02/04/2015 - From 17-25 April, the city of Nyon will host the festival dedicated to “reality”, having been acknowledged as one of the top four in the world

From 17-25 April, the city of Nyon will host the 46th edition of Visions du Réel, an international film festival dedicated to “reality” and recognised as one of the top four in the world.

The upcoming edition of Visions du Réel is characterised by a sense of freedom of expression and the presence of portraits of exceptional women who will enrich the programme with their strong characters – these radiant and nonconformist women will come bearing hope and a necessary state of emergency. The opening film, Au crépuscule d’une vie, by Belgian director Sylvain Biegeleisen, is a prime example of this.

A record number of 3,700 films were unearthed during the nine intense months the organisers spent scouring various festivals all around the globe. Following the selection process, 166 of these movies were chosen, hailing from 54 countries (including 28 Swiss titles), the majority of which were presented as either world or international premieres. As festival director Luciano Barisone highlights, the central theme of the 46th edition is an image of the world that reflects a state of emergency. The reaction to this crisis is twofold: either extreme opposition or a utopian break for an imaginary “elsewhere”. The titles on offer at Visions du Réel lie at the midpoint between these two extremes, and will arrive at the gathering demonstrating a lucid and profound point of view made up of memories, hopes, and small but major victories over day-to-day life. Barisone stresses the need for the programme to include “works that, through their stylistic and aesthetic choices, give personal descriptions and interpretations of past and future realities”.

The Nyon International Film Festival has established itself as a meeting point, a place to exchange ideas and debate important issues in an atmosphere of uninhibited freedom of expression that reflects the current state of the world and the society we live in in an unbiased way. The Prix Maître du Réel Raiffeisen Lifetime Achievement Award will be handed to Franco-Swiss director Barbet Schroeder. Meanwhile, the two eagerly anticipated Ateliers (Workshops) will be dedicated to French filmmaker Vincent Dieutre and Armenian director Harutyun Khachatryan, who will take the opportunity to present a selection of their classic films. Lastly, Ce que le temps a donné à l’homme by French director Sandrine Bonnaire will be screened as the closing film. The complete programme can be found here.

(Translated from Italian)