As part of the forthcoming World Expo to be held in Osaka, Japan, from 13 April to 13 October 2025, the Cinema Department is taking part in the immersive performance My name Is Heidi. Co-created by students from the Bachelor and Master Cinema programmes and in collaboration with Métilde Weyergans and Samuel Hercule, renowned for their live sound creation film shows, the immersive performance highlights innovation and sound creation in Switzerland. It is based on the research and creation by Anita Hugi, head of the Cinema Department, dedicated to a re-reading of the figure of Heidi and her dazzling presence in international cinema over the past 125 years.

Thanks to the skills acquired in the image, sound and editing options of the Bachelor Cinema degree, the plurality of representations of Heidi is honoured. Heidi is a character, a landscape, a visual and sound environment. Discover the video

Under the direction of Anita Hugi, head of the Cinema Department, the team worked together for several months in the Swiss Alps and in a studio to create My name Is Heidi, which will take place on 22 April 2025.

Students:
Louis Lamarche (sound recording)
Gaetan Carron (camera assistant)
Milàn Cerovaz (editing)
Miguel Rodriguez-Viloria (editing)
Tabarak Allah Abbas (casting))

Team:
Rafaela Gerhard (coordination)
Antoine Scalese (coordination)
Vuk Vukmanovic (mixage)
Hakim Mastour (régie)

Panel – Heidi Forever
As a complement to the immersive performance My name Is Heidi, HEAD - Geneva is offering the panel Heidi Forever, a dialogue on the origins of Heidi and her links with Switzerland and Japan. Organised at the Swiss Pavilion in Osaka, this event will bring together Lada Umstätter, Director of HEAD - Geneva, Prof. Dr. Takashi Kawashima, Douglas Edric Stanley and Anita Hugi. Together, they will explore Johanna Spyri's original work and its many audiovisual adaptations - illustrations, cinema, virtual reality - between tradition and vision of the future. Inclusive and timeless, Heidi brings together an international audience around a universal figure.

• Find out more about the Swiss Pavilion
• To find out more about the HEAD - Geneva Cinema Department, read our article on headcinema.ch