Personal visions: Swiss documentaries in Nyon

Twenty-six Swiss film productions will be screened in various competitions at the 48th Visions du Réel in Nyon (21 to 29 April 2017), four of which will celebrate their world premiere in the International Feature Film Competition: “A Campaign Of Their Own” by Lionel Rupp; “Adieu à l'Afrique” by Pierre-Alain Meier; “La fureur de voir” by Manuel von Stürler; and “Retour au Palais” by Yamina Zoutat. Many of the films are distinct due to the directors’ personal stories.

21.03.2017

Twenty-six Swiss film productions will be screened in various competitions at the 48th Visions du Réel in Nyon (21 to 29 April 2017), four of which will celebrate their world premiere in the International Feature Film Competition: “A Campaign Of Their Own” by Lionel Rupp; “Adieu à l'Afrique” by Pierre-Alain Meier; “La fureur de voir” by Manuel von Stürler; and “Retour au Palais” by Yamina Zoutat. Many of the films are distinct due to the directors’ personal stories.

Lionel Rupp will present his first feature-length documentary film in the International Competition at Visions du Réel in Nyon: “A Campaign Of Their Own”. Rupp follows the US activist and Bernie Sanders supporter Jonathan Katz, who accuses the Democratic party of being responsible for the defeat of Sanders. The filmmaker from French-speaking Switzerland is one of the ten directors of “Heimatland”.

Pierre Alain Meier returns not only to Africa with “Adieu à l’Afrique”, but also to the director’s perspective. Meier, who has primarily worked as a producer for the past fifteen years – he produced the multi-award-winning documentary film “More Than Honey” (2012), among others – provides intimate insight into his personal relationship to Africa in his film.

Manuel von Stürler’s eagerly awaited documentary film “La fureur de voir” deals with his own quest to find out what it means to be able to see. Confronted with the possibility of blindness, the director has launched himself into a quest to find out what visual perception means. Stürler’s first feature “Hiver nomade” (2012) was selected for numerous international festivals and won many awards, such as the Grand Prix at Visions du Réel and the European Documentary Film Award, among others.

The former criminal justice reporter Yamina Zoutat presents her first feature-length documentary film in competition at Visions du reel: “Retour au Palais”, a personal film about the history-charged courthouse in Paris, in which she spent many years as a journalist.

There are personal stories in other sections as well, for example, in “Hypertable – essai sur l'amitié” by Filippo Filliger in the International Short Film Competition and “Les Grandes Traversées” by David Maye in the Regard Neuf section. In his first feature-length documentary film, Maye uses an intimate and personal approach to recount his own family’s resistance when confronted with illness and loss.

Frédéric Favre’s “Encordés” will be screened in the Grand Angle section. Following his debut film “Cyclic” (2015), in which Favre portrayed bicycle couriers, he now follows three ski mountaineers who push themselves to the limit as they prepare for the upcoming “Patrouille des Glaciers” ski-touring race and risk everything for their passion.

A total of 36 Swiss documentary films will be screened at Visions du Réel:

Compétition internationale longs métrages

 «A Campaign Of Their Own» by Lionel Rupp

 «Adieu à l'Afrique» by Pierre-Alain Meier

 «La fureur de voir» by Manuel von Stürler

 «Retour au Palais» by Yamina Zoutat

Compétition internationale moyens métrages

 «Miss Rain» by Charlie Petersmann

Compétition internationale courts métrages

 «Antão, o invisível» by Maya Kosa, Sergio Da Costa

 «Hypertable – essai sur l'amitié» by Filippo Filliger

 «Ma Yan Chan – Waves Of Transition» by Jonas Scheu

 
Regard Neuf

 «BE'JAM BE the never ending song» by Caroline Parietti, Cyprien Ponson

 «Didube, the Last Stop» by Shorena Tevzadze

 «Les Grandes Traversées» by David Maye

 
Grand Angle

 «Burning Out» by Jérôme le Maire

 «Encordés» by Frédéric Favre

 
Helvétiques

 «Alain Daniélou The Way to the Labyrinth» by Riccardo Biadene

 «Apple and Volcano - In Search of What Remains» by Nathalie Oestreicher

 «Dans le lit du Rhône» by Mélanie Pitteloud

 «Kawasaki Keirin» ny Sayaka Mizuno

 «Non ho l'età» by Olmo Cerri

 «Rue Mayskaya» by Gabriel Tejedor

 «Talking Money» by Sebastian Winkels

 «The Sense of Beauty» by Valerio Jalongo

 «The Substance» by Luís Galter

 «Widerstand Brockenhaus – Vom Wegwerfen und Wiederverwerten» by Christian Knorr

 
Premiers Pas

 «Le fond de la terre» by Yan Sterckx

 «Sonali» by Jorge Cadena, Lucia Martinez Garcia

 «The Sound of Winter» by Tizian Büchi

 
Projections Spéciales

 «Jazz the Only Way of Life by Jacques Matthey

 «Salade russe» by Eileen Hofer

 «Unerhört Jenisch» by Karoline Arn, Martina Rieder

 Films Plans-Fixes «Gil Roman. Je viens de la danse, je viens de là» by Gilles Vuissoz

 Films Plans-Fixes « Marie-Thérèse Chappaz. La vigne et le vivre » by Gilles Vuissoz

 
Projections Spéciales (Shanghai Film Lab)

 «Between Classes There Are Dreams» by Simon Weber

 «Chen Chen» by Franziska Schlienger

 «Rising Dragon» by Antonia Meile

 «Sing A Rainbow» by Luzius Wespe, Lukas Gut

 «Traces On My Skin» by Stefanie Klemm

 
SWISS FILMS, 22.03.2017