20/04/2007

The 13th Visions du Réel International Film Festival (April 20-26) opens this evening with the screening of a Swiss/German documentary by Stefan Schwietert, Echoes of Home [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which is among 20 titles in competition (see news).

A strong US and European presence dominates the festival, which is a showcase for documentary and takes place in the small town of Nyon, near Geneva. German productions are on show in the Regards Neufs section with four debut films: Stefan Kolbe and Chris Wright’s Das Block, Svenja Klüh’s Das leben ist ein langer Tag, Nasir Al-Jezairi’s Interdom and Igor Heitzmann’s Nach der Musik.

France and Switzerland are also represented with films in competition and in the new festival sections. French films at the event include Jeanne Delafosse’s Bazar, Jacqueline Caux’s The Cycles of the Mental Machine, Mosco Boucault’s Un corps sans vie de 19 ans, Jean-Luc L’Huillier’s Terraquée (La femme argile), while French helmer Claire Simon is a guest at the Nyon Ateliers.

Swiss documentary fares well too with La beauté mon amour by Elisa Gardini, Le théatre des opérations by Benoît Rossel, Bruno Manser - Laki Penan by Christoph Kühn and Water Buffalo by Christelle Lheureux. France, Germany and Switzerland also take the lion’s share of titles in the various Special Screenings dedicated to the German channel 3sat, the Swiss collection of filmed portraits Plans-Fixes, shorts in the French/Swiss project Transdocumentales (with the collaboration of Marseille’s Cinéma en Lumière) and “the man with the camera” François Reichenbach (1922-1993).

Other programme highlights are a number of round tables, pitching sessions and professional meetings.

Meanwhile, the Doc Outlook International Market will screen over 200 films to international buyers.

(Translated from French)