15/04/2008

The Visions du Réel International Film Festival (Nyon, April 17-23) – a mecca for documentary film lovers – continues its exploration of the genre in all its forms across its numerous sections, including the traditional Workshops, which are this year dedicated to France’s Jean-Louis Comolli and Germany’s Volker Koepp.

Set to open with a screening of Nino Kirtadze’s Durakovo: Village of Fools (France), this 14th edition puts the spotlight on European films. These are represented in international competition by L’esame di Xhodi (“Xhodi’s Exam”) by Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio (Italy); Patric Jean’s D’un mur à l’autre - De Berlin à Ceuta (“ From One Wall to Another: From Berlin to Ceuta”, Belgium/France); Mirjam van Veelen’s Megumi (Netherlands/Japan); Jouni Hiltunen’s Bam (Finland/Estonia); and German productions Die Dünnenmädchen by Maria Teresa Camoglio and Kinder.Wie Die Zeit Vergeht by Thomas Heise.

Five titles selected by five European festivals (Dok Leipzig, Warsaw Planete Doc Review, Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival, CPH:Dox Copenhagen and Visions du Réel) will also screen as part of the Doc Alliance tour. These are: La mère (“The Mother”) by Antoine Cattin and Pavel Kostomarov (Switzerland/Russia/France); Marcin Koszalka’s The Existence (Poland); Maximilian Plettau’s Comeback (Germany); Mikala Krogh’s Everything is Relative (Denmark); and Citizen Havel by Pavel Koutecky and Miroslav Janek (Czech Republic).

Swiss films also feature heavily in the line-up with almost 40 titles. Vying for the Grand Prize in the International Competition are François Kohler’s Cher Monsieur, cher papa (“Dear Sir, Dear Dad”), Yves Scagliola’s The Beast Within and Austrian film In der Welt by Swiss director Constantin Wulff.

In the other sections, noteworthy Swiss titles include Juan José Lozano’s Témoin indésirable (“Undesirable Witness”); Eric Bergkraut’s Letter to Anna; Fabienne Abramovich’s Liens de sang (“Blood Ties”); Gaël Métroz’s Routes et déroutes avec Nicolas Bouvier (“Tours and Detours with Nicolas Bouvier”); as well as works by Guy Milliard and Carole Roussopoulos.

Moreover, Swiss DoP Séverine Barde (Stealth [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) is a member of the international jury.

(Translated from French)