On the occasion of "70 Years of Swiss-Indian Friendship" (SIF70), the Embassy of Switzerland in India has been featuring several programs since August 2017, initiating collaborations between Swiss and Indian artists, scientists, business representatives, government officials and civil society and communities with the intention to connect minds and inspire new ideas.
“Swiss Films on Wheels” has been a far-reaching program that uses films as a medium to cut across cultural borders and bring two worlds together. “Swiss Films on Wheels” provides a common platform for young students, their families, teachers and society at large to come together.
The friendship bus has travelled between March and May 2018 through several cities in West and South India, connecting with almost 10’000 children and adults in various states. It reached out at times also to far-fetched cities like Kolhapur, Belgaum, Mangalore and Karaikudi.
In the second phase it travels through some of the states in North and North East India, starting on October 5, 2018 in Kurukshetra, Haryana.
Heidi directed by Alain Gsponer
Switzerland / Germany | 2015 | fiction | 105 min | Dec 2015 |original German with English subtitles
Heidi, a five-year-old orphan, is taken to live with her grumpy, outcast grandfather in the Swiss mountains. He briefly resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl's adorable personality soon earns his heart. Heidi’s happiness ends abruptly when her aunt Dete takes her to Frankfurt, where she is to help take care of a sickly child, Klara. Heidi, with faith, hope, and the stubbornness she inherited from her grandfather, knows that someday she will be reunited with him and the beloved people of the mountain's little village. (www.heidi-film.ch)
Ma Vie de Courgette (My Life as a Zucchini) by Claude Barras
Switzerland / France | 2016 | fiction | 66 min | May 2016 |original French with English subtitles
Zucchini is a rather unusual nickname for a 9-year-old boy, yet his unique story is surprisingly universal. After his mother’s sudden death, Zucchini is befriended by the kind police officer Raymond, who accompanies Zucchini to his new foster home filled with other orphans his age. At first, Zucchini struggles to find his place in this strange, at times, hostile environment. Yet with Raymond’s help and his new found friends, he eventually learns to trust, finds true love and, at last, a new family of his own. (My Life as a Zucchini)
Contact
For more information on progress of the friendship bus visit us on Facebook.
If you attend the screenings in your city, remember to send your selfie with one of the film’s characters to: ndh.events@eda.admin.ch. The first ten senders of each month will win a prize.
