potemkin", "Oktober", "The old and the new", "Alexander Nevsky" and "Ivan the terrible". There is a detailed account of Eisenstein's world tour during which time he met and worked with other leading film-makers, writers and personalities including Einstein, James Joyce, D. W. Griffith and Walt Disney. Includes anecdote on his visit to High Table at Trinity College, Cambridge and its inspiration for a scene in 'Ivan the terrible'.
Jul 1987
Villi Hermann and the cameraman Hugues Ryffel accompany the photographer Jean Mohr on three trips on Japan, Pakistan and Russia.
Nov 1992
Ottavio is a family man who is experiencing conflict with his teenage daughter Jessica, who is struggling with the typical problems of that age. Ottavio doesn't know how to deal with her, he has a crisis and undergoes a personality regression: he becomes a bit childish and dreams of realizing an old project he had as a boy.
Jan 2008
The story of Yugoslav football team who participated at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
Jun 1998
Nov 1980
As in his earlier films, Alvaro Bizzarri tells the story of a seasonal worker in "Touchol" and describes his torn life: here his place of work, there his home and family. Sensitively captured images show a young foreigner at work on a motorway construction site, at his place of residence in a noisy, cramped shanty town, and in his difficult search for new accommodation.
Aug 1990