Visions du Réel 2013
The programme of the 44th (!) edition of the documentary festival (April 19 to 26) in Nyon, Switzerland has been published. The festival includes ” a total of 110 films in competition from 45 countries, including 24 Swiss films. For almost all of the films the festival screenings will be world or international premieres; the fruit of a record number of nearly 3 500 films submitted to Nyon or discovered in festivals around the world by Luciano Barisone and his selection committee. This record number of films screened underscores the growing reputation of the Festival nationally and internationally and enables the organisers to apply particularly stringent criteria in the selection process, Claude Ruey (president of the festival, ed.) proudly announces.”
About the selection, the director Luciano Barisone says, quite interestingly: ”In the face of the contradictions of a globalised system, the world is seeking a possible future. After the social unrest which in recent years has affected the West, the East, as well as the Arab world, filmmakers everywhere are reflecting on the current situation, exploring new ways of life, and imaging the future.” Adding that ”the respect of the spectators and of the persons filmed, the filmmakers’ commitment to their projects, as well as the originality and aesthetics of the films are among the key selection criteria.”
Two strong international names present retrospectives of their works: Israeli Eyal Sivan (Jaffa-The Orange’s Clockwork, Route 181-Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel, The Specialist-Portrait of a Modern Criminal (Eichmann) among others) and Latvian Laila Pakalnina (Dream Land, The Oak, Papa Gena, Three Men and a Fish Pond, The Mail, The Ferry.. among others). There is a series of Lebanese documentaries. There is a film with and about Brazilian icon Gilberto Gil, new films by Israeli Yoav Shamir, Finnish Susanna Helke, as well as international premieres of ”Father” by Lithuanian Marat Sargsyan and Belgian Tülin Ozdenir’s ”Beyond the Ararat”.
A rich programme. Take a look:
