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VISIONS DU RÉEL 2019

Visions du Réel announces its 50th programme and it’s all about freedom

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- The Nyon festival (5 to 13 April) celebrates its 50th anniversary without having lost any of its characteristic radicalism

Visions du Réel announces its 50th programme and it’s all about freedom
Passion - Between Revolt and Resignation by Christian Labhart

Even though freedom and an openness to new cinematographic languages, themes and experiments may seem part and parcel of Visions du Réel by now, the important fiftieth edition of the festival on Lake Geneva (5 to 13 April) is due to celebrate these two concepts, with 169 films (including 102 world or international premieres) from 58 countries due to be showcased in this year’s programme.

Always willing to take on the role of explorer and look for new perspectives that challenge the malleable definition of ‘documentary film,’ this year, in addition to the 95 films featured in its various competitive sections, Visions du Réel  will also be showcasing feature films, Burning Lights, national and medium feature films, short films and Opening Scenes (a section dedicated to the new generation), 36 Swiss productions and co-productions, an homage to the immense and provocative German director Werner Herzog (who will also host an unmissable masterclass, in addition to receiving the Golden Sestertius Raiffeisen Maître du Réel Award), as well as two very interesting workshops hosted by Tariq Teguia and Massimo D'Anolfi and Marina Parenti. And while the Algerian director (who will also be hosting a masterclass and whose films will be (re)discovered) opts for a more explicitly political film form, D'Anolfi and Parenti are more drawn towards the union of poetry and politics (Spira Mirabilis [+see also:
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Among the 15 films competing in this year’s International Feature Film Competition, all of which quite literally challenge the definition of ‘documentary,’ are 12 European productions and co-productions. The only Swiss film this year is Passion-Between Revolt and Resignation [+see also:
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by Christian Labhart,an almost mystical essay on the complexity of contemporary living. Nicolas Graux'sFrench-Belgian Century of Smoke [+see also:
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transports us to far away Laos, while Dreams for the Outback [+see also:
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by Danish director Jannik Splidsboel gives a voice to the Australian Aboriginal community. The German director Thomas Heise focuses on the complexity of Germany in his latest film Heimat is a Space in Time [+see also:
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, already shown at the Berlinale. Kiruna - A Brand New World [+see also:
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by Greta Stocklassa transports us to a city that quite literally has to move in order to exist, while young protagonists embark on a unique journey (from their native Germany to Romania) in the German film Out of Place [+see also:
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by Friederike Güssefeld. The International Competition includes three European co-productions: That Which Does Not Kill [+see also:
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interview: Alexe Poukine
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by Alexe Poukine (Belgium/France), The Wind. A Documentary Thriller [+see also:
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interview: Michał Bielawski
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by Michal Bielawski (Poland/Slovakia)and Those Who Remain [+see also:
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by Ester Sparatore (France/Italy/Belgium). Finally, three documentaries produced with a European country have also made the cut: the poetic and incisive Aether [+see also:
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by Rûken Tekes (Turkey/Italy), Norie [+see also:
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by Yuki Kawamura (Luxembourg/Japan), and When the Persimmons Grew [+see also:
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by Hilal Baydarov (Azerbaijan/Austria).

Of the 16 selected films for the Burning Lights section, the second competitive section dedicated to feature films, four of them are Swiss film: Loulou [+see also:
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by Nathan Hofstetter, Madame [+see also:
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by Stéphane Riethauser, Naturales Historiae [+see also:
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by Pauline Julier, and the French co-production Le Pays by Lucien Monot (medium-length film). Other French films in in the selection include Ordinary Landscape [+see also:
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by Damien Monnier, The House [+see also:
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by Mali Arun and Piuccheperfetto by Riccardo Giacconi (medium-length film). The Sound Is Innocent [+see also:
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by Johana Ožvold is a co-production between France, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, while Germany is also present with Animals [+see also:
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by Jonas Spriestersbach, and an Iranian co-production: In the Name of Scheherazade or the First Beergarden in Tehran by Narges Kalhor.

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(Translated from Italian)

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