Doosra

Keerthigan Sivakumar – Doosra

Vinoth, a refugee, is looking for a volunteer activity to escape his loneliness, but no one is willing to accept his help.

Diploma project (2021) by Keerthigan Sivakumar

Mention
Very Good
Award
HES-SO Award
Know-how
Fiction

Fiction / 29 mn

Synopsis

Vinoth Nataraja, a young Sri Lankan asylum seeker, has been living alone in Switzerland for two years. Every morning, he drives his van through Lausanne to deliver bread. This regular job is the only thing he has in his life here, far from his roots. He then decides to get out of his routine and to look for a volunteer activity that would allow him to help others, meet people and perhaps make friends with Swiss people. But in doing so, he is confronted with another reality.

Student's statement

In the story I developed, my character is constantly faced with a world that does not want what he has to offer. As a consequence, a great feeling of loneliness is constantly fuelled by the way people ignore each other.

Stills
Stills
Stills
Stills
Stills
Stills

1/6

Set photographs
Set photographs
Set photographs
Set photographs
Set photographs
Set photographs
Set photographs
Set photographs

1/8

Projects related to Fiction

Création cinématographique– 2026

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

Création cinématographique– 2026

with Orsola Valenti

Off-camera By exploring what lies outside the frame, students develop a sensitive and reflective approach to audiovisual creation. Throughout the semester, students are encouraged to reflect on the political and formal issues surrounding the moving image, as well as the relationship between the visible and the invisible. 

Staged Photography – 2026

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

Staged Photography – 2026

with Charlotte Krieger

Unseen This course introduces students to the creation of a seven-image series built around the theme Unseen. They will learn to combine set design, characters, and lighting to produce strong, coherent staged images. Through a practical and technical approach, the course develops their ability to conceive and manage a complete photographic project, direct models, work with natural and artificial light, and collaborate under conditions similar to professional editorial or commercial shoots. Students will refine their photographic vision while preparing for the creative and technical demands of the industry.

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.  

ECAL X MHL – Photosensible

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

ECAL X MHL – Photosensible

with Philippe Jarrigeon

Drawing inspiration from the 19th-century archives of photographer André Schmid, second-year Bachelor’s students collaborated with the Lausanne History Museum to create an inspiring dialogue between the past and the present. For most of the students, his name was unfamiliar. Discovering his work, preserved in the collections of the Lausanne History Museum, opened up a field of exploration that was both historical and artistic. Through André Schmid’s images, a foundational chapter in Swiss photography was revealed to them. Through an immersion in the archives, they were invited to engage in a dialogue with this pioneering practice—not to cite or reproduce it, but to reimagine it, question it, and interpret it, thereby creating a tension between the origins of photography and its most contemporary developments.

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.

Related courses