DISCIPLINE

Christophe Saber – DISCIPLINE

It’s 9:30pm in a grocery store in Lausanne, Switzerland. The place is run by Egyptians. In a moment of anger, a father looses patience and disciplines his disobedient child. 

Diploma project (2014) by Christophe Saber

Know-how
Fiction

Fiction / 10min

Synopsis

It’s 9:30pm in a grocery store in Lausanne, Switzerland. The place is run by Egyptians. In a moment of anger, a father looses patience and disciplines his disobedient child. A shocked customer immediately intervenes to express her concern. Other customers join the conversation, they each put in their two cents and the staff is swamped. This discussion turns into a debate, which into quarrel. The situation gradually gets out of hand and into chaos…

Comment

Discipline is a choral movie that not only asserts its form with elegance and brilliance, working on the unity of time and place, but also forcefully captures the way in which cultures, languages and prejudices can confront each other, following a small prosaic incident that takes place in a convenience store and inexorably degenerates. Or how the singularity of a situation can support a universal subject, enriched by the director's uncompromising eye.

Frédéric Mermoud

Festivals

Selected at tiff (toronto international film festival) 2014

Swiss Academy Awards 2015 - Best shortfilm

Discipline on Swissfilms.ch

Projects related to Fiction

Dorian Pangallo – Sublime Démocratie

BA GRAPHIC DESIGN

Dorian Pangallo – Sublime Démocratie

by Dorian Pangallo

In an era where crises follow one another and justify a state of permanent exception, Sublime Democracy is a critical multimedia campaign portraying democracies stripped of their foundations, yet upheld by persistent symbols sustaining the illusion. Designed as a contemporary fable, the work draws on precise presidential speeches and polished visuals, integrating AI as the engine of a critical process where falsehood becomes language. By playing with the codes of power, it questions our habituation to fear, authority, and dominant narratives.

Screen Design – 2025

BA MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN

Screen Design – 2025

with Harry Bloch

Websites developed over the course of a semester based on books chosen by students, which they adapted into web experiences as part of Harry Bloch's Screen Design course, second year of the Bachelor's degree in Visual Communication.

Last Minute Risk

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

Last Minute Risk

with Natacha Lesueur

“What is clearly conceived can be clearly expressed, and the words to say it come easily.” Nicholas Boileau, *L’art poétique*. As students embark on their final year of study at ECAL, with their interests and methods taking shape, this final project offers an opportunity to challenge their own rules, established practices and influences, to refuse to settle for the status quo and to take risks.

ECAL x Moncler

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

ECAL x Moncler

with Philippe Jarrigeon

Drawing on Moncler’s Alpine heritage, its timeless style, and its technical mastery, the ECAL Bachelor Photography students developed their own interpretation of the brand’s visual language, blending documentary photography with staged scenes, and merging reality with fiction, under the artistic direction of French photographer Philippe Jarrigeon. As part of Paris Photo 2025, the students’ work was showcased at the Moncler boutique on the Champs-Élysées.

Film Production – 2026

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

Film Production – 2026

with Julien Bourdeille

Événement Lumineux Through an in-depth exploration of light as a narrative and sensory medium, first-year students created a short film on the theme “Luminous Event.” This project allows them to learn how to manage a complete audiovisual project while mastering the tools of filming, framing, and camera movement.  

Related courses