In addition to the strong Swiss selection in the official festival programme, including 31 (co)productions in various competitions and sections, VdR–Industry announces 15 new Swiss projects participating within the RTS and SWISS FILMS pitch sessions, as well as in the official VdR–Pitching showcase.
“From early development to finishing stages, Visions du Réel will introduce a host of exciting new Swiss talent as well as welcoming to the stage award-winning directors and production companies from across the country,” write organisers.
In addition, VdR–Industry announced March 26 a new partnership with Unifrance to welcome France as the Country of Focus, while also offering up a showcase of diverse new documentaries from Norway together with the Norwegian Film Institute.
15 NEW SWISS PROJECTS HIGHLIGHTED AT VDR–INDUSTRY
Two Swiss projects have been selected to compete in Visions du Réel’s VdR–Pitching showcase. These are The Big Boom (Mira Productions), directed by filmmaker Gabriel Tejedor (Kombinat VdR2020, Rue Mayskaya VdR2017), and Call Me When the Wind Blows by Arami Ullón, produced by Aline Schmid (Beauvoir Films) whose 2024 feature film The Landscape & The Fury took away the top award In Competition at Visions du Réel in 2024. Both projects will be eligible for over CHF 80’000 in prizes.
An ongoing partnership with RTS will see seven “romand” projects (from the French speaking part of Switzerland) pitch for up to CHF 10,000 in development funds during the festival, as part of the Prix RTS de soutien à la création documentaire competition. These include the new feature doc project Radio Separation, produced by Le Laboratoire Central and directed by Yann Bétant. In addition, the VdR Industry will welcome filmmaker Claude Baechtold with his newest film My Wife Is an Architect, produced by Intermezzo Films, as well as Inland by Blaise Harrison, produced by Lionel Baier (Bande à Part Films) and Estelle Fialon (Les Films du Poisson).
SWISS FILMS Previews returns with its strong selection of six documentaries at finishing stage, ready for festivals, sales agents and distribution. Showcasing talent from around the country, the selection includesTristan Forever (hugofilm features) by Tobias Nölle and Loran Bonnardot. Benjamin Bucher (co-director Full Tank, VdR2023), presents Sweet Belonging (Langfilm) which follows Joyce, a 22-year-old African-Chinese dancer in Switzerland who is torn between artistic and identity-related self-discovery and the financial dependence on her mother’s TikTok business. Dea Gjinovci (Wake Up on Mars) will present The Beauty of the Donkey (co-produced by Astrae Productions, Unseen Films and Haut et Court Doc), who uncovers, with her father, the mysterious disappearance of her grandmother.
VdR–Pitching
- Call Me When the Wind Blows by Arami Ullón (Switzerland, Paraguay, Japan). Production: Aline Schmid (Beauvoir Films). Switzerland, Paraguay
- The Big Boom by Gabriel Tejedor (Switzerland). Production : Susanne Guggenberger (Mira Film Basel). Switzerland
Prix RTS de Soutien à la création documentaire
- Chinatown by Callisto Mc Nulty (Switzerland, France). Production: Britta Rindelaub (Alva Film), Violeta Kreimer (Misia Films). Switzerland, France
- Inland by Blaise Harrison (Switzerland, France). Production: Lionel Baier (Bande à Part Films), Estelle Fialon (Les Films du Poisson). Switzerland, France
- My Wife Is an Architect by Claude Baechtold (Switzerland). Production: Luc Peter, Katia Monla (Intermezzo Films). Switzerland
- Radio Separation by Yann Bétant (Switzerland). Production: Nadejda Magnenat (Le Laboratoire Central). Switzerland
- Sand Merchants by Fabiano D’Amato (Switzerland). Production: Emmanuel Gétaz (Dreampixies). Switzerland
- The Monster of Lake Léman by Alex Iwanoff (Colombia), Jonathan Barrera (Colombia). Production: Charles Brepsant (In·somnia Studios). Switzerland
- Tighaline by Juliette Riccaboni (Switzerland, Italy). Production: Emilie Moor (Adok Films). Switzerland
SWISS FILMS Previews
- Heat by Jacqueline Zünd (Switzerland). Production: Louis Mataré (Lomotion AG), Switzerland
- Shewit by Anne-Frédérique Widmann (Switzerland). Production: Luc Peter, Katia Monla (Intermezzo Films), Switzerland
- Sweet Belonging by Benjamin Bucher (Switzerland). Production: Olivier Zobrist (Langfilm), Switzerland
- The Beauty of the Donkey by Dea Gjinovci (Switzerland, Albania). Production: Dea Gjinovci, Palmyre Badinier (Astrae Productions), Ilir Hasanaj (Unseen Films), Emmanuelle Lepers (Haut et Court Doc), Switzerland, Kosovo, France
- The Huntresses by Amélie Bargetzi (Switzerland), Christelle Jornod (Germany). Production: Elena Tatti, Nicolas Wittwer (Box Productions), Switzerland
- Tristan Forever by Tobias Nölle (Switzerland), Loran Bonnardot (France). Production: Christof Neracher (hugofilm features), Switzerland
VDR–INDUSTRY WELCOMES FRANCE AS COUNTRY OF FOCUS
The Switzerland Meets France programme is designed to shine a light on the relationship and possibilities between the two countries. Working in partnership with Unifrance, the programme includes a co-production lab that welcomes ten producers across Switzerland and France to explore opportunities for international collaborations for their current and future projects.
Producers participating have been selected from across the Romand industry (French-speaking part of Switzerland) including Aurélie Oliveira Pernet (Intermezzo Films), Annick Bouissou (Akka Films), Yan Decoppet (Golden Egg Productions), Irene Munoz (Independent producer), Gaspar Vignon (Marmotte Productions). French producers include Violeta Kreimar (Misia Films), Thibaut Amiri (Avant La Nuit), Astrig Chandèze-Avakian (Pazma Films), Eliott Baillon (Darjeeling) and Victor Thomas (Les Quarante-Huitièmes Rugissants Productions). In addition to the lab, Visions du Réel Industry-accredited guests are welcome to participate in numerous activities focusing on France, including two talks; Co-producing with France, presented by the CNC, and a Focus on French theatrical distribution with Arizona Distribution and Jour 2 Fete.
FIVE NEW PROJECTS PREVIEWED IN NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH NORWAY
The special Previews showcase offers the VdR–Industry guests a glimpse into the diversity of Norwegian storytelling, and is targeted at sales agents, festivals and distributors seeking the newest Nordic content of tomorrow. Projects include Maja Holand’s Hex (Herstory), exploring the exciting world of feminist Norwegian heavy metal; an attempt to bridge divides on a US island in the face of environmental and ideological challenges in Strangers & Stayers (co-directed by Julia Dahr, Julie Lunde Lillesæter and Hannah Jayanti with Differ Media Gusto Moving Pictures); and a filmmaker’s defiant meditation on identity and war in Amir Ajdinovic’s The Universe is my Selfie (Aldeles). Hope Is a Word by Maria Galliani Dyrvik follows Nnimmo Bassey, a poet and activist who refuses to give up hope and is raising a new generation of voices in the fight against oil extraction. The Golden Swan by Anette Ostrø tells the story of kidnapping of a young Norwegian artist in the Kashmir Mountains in the 1990s.
Norwegian Previews
- HEX directed by Maja Holand (Norway). Production: Mari Nilsen Neira (Herstory AS), Norway
- Hope Is a Word directed by Maria Galliani Dyrvik (Norway, Italy). Production: Anita Vedå (Smau Media), Chiara Andrich (Ginko Film), Femi Odugbemi (Zuri24 Media), Norway, Italy, Nigeria
- Strangers & Stayers by Julia Dahr (Norway), Julie Lunde Lillesæter (Norway), Hannah Jayanti (United States). Production: Natalya Sarch (Differ Media), Darcy McKinnon (Gusto Moving Pictures). Norway, United States
- The Golden Swan directed by Anette Ostrø (Norway). Production: Beathe Hofseth (Fri Film), Norway
- The Universe Is My Selfie directed by Amir Ajdinovic (Norway, Bosnia, Herzegovina). Production: Elin Sander (Aldeles AS), Norway
VdR–Industry run 6 to 9 April, 2025.The 56th edition of Visions du Réel runs 4 to 13 April.
