The 53rd edition of the Visions du Réel Festival of Nyon will present 160 documentary films from 68 different countries from April 7 to 17 for its big face-to-face return to cinemas. Out of 124 films in the official selection, 85 films will be presented in world premiere.
With 26 Swiss (co)productions, the Festival is once once more asserting itself as an essential partner in national creation, its organizers announced to the press on Tuesday. Italian director, screenwriter and producer Marco Bellocchio will receive the honorary prize for this 2022 edition, which will open with the film “Fire of Love”, an epic and spectacular portrait of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, directed by American filmmaker Sara dose.
After two digital and hybrid editions respectively, the festival team is “tremendously delighted” to return to cinemas, while maintaining a selection of films and streaming masterclasses.
“We experience this edition as a revival of the Festival. By integrating the digital developments of the last two years while emphasizing encounters, we bring together the best of two worlds and approach the future with even more dynamism”, said declared the president of the Festival Raymond Loretan during the press conference in Nyon.
In the context of the current war in Ukraine, Mr. Loretan reiterated “the solidarity of Visions du Réel with Ukrainian artists and filmmakers as well as with Russian artists and filmmakers in resistance”.
Some 3000 registrations
“The 124 films in the official selection were chosen from the 3,000 entries – a figure that remains stable. However, we have found that some countries have undoubtedly suffered more from the Covid from a production point of view and this is reflected this year in the selection, with a geographical distribution a little different from that usually existing in the program”, for her part affirmed Emilie Bujès, artistic director of Visions du Réel.
“The films that inhabit the 2022 selection once once more embrace a formidable spectrum of approaches, gazes, urgencies, freedoms and subjectivities. The 2022 edition will be particularly impressive from an artistic point of view, eclectic and open”, she added.
Presenting fifteen world premieres and an international premiere from 18 countries, the international “Feature Films” competition exhibits the cinema of contemporary reality in a broad and open, original and singular definition. Presenting fifteen feature and medium-length films from sixteen countries, the “Burning Lights” competition is dedicated to new vocabularies and writing, to narrative and formal freedom.
Dedicated to feature and medium-length films (co)produced in Switzerland, the national competition includes thirteen Swiss co-productions with eight countries, including twelve world premieres.
Closing Ukrainian film
“The war in Ukraine is on our minds, which is why we decided to present “The Earth is Blue as an Orange” at the end of the festival, as a sign of solidarity, alongside the other films made and/or produced in Ukraine already present in the programme”, announced Mrs Bujès.
The film by Ukrainian director Iryna Tsilyk delves into the daily life of Anna, who lives alone with her four children, in Ukraine in the Donbass. Inside his house of life reigns harmony, outside there is the chaos of war.
The Italian director, screenwriter and producer Marco Bellocchio is therefore the guest of honor at this 53rd edition. The tribute includes a retrospective of one of the most important works of contemporary cinema and the presentation of the filmmaker’s new documentary. The public will be able to view a dozen titles.
Kirsten Johnson, American filmmaker and director of photography who has worked with Laura Poitras, will be the special guest of Vision du Réel 2022.