Following a successful preview screening at Zurich's Piccadilly cinema, where an interested audience ensured a successful start, the cinema tour of our new documentary ARCHITECTURE OF GOOD FORTUNE is now beginning.

Synopsis

Campione d'Italia – the small Italian enclave on Lake Lugano – lived in the shadow of its casino for over a century. The town drew enormous wealth from gambling, but at the same time fell into a dangerous dependency. With the sudden bankruptcy of the casino, Campione plunged into an existential crisis. But what happens when luck runs out?

In their sensitive film, directors Michele Cirigliano and Anton von Bredow tell the story of a village that refuses to give up. At the heart of the film is the monumental building designed by star architect Mario Botta — a symbol of past dreams and future opportunities. ARCHITECTURE OF GOOD FORTUNE is an optimistic portrait of community, change, and the search for a new identity.

Premiere tour in the presence of Michele Cirigliano

• September 11 – Kinok, St. Gallen
• September 22 – Kino Rex, Bern
• September 28 – Cameo, Winterthur
• October 12 – Stattkino, Luzern
• October 16 – Odeon, Brugg

Premieres in the presence of directors Michele Cirigliano and Anton von Bredow

• Friday, 19. september, Cinema Otello, Ascona
• Saturday, 20. september, Cinema Iride, Lugano

Theatrical release

• From September 11: Zurich (Le Paris & Piccadilly), Basel (kult.kino atelier), St. Gallen (Kinok), Schwyz (Kino Schwyz)
• From September 18: Aarau (Freier Film), Frauenfeld (Cinema Luna), Winterthur (Cameo)
• From September 25: Bern (Rex)
• From October: Lucerne (Stattkino), Brugg (Odeon), Olten (Lichtspiele)

ARCHITECTURE OF GOOD FORTUNE asks not only about the future of a building, but also about the innermost core of a community: What defines us when the outer glamour fades?

With OUR MONEY, director Hercli Bundi will be touring German-speaking Switzerland from August 21. The documentary takes a multifaceted look at the nature of money and asks the question: Do we serve money – or does it serve us?

Synopsis

Humans created it themselves, but it only works because they believe in it. Over the centuries, our financial system has become so complex that even those familiar with it can only explain it in part. A bank robber, a crypto expert, a pastor, and an economist from the Swiss National Bank try to do so anyway. Director Hercli Bundi invites us on a journey into the fragile universe of money and reveals the ambivalent power of money in his film. Money that we lack seduces us, makes dreams come true or shatters them.

In personal conversations with people from various social spheres, Bundi not only explores individual approaches to the subject of money, but also questions what value money should have in our society.

Several special screenings will take place during the tour, including one on September 4 at the Riffraff cinema, Zurich, followed by a discussion entitled OUR MONEY – Freedom or Shackles? with Hercli Bundi, Prof. em. Urs Birchler and Florian Rommel.

Another special event will take place on September 7 at 3.30 p.m. at Riffraff cinema, when German film critic and podcaster Wolfgang M. Schmitt (Die Filmanalyse, Wohlstand für Alle) will discuss the film from an ideology-critical perspective with filmmaker Hercli Bundi.

When plants begin to speak in scents – and we finally start to listen. At a time when technological progress and ecological crises overlap, a documentary turns the spotlight on those who are often overlooked: plants.

With FLYING SCENTS, filmmaker Antshi von Moos offers a sensitive, poetic exploration of the hidden communication networks within the plant world. We are thrilled that the film will celebrate its world premiere at this year’s Locarno Film Festival, as part of the Semaine de la critique – an independent section curated by the Swiss Association of Film Journalists in close collaboration with the festival’s programming team. This section provides a platform for bold, distinctive cinematic voices – and FLYING SCENTS, with its unique perspective, fits right in.

What is the film about? A research team led by Consuelo De Moraes is on the verge of a groundbreaking discovery: florigen – a substance that could trigger plants to bloom instantly. Meanwhile, Florianne Koechlin explores how plants communicate through scents. And artist duo Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger push the boundaries between the natural and the artificial. The result is a multifaceted portrait of a world that blossoms, investigates, and questions.

Screenings in Locarno:

• World premiere: August 10 at 11:00 a.m., La Sala
• Second screening: August 11 at 9:00 a.m., PalaCinema 1

The film was co-produced by the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and SRG SSR.

We’re beyond excited for Locarno!

Two Mira Film productions are represented at the 40th DOK.fest Munich this year: DAS LIED DER ANDEREN by Vadim Jendreyko and ON THE BORDER by Gabriela Schild and Igor Hauzenberger.

In “Das Lied der Anderen”, the director embarks on an essayistic search for clues to the question of whether history, with all its nightmares, must inevitably repeat itself. Encounters on his journey lead him deeper and deeper into the confrontation with memory and the collective past - and reveal patterns that are passed down through generations and in which we as a society seem to be trapped. Especially in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, this film is a particularly important contribution to the current social debate on history, responsibility and the culture of remembrance.

Apart from that, DAS LIED DER ANDEREN will be screened on the 15. & 16. of May in the presence of the director in Basel, more info here: Neuen Kino

Screenings «Das Lied der Anderen» at the DOK.fest München:

- Saturday, 10.05.2025, 17:00 - Rio Kino 1, in the presence of the director

- Wednesday, 14.05.2025, 15:00 - HFF Audimax, in the presence of the director

- Thursday, 15.05.2025, 18:00 - NS Dokuzentrum, in the presence of the director

- Saturday, 17.05.2025, 11:00 am - City Kino 2

Screenings of ON THE BORDER at DOK.fest München:

- Friday, 09.05.2025, 18:30 - City 2, in the presence of the director

- Sunday, 11.05.2025, 21:00 - Neues Maxim

- Monday, 12.05.2025, 15:30 - HFF 2

- Saturday, 17.05.2025, 20:30 - Bellevue di Monaco

German premiere: ON THE BORDER at the Filmkunstfest Mecklenburg-Vorpommern:

“On the Border” takes us to the Tuareg city of Agadez on the edge of the Sahara in Niger - once the EU's security anchor in West Africa. From here, a virtual border regulated migration towards the Mediterranean, accompanied by promises to the local population to combat poverty and corruption. Over the course of five years, the film accompanies three residents in their daily struggle with social and political grievances - a sensitive portrait that reveals the failure of European migration policy.

Screenings at the Filmkunstfest Mecklenburg-Vorpommern:

- Wednesday, 07.05.2025, 19:15, in the presence of the director

- Thursday, 08.05.2025, 13:30, in the presence of the director

We look forward to inspiring screenings and encounters in Munich and Schwerin!