“Vol spécial” impresses jury in Washington

The film “Vol spécial” was presented the Special World Feature Jury Mention at the 10^th Silver Docs Documentary Film Festival in Washington on June 24, 2012. This marks the fifteenth international award within the past year for Fernand Melgar’s documentary film, which has also launched controversial discussions. The jury noted: “This film patiently portrays what life looks and feels like inside the walls of injustice where a group of detained immigrants and their sympathetic caretakers are bound together by a complex web of inequality. Through his powerful vérité filmmaking and access, Fernand Melgar lays bare a life without freedom.  SPECIAL FLIGHT (VOL SPECIAL) is a sometimes uncomfortable, always honest remark on society’s divided attitude towards migrants.”

Strongest documentary film in 2011
Since celebrating its premiere in competition at the Locarno Film festival 2011, “Vol spécial” has triggered debates at home and abroad, not only about the Swiss deportation policy for asylum-seekers whose applications have been rejected, but also about how Melgar chose to limit the cinematic angle to observing yet not commenting on the conditions in the Frambois detention centre near Geneva. Thirty film festivals all over the world have already screened the film. With fifteen awards, it has distinguished itself as the Swiss documentary film attracting the greatest international attention in 2011.


Zurich, June 25, 2012