The 2026 documentary film workshop for 2nd year students was lead by french director and visual anthropologist Verena Paravel.
Studio project (2026) by Noé Bregnard, Victor Durand Matinella, Nolan Grando, Lou Haenggi, Samuel Harari, Hana Magimel, Eva Rust, Mileny Viera de Andrade, Zélia Zanone
Head of workshop: Verena Paravel
"For this experimental documentary workshop, the students took a specific location as their starting point: the Pointe de la Jonction in Geneva, where the Rhône and the Arve meet. At once natural, urban, industrial and working-class, this site brings together a wide variety of people, activities and rhythms: bathers, anglers, walkers, cleaners, graffiti artists, pontoon operators, animals, rubbish, currents and traces of life.
The project was built around a focus on this unique ecosystem, which is soon to undergo a transformation. The aim was not merely to document a space, but to capture the balances, tensions, forms of coexistence and everyday uses that make it up.
The workshop was also built on a strong collective experience. The nine students had to develop a shared perspective from their different sensibilities, agreeing to move beyond individual thinking in order to construct a shared form. This diversity became one of the driving forces behind the film: multiplying the approaches, viewpoints and ways of engaging with the location.
The documentary work developed through physical and sensory immersion. The students explored different ways of filming and recording: underwater, at ground level, from a distance on a bridge, and as close as possible to bodies, movements, sounds and materials. The images and sound do not merely seek to describe La Jonction, but to convey its vibrations, flows, contrasts and invisible forces.
Through this film, the aim is to bear witness to a space of coexistence and encounter, where humans, animals, plants, infrastructure and natural elements exist in a fragile balance. The project thus invites us to look closely at what often escapes our notice: the ordinary presences, the informal uses, the marginal traces, and the discreet connections that make a place unique."
Paolo Moretti, head of Cinema department
• Noé Bregnard , Victor Durand Matinella , Nolan Grando , Lou Haenggi , Samuel Harari , Hana Magimel , Eva Rust , Mileny Viera de Andrade , Zélia Zanone , Jonxion, 42'
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BA PHOTOGRAPHY
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.
BA FILM STUDIES
with Marie-Eve Hildbrand
The 2026 documentary film workshop for 1st year students was lead by swiss director Marie-Eve Hildbrand.
BA GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Arnaud Wenger
Our perception of climate change depends on what we read. How You Read, How You Know is an investigation into the invisible architecture of information. When a wildfire burns, the facts are the same: the hectares, the wind, the displaced lives. But the story told about it never quite is. It shifts depending on who writes, from where, and for whom. This project analyzes the media coverage of two wildfires in 2025: the Los Angeles wildfires in January, and the Corbières wildfires, in the south of France, in August.
BA PHOTOGRAPHY
with Rineke Dijkstra
What is good portrait? What technique do you choose? What kind of light do you use? Daylight or flash? What location or backdrop do you choose for? How do you choose your subject? How do you approach someone you don’t know? In this workshop, the students have explored what makes a good portrait and which tools you can use to create one.
BA GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Joanna Metz
Galerie Nationale offers a glimpse of the young photographic scene in Dakar. In collaboration with a team of Senegalese photographers, the artist organised the exhibition Li Nu Boole, What connects us, which culminated in an opening in May, 2026 at the National Gallery in Dakar. This book documents the preparation of the event, the environment, the artists and their artworks, as well as the spectators taking part as actors during the opening. Through conversations and texts, the artists share their journeys, their visions of what connects us, as well as their reactions to the project. Throughout this project, the artist took on the roles of artistic director, curator, and graphic designer, while living an artistic and human experience in the country of her childhood.