Sunday, October 25, 2026
Bern
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In conjunction with the University of Bern’s exhibition “Atlas of Reproduction - Babies, Borders, Geopolitics” at the Kornhausforum (through October 25, 2026), this year’s edition of the Bern Festival explores the social, political, and historical contexts of reproductive decisions. From fiction and dark humor to documentary works, filmmakers explore topics such as abortion, medical care, motherhood, and care work from various cinematic perspectives in short films.
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This program presents two works created during the Swiss Science Film Academy’s filmmaking marathon — a multi-day workshop in which Swiss researchers collaborate with professional filmmakers to explore how their ideas and research can take shape through film.
Enough
Switzerland, 2026, 3", English
Setting personal goals and tracking your progress can be motivating and
rewarding. But when you focus too much on a few metrics and continually
raise the bar, you risk losing sight of the bigger picture and obscure
broader aspects of your well-being.Scientists-as-filmmakers
Iris Nogueroles Langa, ETH Zurich
Ivan Novotny, ETH Zurich
Julie Doelker, EAWAG
Samuel Hepner, University of Bern
Mentor
Daniel Harisberger, Team TumultUrban Heat: Greener Cities - Cooler Fututres
Switzerland, 2026, 5", Swiss German with English subtitles
As climate change intensifies, temperatures in cities are increasing. We
took to the streets of Zürich during a record-breaking June heatwave, to
explore how both locals and the city are mitigating the heat and shaping a
more resilient, liveable city.Scientists-as-filmmakers:
Minea Mäder, University of Bern
Barbara Mühlemann, ETH Zurich
Leandra Stengele, University of Bern
Jeanne Droux, University of Zurich, ETH Zurich
Gladwin Suryatin Alim, University of Basel
Mentor
Barbara Gollwitzer, Plan Biodivers GmbH -
In a context where abortion is illegal, Siti repeatedly attempts to end her pregnancy. What begins as a response to a concrete political reality gradually shifts into a world of black humour, horror and the supernatural. With each attempt, the boundaries between reality and fiction gradually dissolve.
About the filmmaker
Jen Nee Lim is a Singaporean filmmaker, writer, and producer. After many years working in production, acquisition, marketing, and distribution, she now focuses primarily on writing and directing. Her short films Elsa (2019), The Note (2021), and Buah (Fruit) (2025) have screened at numerous international film festivals. Buah (Fruit) was presented at the Busan International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and SXSW Film & TV Festival, and received the Special Jury Prize and a Special Mention from the Queer Jury at Clermont-Ferrand.
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Hundreds of letters to US abortion organisations in the 1960s tell of secret journeys to Mexico. The film weaves these voices and archival fragments with present-day roads and border landscapes in Texas, Arizona and California. An essayistic road movie about abortion, borders and long hidden routes.
About the filmmaker
Inês Pedrosa e Melo is a Portuguese filmmaker, editor, researcher, and educator. Originally from Lisbon, she is currently based in San Francisco and is pursuing a PhD in Film and Digital Media at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her artistic and academic work explores individual and societal dimensions of trauma through hybrid, speculative, and archival forms of nonfiction cinema. Her short film The Dark Knot at the Center, created as part of her doctoral research, had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival in 2026.
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What images shape our perceptions of abortion? getty abortions examines the stock photographs used to represent abortion. The film combines image archives with a personal abortion experience, asking how images shape our ideas of pregnancy and abortion.
About the filmmaker
Franzis Kabisch is a filmmaker, artistic researcher, and writer based in Vienna and Berlin. Her academic and artistic work focuses particularly on representations of abortion in film and television, as well as queer cinema, body politics, and reproductive justice. She is pursuing a doctorate at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. Her work has received several awards and distinctions, including the Golden Dove at DOK Leipzig, the Cathrin Pichler Prize, and the DOC Fellowship of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
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During her pregnancy, Sophie Bösker begins documenting the 50:50 split of care work she and her partner had agreed on. Three years later, the project has evolved into a personal exploration of motherhood, parenthood and societal ideas of equality. Motherigine asks how care work is distributed – and what remains of the promise of equality in everyday life.
About the filmmaker
Sophie Bösker is a director, screenwriter, and artist based in Vienna. Her interdisciplinary practice explores hybrid forms between documentary, fiction, and experimental film. She is a founding member of Weibsbild Filmproduktion and works at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Her films explore social and personal experiences related to the body, parenthood, and care work.
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A discussion following the screening on sexual and reproductive rights, labor, the production and circulation of knowledge, and transnational networks, featuring filmmaker Sophie Bösker and Sibylle Marti, an SNF Assistant Professor in the Department of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Bern, moderated by Chiara Valli, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Communication and Media Studies at the University of Bern.
Friday, October 23, 2026
Zürich
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To the Moon and Back follows Ilyasse from Morocco, and Pauline from the Philippines, two Gen Z scientists shaped by a personal history of uprooting, chasing the dream of becoming an astronaut.
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A polar bear is forced to navigate a human world of tourists, wildlife officers, and hunters as its ancient migration collides with modern life. When a sacred predator is branded a nuisance, it becomes unclear who truly belongs in this shared landscape.
Saturday, October 24, 2026
Basel
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A beautiful and haunting exploration of what happens when
consciousness and memory begin to disintegrate. Conscious narrates
the stories of Wendy Mitchell, Pegeen O’Sullivan, and Maureen
Winfield who navigate dementia in transformative ways.