A.R.U. - Die Türsteher

Zürcher Tagebuch

When Werner Herzog was still a child, his father was beaten to death before his eyes. His mother was overwhelmed with his upbringing and thereupon shipped him off to one of the toughest youth welfare institutions in Freistatt. This was followed by a career as a bouncer in the city's most notorious music club and an attempt to start a family. Today, the 77-year-old from Bielefeld lives with his dog Lucky in a lonely house in the country. Despite adverse living conditions, he has survived in his own unique and inimitable way.

10 years before the debut of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In 1979, Bill Viola and Frank Caliguri dreamed up a contest pitting barroom bigmouths against wrestlers, martial artists, boxers, bouncers and brawlers, billed as no-holds-barred new type of competitive fighting. When the fights succeeded beyond their wildest expectations, they were swept up in a chain of events that ended in the first mixed-martial arts ban in the nation. “Tough Guys” chronicles the inception of Caliguri and Viola’s first bouts and the colorful, crazy cast of fighters who made them a hit as well as the politicians who brought it all crashing down. The film brings to life a moment when the national martial arts craze was building to a crescendo as the economies of Pennsylvania steel towns were plummeting to levels of unemployment never seen, breeding desperate men looking for a chance to prove their worth and make some money in the ring.

The film explores the destruction of a unique train station in Zurich and the construction of the new prison and police centre in its place. From the perspective of the filmmaker’s window, and with testimony from prisoners awaiting deportation, the film probes how we deal with the extinction of history and its replacement with total security.

Libreville, Gabon, Africa, 2016. Christ Olsen Mickala, a young boxer, trains tirelessly during the day and earns his living by night as a bouncer in nightclubs. At the same time, the combat of the presidential elections is taking place. As Christ hopes to succeed, a whole country hopes that a democratic transition finally triumphs.

"Jolly Roger" could mean Roger Schawinski. But by definition, a "Jolly Roger" is the classic black pirate flag with skull and crossbones. This documentary tells the unvarnished story of the Swiss radio pirates who emerged in the 1970s. The focus is on Radio 24 in its wild years, when Schawinski's team broadcast from Italy, with the strongest FM station in the world at the time, straight down from Pizzo Groppera, 130 kilometers all the way to the Zurich area. Supported by numerous original documents from private filmmakers and from the SRG archives, the viewer relives the absurd radio war between David and Goliath that lasted almost four years, 24 years after this war between the radio pirates and the state power began on November 13, 1979. The many known and unknown fighters, who rallied behind their Radio Winkelried Schawinski in 1979 to help usher Switzerland into a new media age, remember the good and bad times, the demonstrations and the numerous threatened and actual closures.

We were the milieu! Dummse Tünn, Schäfers Nas and Beckers Schmal, Abels Män, Frischse Pitter and the Lange Tünn ... Names that still have a ring to them in Cologne. Men who came to fame and fortune through their activities in Cologne's underworld and whose stories are brutal and evil, ice-cold and hard-boiled, but also naive, quirky and above all authentic. In the 1960s and 1970s, Cologne was dubbed "Chicago on the Rhine" by the tabloid press.

Steven Cantor's award-winning documentary chronicles of the lives of bouncers - the burly boys who guard both sides of the door in nightclubs across America. The film takes an inside look at the mindset of these frequently ridiculed, but always feared enforcers of the night and examines whether they are skilled experts in security, hired to anticipate trouble, or just hired thugs meant to intimidate. Revealed within is a world of notorious nightclub bouncers, including New York's Terence "The Black Prince" Buckley and British legend Lenny "The Guv'nor" McLean who appeared in "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" Written by Sujit R. Varma

Der Spitzel und die Chaoten – Die Zürcher Jugendbewegung 1980

The story of a German singer named Willie who while working in Switzerland falls in love with a Jewish composer named Robert whose family is helping people to flee from the Nazis. Robert’s family is skeptical of Willie, thinking she could be a Nazi as she becomes famous for singing the song “Lili Marleen”.

The search for a child murderer drags a once-respected detective into an all-consuming obsession.

Sami, Joe and Leyla are ready for a truly epic summer after finishing school and ready to get out and grab their slice of life. But what is to come is diametrically opposed to their expectations. Determined to stand up for themselves, the three friends find out how right Leyla’s mom was when she told them: always keep more dreams in your soul than reality can destroy.

The Double Deuce is the meanest, loudest and rowdiest bar south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and Dalton has been hired to clean it up. He might not look like much, but the Ph.D.-educated bouncer proves he's more than capable – busting the heads of troublemakers and turning the roadhouse into a jumping hot spot. But Dalton's romance with the gorgeous Dr. Clay puts him on the bad side of cutthroat local big shot Brad Wesley.

The life of 20-year-old Nico from upper class Zurich is all party, sex and drugs when she meets Paco, the front man of a rap band. She finds herself drawn to his independent, creative and profound way of life, so different from her own. With naiveté and infinite self-confidence, she tries to adopt his lifestyle - without anticipating the consequences.

Stand-up comedian Kaya Yanar dissects the allure of Switzerland through the eyes of a German who's lived there.

August 1st in Zurich. An unbearably hot day. While many are celebrating the Swiss national holiday, five individual fates take their course: 1. As a symbol against capitalism in Switzerland, Vinc is planning an attack in the city centre. 2. Tibetan descendent Sonam is struggling to settle into her new job as a police officer – worse still, she makes a major mistake during her first operation. 3. Hunter Edi’s status quo is unbalanced when a financial predicament puts his morals to the test. 4. Young Ukrainian Sonja arrives in Zurich full of hope to surprise the love of her life – but she is in for an even bigger surprise. 5. Chilean Javier no longer feels at home in Switzerland and decides to return – with his daughter, but without her mother’s knowledge – to his motherland.

This romantic drama follows two policemen whose job is to investigate the lives of foreigners who have applied for Swiss citizenship. Among the applicants they must screen are a French psychiatrist and his wife, and a ballet dancer. The married couple are quickly accepted, but the dancer's life offers some objections. However, since the younger policeman has fallen in love with her, there is a chance that she, too, will win Swiss citizenship.

Mr. T's first starring made-for-TV movie role has him playing a tough and scowling, but softhearted, nightclub bouncer who finds himself involved with a bunch of kids after being conned into taking over a youth center.

Ruža left Serbia, her country, over 30 years ago and lives in Zurich. Her daily life is a string of repetitive moments until, one day, Ana arrives on the scene and upsets Ruža's painstakingly organized world. A subtle friendship develops between the two strong willed women.

An Australian lone wolf's quiet existence is shattered when he learns that the woman he once loved and thought was dead is alive and held captive by ruthless gangsters. Now, to take on this dangerous criminal organization, he must seek out allies and storm into a world of violence to rescue the love of his life in this gritty, modern day violent fairytale.