Mini vifff: Young Audiences
Modern Times
Charlie Chaplin
1936 / USA / 1h27 / Age: 6 (10)
In collaboration with the Lanterne Magique, in connection with the “Funny Business” focus
Lanterne Magique Member: CHF 8.–
Tramp against the machine
Charlot, a labourer worn down by assembly-line work, slips into depression. Once he has recovered, he discovers the harsh reality of life as an unemployed man, but above all he meets a destitute young woman, with whom he embarks on a series of misadventures. Modern Times transforms mechanisation and precariousness into a slapstick comedy that blends social commentary, masterful gags and tenderness towards society’s outcasts.
Language: No dialogues
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard & Henry Bergman
A live performance with commentary by actors from the Lanterne Magique
Funny Business
The VIFFF is dedicating its 2026 thematic focus to workplace comedies. From the Industrial Revolution to artificial intelligence, via the rise of office-based employment, the world of work has been constantly changing — with its dreams of progress as well as its disillusionments.
Combining satire of capitalism with a critique of power dynamics, this selection humorously explores the absurdities of our everyday working lives.