Xavier Koller
A boy must brave deep winter snow to obtain an important family keepsake. Before he can even start this difficult journey he must first help his family survive financial ruin, rescue his beloved pet goat, and with his best friend, outwit a bratty bully who seems out to get him at every turn. Will he make it back to the village in time to celebrate the end-of-winter holiday of Chalandamarz?
Up until the middle of the 19Th century, poverty stricken mountain farmers from the Ticino area of Switzerland frequently sold their children to Milan as chimney sweeps or spazzacamini. That is also young Giorgios fate. He is forced to climb through pitch black chimneys, flinging down the soot with his bare hands. But he does not lose heart. Together with his buddies sharing in the same misery, he establishes the association of Black Brothers. They stick together, struggling against their penury and getting involved in fights with the street gangs of Milan. The film tells of the gripping adventures of the chimney sweep boys and their spectacular escape back to their native land.
Kari Tellenbach was born with a cleft palate. His mother takes care of him like a bird that has fallen out of the nest. As a young man Kari decides to become a barber and despite his handicap he wins the heart of Annemarie with his humour, charm and sensitivity. His happiness seems almost complete – but Annemarie’s middle class parents have already made other plans for their daughter.
"Cowboy Up" is a celebration of the risk-taking, daredevil personalities of modern rodeo. In the world of professional bull riding, newcomer Ely Braxton (Marcus Thomas) is the craziest guy around; his brother Hank (Kiefer Sutherland) is a rodeo clown, and the two use each other to play up their acts. But love may be one thing that tears the brothers apart. When Ely falls for the rodeo's sweetheart (Daryl Hannah), Hank is filled with jealousy and hatred. The brothers try to come to grips with their differences, but the competition gets as fierce as the bulls in the ring.
Squanto is a high-born Indian warrior from a tribe on the Atlantic coast of North America which devotes its life to hunting and rivalry with a neighboring tribe. Everything changes forever after a ship arrives from England, prospecting the region's commercial potential for the rich Sir George, who uses all his wealth and influence only for ever greater profit. When it returns, several Indians find themselves captives on board, including Squanto. The arrogant Christians consider themselves utterly superior to the 'heathen savages' and treat them as brutally as they do beasts. Squanto fights a bear in a circus, not understanding how men can be so cruel to that creature either, and manages a spectacular escape, but where must he go? He finds shelter and help in a rural monastery, where it takes his protector some effort to prevent the others considering the unknown as diabolical. In time sir George's men come looking for him most brutally...
In a village in eastern Turkey, tales of the economic success of Turks in Switzerland inspire Haydar to convince his wife Meryem that they must go. He sells their livestock and small plot of land in exchange for passage for two. He wants to leave their seven children in the care of the eldest and his parents; his father advises him to take one son to be educated in Europe, as economic insurance. The three set off for Istanbul, Milan, and Switzerland, stowing away on a ship. At Lake Como, they pay the rest of their money to unprincipled men who abandon them at an Alpine pass before a blizzard. Father and son are separated from Meryem. Will anyone reach the land of promise?
During the WW2, a Swiss mountain farmer, refuses to follow the government policy to increase self-sufficiency with produce. In his opinion, the steep mountain pastures are not suited for agriculture. Most of the villagers agree. However some begin to cultivate. Even after all his fellow farmers have given in and have started to plant cops, Tanner continues his opposition and ignores all letters and instructions. This leads to a series of reprimands, for instance, some of his hay is seized and his wife cannot buy at the local grocer's since the family won't comply with the government policy.
A tramp tries to trick the community into paying for the funeral of his fellow tramp who was found frozen to death.
