Film recommendations for January

Even in the early days of cinema, the moving image evoked associations with dance. In 1895, following a screening of the Lumière brothers’ cinematograph, a journalist noted: ‘The screen danced and flickered.’ It is therefore only natural that this year’s silent film festival is themed ‘Dance of Images’: the films on show not only depict dance, but transform it cinematically. The dancing images on the screen are accompanied by live music – ranging from classical and jazz to electronic.

Silent Film Festival 2026: Dance of Images | 8–25 January 2026

Three short films demonstrate how young artists are engaging with the medium of the moving image today: ‘Bliss Point’ (2023) by Gerard Ortín Castellví, ‘Razeh-del’ (2024) by Maryam Tafakory and “Look On the Bright Side” (2023) by Yuyan Wang. The works are being presented as part of the book launch VISIO: Moving Images in Europe Since the 2010s at the Kunsthalle Zürich. The films provide an introduction to the publication, which reflects on the technological and formal processes through which a generation of digital-native artists is shaping contemporary moving image.

At the Riffraff cinema, two generations of international cinema come together: the up-and-coming Swiss talent Luna Wedler and the Hong Kong film star Tony Leung Chiu-wai. Together they present “Silent Friend” (2025), in which they appear under the direction of Ildikó Enyedi. In the film, the director makes an old ginkgo tree the silent protagonist and witness to human destinies. The result is a poetic, sensitive work in which the relationship between plants and humans becomes a symbol of the universal longing for connection.

How can one develop a perspective on the world that is both independent and uniquely one’s own? Curator Andrée Barman and philosopher Susanne Schmetkamp will be exploring this question at the Zurich Philosophy Festival. The starting point is two Swiss short films: ‘Über Wasser’ (2021) by Jela Hasler and ‘Out of the Blue’ (2023) by Morgane Frund. Both works explore, in different ways, how the male gaze shapes the perceptions and self-images of their female protagonists.