Nick Cunningham

The Balcony Movie by Pawel Lozinski is named Best Film in the International Competition for Feature/Medium-length docs, while Anna and Helena Petta’s Out of Breath wins the Brazilian Comp for Feature/Medium-length. How Do You Measure a Year? and Chants from a Holy Book named best International and Brazilian short docs respectively.

SWISS FILMS Head of Festivals and Markets Andreas Bühlmann guides Business Doc Europe through the six new documentary projects offered up for consideration to the great and the good of the international sales, distribution, funding and festival community. The hybrid event takes place April 13 in Nyon.

Revered Italian director, screenwriter and producer Marco Bellocchio received April 11 the festival's highest honour before the Swiss premiere of his latest documentary, Marx Can Wait. Among the laudators were Emilie Bujès, artistic director of Visions du Réel, and Marco Müller, former director of the Venice FF and Locarno FF. On April 12 Bellocchio will give a public masterclass at Visions du Réel, which will also be live-streamed.

As if the Balkans needs another country, and another set of borders... Meet Czech businessman and self-proclaimed ‘president’ Vít Jedlička who, in 2015, founded the ‘sovereign state’ of Liberland on an island on the Danube between Croatia and Serbia. In Isabella Rinaldi’s documentary, screening in VdR Medium/Short Competition, we also meet a happy Dutchman who has fully bought into the Liberland concept and two Tito-loving idealists who are dedicated to re-establishing a mini Yugoslavian state.

Belgian producer Kristian van der Heyden spoke to a panel of a panel of NGOs, distributors and outreach changemakers during the Movies That Matter Take On Impact pitch session. In the project Slave Island two filmmakers, the Belgian Jimmy Hendrickx and Indonesian filmmaker Jeremy Kewuan, explore the hidden paradise of Sumba island, only to discover the atrocities of present-day slavery.

Dutch co-producer Janneke van de Kerkhof of Submarine explains why the company boarded Chinese filmmaker Lei Lei’s highly expressive animation documentary, supported by the Hubert Bals Fund, pitched at CineMart 2017 and selected for Visions du Réel Latitudes. The film which tells the life of the director’s family during the social and political upheavals of the 1960s. Van de Kerkhof spoke before film’s world premiere at IFFR.

Still not even 30 years old, Czech Adam Ondra is considered one of the greatest climbers who ever lived. In their feature doc world-premiering in VdR Grand Angle, fellow countrymen Jan Šimánek & Petr Záruba follow him over the course of three years, both in his private life and up in the mountains, as he prepares for the 2020 Olympics. The pair discuss their film with Business Doc Europe.

Visions du Réel Industry kicks off April 10 with a wide programme of new project presentations, lab sessions, networking opportunities, a film market and showcase of VdR films, industry talks and an exploration of co-production opportunities with Sweden, Denmark and Norway. “We feel strengthened by the lessons we have learned from the digital and hybrid editions of the last two years,” says Head of Industry Madeline Robert.

The Movies That Matter Industry programme gets into full swing April 7 after easing of restrictions on face to face engagement in The Netherlands, and following its initial online roll-out during lockdown. Industry manager Emma Romeijn tells Business Doc Europe what to expect over the coming days. “The red thread throughout our industry program is the idea of impact,” she underlines. 

In 2022 Visions du Réel promises to explore the “wide spectrum” of documentary and non-fiction, Artistic Director Emilie Bujès tells BDE on the eve of the festival’s live 53rd edition. “We have a mission to pull strings in all directions as far as possible.” Of the 124 films in official selection, 84 are world premieres and 15 are international premieres. Films will compete in International Feature, Burning Lights, Swiss and International Medium/Short-length competitions.