SWISS FILMS AT VISIONS DU REEL (VDR) – NYON 2023

Spring is here, and Swiss Films is proud to present the new Booklet Docs Spring 2023 with a selection of new productions from Switzerland, just in time for the Visions du Réel International Film Festival in Nyon, which runs until 30 April 2023.

Three Swiss films will have their world premiere in the International Feature Competition: Alberto Martín Menacho’s debut feature ANTIER NOCHE (NIGHTS GONE BY); WHILE THE GREEN GRASS GROWS by Canadian-Swiss director Peter Mettler; and the Italian-Swiss-Swedish co-production PURE UNKNOWN, co-produced by Amka Films from director duo Valentina Cicogna and Mattia Colombo.

The Burning Lights Competition presents the world premiere of DREAMERS, by Stéphanie Barbey and Luc Peter.

Last but not least, Valeria Stucki’s ZIMMERWALD; Riccardo Giacco’s ANIMAL; and Saleh Kashefi’s AND HOW MISERABLE IS THE HOME OF EVIL will premiere in the International Medium Length and Short Film Competition.

These are just some of the 37 Swiss films to be screened at this year’s festival.

Read more about the selected films in the webnews and check out Booklet Docs Spring for some of the Festival’s favorites, upcoming and in-production Swiss documentaries.

SWISS FILM PREVIEWS

On 25 April (11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.), in partnership with Visions du Réel (VDR), the annual SWISS FILMS previews were held. The producers and directors of six Swiss documentaries presented their projects in post-production that will soon be launched on the festival circuit.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION: “ANTIER NOCHE”

By Alberto Martín Menacho

A portrait of four young people from a small village in southern Spain, where modernity coexists with traditions whose origins are lost in the mists of time. A research on the relationship between the animal and the human.

Switzerland, Documentary, 2023, 106 min.

World rights: Lomotion AG Filmproduktion, Bern, www.lomotion.com 

Screened at VDR on Saturday, 22 April 2023, 8:00 p.m., in the presence of the Director.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION: “WHILE THE GREEN GRASS GROWS”

By Peter Mettler

Parts 1 and 6 of a 7-part series. Peter Mettler follows and weaves, with his own unique cinematic signature, the flow of rivers and lives that include the magnitude of the passing of his own parents and the questions of where do we all go from here – both on a personal and on a global scale.

Switzerland/Canada, Documentary, 2023, 166 min.

World rights: maximage, Zürich, www.maximage.ch 

Screened at VDR on Monday, 24 April 2023, 7:00 p.m., in the presence of the Director.

BURNING LIGHTS COMPETITION: “DREAMERS”

By Stéphanie Barbey and Luc Peter

At the age of nine, Carlos arrives from Mexico to Chicago with his three brothers and his parents. The day he turns eighteen, his future becomes uncertain. According to U.S. law, Carlos is now undocumented. The slightest mistake can lead him to deportation. From defeats to successes, the film tells the story of Carlos, now 38 years old, his brothers and the fate of 2.5 million people growing up in a country that still does not recognize them as its own.

Switzerland/Germany, Documentary, 2023, 85 min.

World sales: Lightdox, Blonay, www.lightdox.com 

Screened at VDR on Sunday, 23 April, 3:45 p.m., in the presence of the Director.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION: “PURE UNKNOWN”

By Valentina Cicogna and Mattia Colombo

Every night, nameless bodies land in Dr Cristina Cattaneo’s autopsy room. She calls them Pure Unknown. They are homeless, prostitutes or runaway teenagers. Lately, they have mostly been migrants, rejected by the Mediterranean Sea onto the shores of Italy. If all rights belong to the living, nothing is left to the dead. So what happens when the dead have lost their identity? In the face of this growing multitude, no one seems concerned about their right to dignity. No one but Cristina.

Italy/Switzerland/Sweden, Documentary, 2023, 93 min.

World sales: Deckert Distribution GmbH, Leipzig, www.deckert-distribution.com 

Screened at VDR on Saturday, 22 April 2023, 10:15 p.m., in the presence of the Director.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIUM LENGTH & SHORT FILM COMPETITION

NATIONAL COMPETITION & OPENING SCENES

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SWISS FILMS IN NYON