Visions du Réel 24

Mother Vera, which world-premieres in Nyon, follows the eponymous protagonist, a charismatic former heroic addict who had lived in an Orthodox monastery in Belarus for 20 years. “I felt very drawn to her quest,” co-director Embleton reflects on her subject. “She wants to experience all of life, and yet she was in this monastery.”

In Maria Stoianova’s feature doc debut she revisits the Ukraine of her childhood, as well as the world beyond, courtesy of the films that her father, a champion ice skater, shot on his video camera between 1986 and 1994. “I was selecting material for the film, hoping to understand our path from point A to point B. After 2022, it became clear that we were all already at point C, and this, of course, also influenced some of my choices,” she says of her film that world premieres April 13.

New Industry Head Alice Burgin fills in Business Doc Europe on the 2024 professional programme running April 14-17. “A luxury of VdR Industry is that we have such a niche cinema that we are nurturing,” she says. “To actually be able to use your market as a platform to find these projects, but also to tailor buyers or financiers to that content, I think that is one fundamental thing we can do.”

“What drives us is cinema,” Artistic Director Emilie Bujès tells Business Doc Europe before doors open on the 55th Visions du Réel in Nyon, Switzerland. This year’s selection includes 165 films from 50 different countries, of which 88 are world and 14 are international premieres. What’s more, new talent is squarely in the frame in 2024, with ten of the 15 films in International Competition made by first-time feature directors.

In visually breathtaking fashion, and full of wonderfully human, slightly absurdist observations, As the Tide Comes In tells the story of the Danish Wadden Island of Mandø through the character of Gregers, its last farmer resident. At the same time, it is, inevitably, a story about climate change and humankind’s fight for - and against - nature.

Every year Visions du Réel organises masterclasses, meetings and debates that are open to the general public and professionals alike. In addition to its three 2024 Guests – Jia Zhang-Ke, Alice Diop and John Wilson – the festival will host discussions with renowned filmmakers such as Claire Denis, Petra Costa and Anna Hints, as well as many directors whose films will be screened publicly for the first time, plus film funders from all over the world.

Sixteen new Swiss projects plus one Swiss minority co-pro will be presented across the VdR-Industry programmes in 2024. These are in addition to the 25 Swiss (co)productions that feature in the festival’s official selection. The subject of the Switzerland Meets… event this year are the Austria and German doc industries, during which co-production and networking opportunities between professionals from the featured countries will be examined.

The jury members will bestow the festival’s prizes during the Awards Ceremonies that takes place on Friday 19 April. The Awards for VdR-Industry will be handed out April 17. The 55th edition of Visions du Réel runs April 12–21 2024.

The official selection includes 165 films from 50 different countries, with gender parity for the second year running, the festival underlines. These include 88 world premieres and 14 international premieres. The 55th edition will open with the Danish film As the Tide Comes In by Juan Palacios (co-directed by Sofie Husum Johannesen). VdR 2024 runs 12-21 April.

A total of 29 new projects have been selected to participate 14-17 April across Visions du Réel Industry’s four pitch events this year. 15 projects in development are selected for VdR–Pitching, and six projects in finishing stages will be presented at the VdR–Work In Progress pitch. Four projects have been selected within both the VdR–Rough Cut Lab and the VdR–Development Lab respectively.