Visions du Réel has unveiled the projects selected for its Industry programme in 2024. VdR-Industry also named the jurors who will deliver the CHF 80,000 in industry awards. “Over four jam-packed days, Visions du Réel provides a unique opportunity for cinematic creation, connecting filmmakers with financing and distribution opportunities within an inspiring and productive environment,” write organisers. Under the new direction of Alice Burgin, VdR–Industry will run 14 to 17 April.
A total of 29 projects have been selected to participate across four categories this year. In the two showcase pitching events, 15 projects in development will be part of VdR–Pitching, and six projects at finishing stage will be presented at the VdR–Work In Progress pitch. Four projects have been selected for both the VdR–Rough Cut Lab and the VdR–Development Lab respectively.
“With a 48% increase in project submissions to this year’s industry programme, and applications spanning over 108 countries, the 2024 selection seeks to reflect the diversity of a truly international cinema,” write organisers. The selected projects represent 30 countries and thirteen first films, with half of the selections being directed or co-directed by women and thirteen projects including directors and production companies from low-production countries.
“The diversity of this year’s Industry programme is a reflection not only of the cinematic and aesthetic values that drive Visions du Réel as a festival, but also of a contemporary world that’s perpetually evolving and that we must engage with,” says Head of Industry Alice Burgin. “This year’s projects are fresh and exciting, and have an urgency that we cannot ignore. They are looking for the most original and powerful formal approaches to revisit the past, and cast a critical lens on the present, in order to look bravely towards an uncertain future.”
VdR-Industry writes how “these 29 singular points of view range from a personal story of cultural restitution to the closing doors of an old psychiatric hospital to a Chinese cricket team coached by a Pakistani in Italy. They all reflect upon an ever-changing world in a unique way. War, displacement and its lasting impact remain sadly ever-present in this year’s selection including two new projects provide an insider’s perspective on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, one documentary explores the generational ramifications of exile on Palestinian families, and another explores the continuing complexities facing youth living in the aftermath of Northern Ireland’s Troubles.
“Fathers (and grandfathers) are a recurring theme as well, one used to explore universal issues including the crisis of masculinity, domestic abuse, religious extremism, economic migration, and the spoils of colonialism. And when talking about frontiers, it is impossible not to mention the most fascinating one: space, with two new projects exploring our attraction towards the unknown. While To the Moon and Back offers a view of the next generation wanna-be astronauts via a never-before-look of Lausanne’s ambitious space programme (EPFL – Asclepios), Shifting Baselines explores the curious goings on in Boca Chica, USA, the new home to Elon Musk’s SpaceX starbase.”
RETURNING ALUMNI
The festival writes how this year’s selection shows the long-lasting relationships VdR–Industry develops with movie directors, welcoming back the following artists:
- Mehran Tamadon (My Worst Enemy, Visions du Réel 2023; Iranian, VdR 2014, Bassidji, VdR 2009) brings his latest project The Last Days of the Hospital (TS Productions & Box Productions). Tamadon’s most radical project so far is an experiment in self-management of the dying days of a psychiatric hospital, demonstrating a cinematic and therapeutic experience with the patients, one that speaks volumes about the current situation regarding public hospitals in France.
- After the success of A Marble Travelogue (Visions du Réel 2022), Sean Ali Wang returns with Pratopia(MUYI Film). Through the threefold perspectives of a second-generation Chinese pianist from Wenzhou, a Pakistani cricket team captain and a small factory owner, as well as a left-wing Italian youth political activist, the film delves into the intertwined destinies of three ethnic groups amid the rise and fall of the textile industry in Prato, Italy.
- Ukrainian director Vadym Ilkov (My Father Is my Mother’s Brother, Visions du Réel 2018), pairs up with Clare Stronge on Fixing the War (Moon Man & Plainsong Films), showing us the vital role of a Ukrainian news ‘fixer’ as they wrestle with the jobs challenges when their war leaves the front pages.
- Malqueridas director (VdR–Industry 2021, 2023 Venice Critics’ Week, IDFA) Tana Gilbert returns once again to VdR–Industry with her latest project Burning Daddy (Errante & Dirk Manthey Film), which, through the reconstruction of a family history, reflects upon the complex shape of post-dictatorship Chilean fatherhood.
- Charles Fairbanks (The Modern Jungle, Visions du Réel 2016) is teaming up with producer Lucila Moctezuma on the new coming-of-age documentary She Wrestles (She Wrestles Documentary), using America’s fastest growing high-sport to explore the changing face of rural America, and how young women find meaning and make community as they navigate our complicated world.
- Gianluca Matarrese (Il posto – A Steady Job, Visions du Réel 2022) brings his latest project GEN_ (Bellota Films & Stemal Entertainment), following the life of a controversial Milanese doctor navigating contemporary medical issues ranging from reproductive rights to teenagers’ gender transitions.
- Ukrainian film collective Tabor, which won the vision sud est Industry award last year with their project The Days I Would Like to Forget, are back with Listening to the World by Yelizaveta Smith, a gentle family portrait exploring deafness and disability in a time of war.
- In the VdR–Rough Cut lab, Karim Kassem (Only the Winds, Visions du Réel 2021) brings his latest meditation on departures in Moondove (Screen Productions), while Philip Cartelli (Slow Return, Visions du Réel 2021) offers a playful investigation into a gang of anarchists who claimed to have stolen the ashes of Trotsky and baked them into cookies in The Second Death (Nusquam).
FIRST TIME FILMMAKERS AND SWISS PRODUCTIONS
In addition to returning talents, Visions du Réel is “a beacon for supporting new talents from around the world, and this year’s industry programme includes thirteen first time feature documentaries,” organisers write, with Magnetic Letters, On the Way, The Shadow of Yolüja and To the Moon and Back in Pitching & Flood, The Myth of Mahmoud, At Least to See the Ocean and Beyond the Fold selected for Work in Progress. Rough Cut Lab will showcase both Tau and Cuitá, Stone from the Sky while Development Lab hosts Leaf Remnants, My Grandparents’ Window Overlooks a Cemetery and The Unlikely Hero.
A selection of these first-time filmmakers include the production team from Kijora Film (In Ukraine, Visions du Réel 2023; 1970, Visions du Réel 2021, and An Ordinary Country, Visions du Réel 2020) that returns with Natalia Dołgowska’s feature debut (On the Way) exploring the impact of mass tourism on Poland’s Tatra mountains amidst climate breakdown.
Producer Pablo Lozano turns his hand to directing, bringing to the VdR–Work In Progress showcase the hybrid documentary At Least to See the Ocean (La Felicidad), while female Palestinian directorial duo,Mayar Hamdan and Shaima Al Tamimi explore the complexities of belonging and identity in The Myth of Mahmoud(Y2P Studios). Finally, Katy Scoggin is best known for her long-time collaboration with director, producer and artist, Laura Poitras, including working as cinematographer on the Academy-Award winning Citizenfour. In 2024, with the support of Poitras as Executive Producer, Scoggin turns the camera on herself, examining her complex relationship with her evangelical father in Flood (Archelon Films).
“Whilst showcasing a selection from all around the world, VdR–Industry remains deeply rooted within the national movie industry,” organisers stress. “VdR–Pitching forum is thus excited to count three Swiss production houses to pitching as part of the co-production market,” welcoming Intermezzo with their latest project Totemic, Stéphanie Barbey’s solo directorial debut, Rita Productions with To the Moon and Back (Elisa Gómez Alvarez), and Box Productions with The Last Days of the Hospital (Mehran Tamadon in co-production with TS Productions).
JURY WELCOMES NEW FACES TO VISIONS DU RÉEL
Projects taking part inthe VdR–Pitching and VdR–Work In Progress showcase will be eligible for awards totalling over CHF 80,000 of cash and in-kind support.
The 2024 Industry Jury welcomes three new faces to the Festival including Rémi Burah, CEO and Selection Committee Member of ARTE France Cinema; Lisa Kleiner Chanoff, Co-Founder of Catapult Film Fund, and Kristy Matheson, Head of Festivals at the British Film Institute.
The Eurimages Jury, awarding the €20,000 Eurimages Co-production Development Award, comprises Eleni Chandrinou, producer and the Greek national representative of the Council of Europe; Susana Santos Rodrigues (Co-director at IndieLisboa International Film Festival), and Vadim Jendreyko, producer at Mira Film Vadim Jendreyko.
Finally, the visions sud est jury awarding the CHF 10,000 award to one project from the Global South, is made up of by Zsuzsi Bánkuti (Head of Open Doors at Locarno International Film Festival); Meret Ruggle who is the Co-director of Trigon-film, and John Canciani, Artistic Director of the Internationale Winterthur Short Film Festival.
The Festival’s programme will be announced in detail on 19 March 2024.
