The film “Haha, haha, ha!” by Mojtaba Zarghampour and Mahdi Hosseingholi, Master’s students at the Institute for Digital Communication Environments (IDCE) at HGK Basel, won several awards at the 50th Swiss Youth Film Festival in 2026.
The film “Haha, haha, ha!” by Mojtaba Zarghampour and Mahdi Hosseingholi, both students on the Master’s programme in Digital Communication Environments at the Institute of Digital Communication Environments (IDCE) at HGK Basel, won several awards at its premiere at the 50th Swiss Youth Film Festival 2026 – winning the ZKB Audience Award as well as second prize from the jury in ‘Category D, up to 25 years’.
‘Haha Haha Ha!’ is a fictional and experimental short film that explores obedience, control and the perpetuation of authoritarian structures. Set in a surreal cemetery, the film follows six mourning figures whose funeral ritual is interrupted by a higher authority and gradually transformed into a choreographed test of obedience.
With no dialogue and a focus on movement, repetition and collective gestures, the film approaches the phenomenon of dictatorship not through individual protagonists, but via a cycle that reproduces itself through bodies and rhythm.
The jury justified its award for “Haha, haha, ha!” as follows: “This film manages to reduce major themes to their essence. With absurd humour and, at the same time, palpable brutality, it reveals the mechanisms of an authoritarian system and the people trapped within it.”
The poster for the film “Haha, haha, ha!” was designed by Hongkyung Son, an alumnus of the International Master of Design in Graphic Design programme at HGK Basel and the UIC Chicago.
The Swiss Youth Film Festival is the largest national film festival, showcasing mainly films by young filmmakers. At its heart is the short film competition: films made by schools and youth clubs, independent productions and films by film students compete in five categories. Over 3,000 young people take part in the festival every year.
We congratulate Mojtaba Zarghampour and Mahdi Hosseingholi on this significant award and wish them continued success!
