The Visions du Réel Foundation announced April 8 the departure of Artistic Director Emilie Bujès, who will leave the festival at the end of July 2026. “Having served as Co-Director and Head of Programming and Industry for the Festival since 2018, Emilie Bujès has decided to take on a new challenge and step down as Artistic Director of Visions du Réel after nine highly successful editions,” the festival writes.
Bujès will take over as director of GIFF (Geneva International Film Festival) on 1 August 2026. “This logical transition will enable Emilie Bujès to broaden the cinematic scope of her work even further and to focus more on fiction, as well as series and digital formats in the future,” the festival adds.
“Emilie Bujès has left her mark on an important chapter in the history of Visions du Réel, not least because of the extraordinary quality of her programming. Drawing on her extensive experience and international network, Emilie Bujès has successfully strengthened and revitalised Visions du Réel, both for the general audience and for the industry.”
Bujès herself comments: “My years with the Visions du Réel team, first as a member of the selection committee and then as artistic director, have been filled with challenges, encounters, cinematic discoveries, and joys—artistic, professional and personal. I am infinitely grateful for the freedom and trust with which I have been able to work, alongside a supportive board of trustees and teams who are extremely motivated and committed. This will remain a key milestone in my professional career, and I am delighted to hand over the festival in excellent shape to my successor.”
The Visions du Réel Foundation Board further thanked Bujès “for her immense dedication and remarkable work over nine intense years. She has enabled the Festival to reach new heights in every respect and has contributed significantly to strengthening its international reputation. Her programming has been of exceptional quality, reflecting a highly ambitious cinematic vision.”
The board pointed out how VdR has benefited greatly from the prestige of its guests, welcoming directors such as Lucrecia Martel, Claire Denis, Werner Herzog, Jia Zhang-ke, Alice Rohrwacher, Kleber Mendonça Filho and Kelly Reichardt, as well as a special exhibition of Jean-Luc Godard’s Le Livre d’image, alongside first-time and established filmmakers presenting their films in the Official Selection – mostly world premieres.
Visions du Réel president Philippe Bischof writes: “We are extremely grateful for everything Emilie has brought to the Festival. We very much look forward to celebrating this upcoming edition of the Festival with her, which promises to be particularly compelling, and to bringing this significant chapter in the history of Visions du Réel to a close together. Her visionary, committed and bold work has laid a sound and solid foundation on which we can build to continue developing the Festival and further enhance its reputation in the years to come. I would like to thank her for her unfailing dedication and wish her every success and happiness in her future projects.”
A call for applications to the position of Artistic Director will be posted shortly. The 57th edition of Visions du Réel (VdR) will take place from 17 to 26 April 2026.
