At the Visions du Réel 2023 awards ceremony held April 28, Swiss-Canadian director Peter Mettler won the Grand Prix of the International Feature Film Competition with While the Green Grass Grows, a project that will consist of seven parts once completed – two of which were presented as a world premiere. This is the second time Peter Mettler has won the award, after his Gambling, Gods and LSD in 2002.
The Burning Lights Competition was won by Knit’s Island, shot entirely from inside a video game, as further proof of the section’s future-oriented positioning.
The National Competition’s chosen winner was Chagrin Valley, a debut film that offers a disconcerting immersion in the evanescent daily life of retirement home residents. Visions du Réel will continue until Sunday evening within Nyon theatres, and online until Monday 6pm. The Prix du Public will be announced April 29.
Visions du Réel Artistic Director Emilie Bujès commented: “The wealth of artistry on display at this edition made it a particularly enjoyable occasion. The list of winners – which includes a number of female-directed films (11 out of 18) – helps paint a picture of a Festival whose exceptional Guests of Honour and Special Guests will linger long in the memory. Lucrecia Martel and Alice Rohrwacher, alongside Jean-Stéphane Bron, will have made this Festival a place for dialogue that is at once inspiring, open and accessible. The 2023 edition will have been dominated by women. It is also an honour and a pleasure that the Grand Prix will once again be awarded to a Swiss production, which – and this is already a certainty – will go down in the history of cinema.”
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION Jury: Florence Almozini, Senior Director of Programming, USA; David Epiney, Producer, Switzerland; Kleber Mendonça Filho, Filmmaker, Brazil
- Grand Jury Prize offered by la Mobilière (CHF 20,000) While the Green Grass Grows by Peter Mettler (Switzerland, Germany)
- Special Jury Award offered by Région de Nyon (CHF 10,000) Defectors by Hyun kyung Kim (Republic of North Korea, United States)
- Special Mention In Ukraine by Piotr Pawlus and Tomasz Wolski (Poland, Germany)
BURNING LIGHTS COMPETITION Jury: Leonardo Bigazzi, Curator and producer, Italy; Michelle Carey, Programmer, Germany/Australia; Elena López Riera, Filmmaker, Switzerland/Spain
- Jury Prize in the Burning Lights Competition offered by Canton de Vaud (CHF 10,000) Knit’s Island by Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse and Quentin L’helgoualc’h (France)
- Special Jury Award offered by la Société des Hôteliers de la Côte (CHF 5,000) This Woman by Alan Zhang (China)
- Special Mention Guián by Nicole Chi Amén (Costa Rica)
NATIONAL COMPETITION Jury: Anne Delseth, Programmer, Switzerland; Francesca Mazzoleni, Filmmaker, Italy; Eugénie Michel-Vilette, Producer, France
- Jury Prize in the National Competition offered by SRG SSR (CHF 15,000) Chagrin Valley, of Nathalie Berger (Switzerland)
- Special Jury Award in the National Competition for a feature film directed by a filmmaker of Swiss nationality or resident in Switzerland offered by SSA/Suissimage (CHF 10,000) The Wonder Way by Emmanuelle Antille (Switzerland)
- Special Mention La Maison by Sophie Ballmer (Switzerland)
INTERNATIONAL MEDIUM LENGTH AND SHORT FILM COMPETITION Jury: Alan Eddine Aljem, Filmmaker and producer, Morocco; Zeynep Güzel, Filmmaker and producer, Turkey; Enrico Vannucci, Programmer, Switzerland/Italy
- Jury Prize for the best Medium Length Film offered by Clinique de Genolier (CHF 6,000) Self-Portrait Along the Borderline by Anna Dziapshipa (Georgia)
- Jury Prize for the Best Short Film offered by la Fondation Goblet (CHF 5,000) Losing Ground (Myanmar)
- Special Mention (Medium-Length Film) Vampires, It’s Nothing to Laugh at by Kinga Michalska (Canada)
- Special Mention (Short Film) Souvenir d’une journée parfait by Davina Maria (Belgium, Lebanon, Hungary, Portugal)
YOUTH JURY PRIZE Jury: Davyd Kiryanov, Gaëlle Sallansonnet, Maera Suh-Ju Dusapin, Julia Thyssen, Giulia Tonnella
- Special Youth Jury Award for a Medium Length Film (CHF 4,000) La Ricerca, of Giuseppe Petruzzellis
- Special Youth Jury Award for the best Short Film offered by Mémoire Vive (CHF 2,500) Voices of November of Lam Can-zhao
INTERRELIGIOUS AWARD Jury: Nicolas Besson (President), Pastor, Switzerland; Linda Dombrovszky, Filmmaker, Hungary; Garance Hayat, Film critic, France; Mohammed Rezaeian, Legal advisor, Switzerland (CHF 5,000)
Pure Unkown by Valentina Cicogna and Mattia Colombo (Italy, Switzerland, Sweden)
ZONTA AWARD Prize for a female filmmaker whose work reveals mastery and talent and calls for support for future creations. Jury: Simone Jenni, Programmer, Switzerland; Dora Manz, Club Zonta member, Switzerland; Fisnik Maxville, Filmmaker, Switzerland (CHF 5,000)
This Woman by Alan Zhang (China)
INTERNATIONAL CRITICS’ AWARD – FIPRESCI AWARD First feature film presented in the International Feature Film Competition or the Burning Lights Competition. Jury: Ruggero Calich, Film critic, Turkey; Dina Pokrajac, Film critic, Croatia; Dominic Schmid, Film critic, Switzerland
Knit’s Island by Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse and Quentin L’helgoualc’h (France)
INTERNATIONAL CRITICS’ AWARD – FIPRESCI AWARD First feature film presented in the International Feature Film Competition or the Burning Lights Competition. Jury: Ruggero Calich, Film critic, Turkey; Dina Pokrajac, Film critic, Croatia; Dominic Schmid, Film critic, Switzerland
Knit’s Island by Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse and Quentin L’helgoualc’h (France)
PERCEPTION CHANGE AWARD Jury: Aziyade Poltier Mutal, Head of the UN Perception Change Project; François Vioud, Program Management Specialist of the UN Perception Change Project. (CHF 5,000)
Against the Tide by Sarvnik Kaur (India, France)
