Swiss documentary festival Visions du Réel has unveiled the industry projects to be pitched and presented at its 2023 edition, taking place April 23-27.
This year’s selection includes Latvian filmmaker Laila Pakalnina whose new project Cat On My Mind will participate in VdR-Pitching. Pakalnina’s Ausma (2015) and In The Mirror (2020) played in competition at the Blak Nights Tallinn International Film festival while her shorts have screened at Berlin (Udens, 2006) and Cannes (Klusums, 2009).
Also participating in VdR-Pitching is Italy-US filmmaker Mo Scarpelli with her new project Faith about 12 young girls who live together in an abandoned classroom. Her 2019 documentary Anbessa screened in Berlin’s Generation Kplus strand.
Other participants include Stephanie Wang-Breal, Maxence Voiseux, Carmen Castillo and Peter Mettler.
The 31 projects are divided into four strands - VdR-Pitching; VdR-Work in Progress; VdR-Rough Cut Lab; and VdR-Development land – and will take place both online and in person.
The aim of the programmes is to offer filmmakers and producers support at various stages of a project and to act as a networking hub.
This year’s line-up is spread across 32 countries and includes 11 debuts. In total, the festival received over 400 submissions.
Sophie Bourdon, who took over as head of VdR-industry last year, said: “This edition clearly builds on the achievements of my predecessor, who expanded the Festival’s professional services significantly, as well as its reputation.
“My main objective is to consolidate the programme’s cross-cutting approach, its hybrid format – which was initially a result of the pandemic – while enhancing our services with new proposals, such as the recently extended VdR–Development Lab.”
VdR-Industry projects 2023
VdR–Pitching 2023
Arctic Link (Switz)
Dir. Ian Purnell
Prods. Franziska Sonder (Ensemble Film)
Cat On My Mind (Lat)
Dir. Laila Pakalniņa
Prods. Laila Pakalniņa (Hargla Company)
Faith (US-It-Ken)
Dir. Mo Scarpelli
Prods. Mo Scarpelli (Rake Films), Lilian Koskei
Flying Cows (Neth-Arm)
Dirs. Vahagn Khachatryan, Aren Malakyan
Prods. Jia Zhao (Muyi Film), Vahagn Khachatryan (Oolik production)
Florence From Ohio (US-Tai)
Dir. Stephanie Wang-Breal
Prods. Mynette Louie (The Population), Carrie Weprin (Once in a Blue)
Gabin, A Youth In The Backland (Fr-Ger)
Dir. Maxence Voiseux
Prods. Elise Hug, Cécile Lestrade (Alter Ego Production), Ulla Lehmann (AMA Film)
Lonan Tché (Côte d’Ivoire-Fr-It)
Dir. Joël Akafou
Prods. Laurent Bitty (Les Films du Continent), Florent Coulon (VraiVrai Film), Gianluca De Angelis (Tekla Films)
Memories Of An Oblivion (Fr-Chile-Bel)
Dir. Carmen Castillo
Prods. Camille Laemlé, Serge Lalou (Les Films d’Ici), Macarena Aguilo (El Espino Film), Isabelle Truc (Iota Production)
Rebibbia 310 (It)
Dir. Francesca Mazzoleni
Prods. Alessandro Greco (Morel Film), Roberto De Paolis, Carla Altieri, Rachel Greenwood (Young Films)
Simon The Absurd (Switz-Col-Fr-Mex)
Dir. Felipe Monroy
Prods. Palmyre Badinier (Rita Productions), Diana Bustamente (Burning), Alexandre Perrier (Kidam), Kyzza Terrazas (La Corriente Del Golfo)
The Arctic Circle Of Lust (Fin)
Dir. Markku Heikkinen
Prods. Hannu-Pekka Vitikainen (Zone2 Pictures))
The Bamboo Family (My-Indo)
Dir. Sein Lyan Tun
Prods. Sein Lyan Tun (PS Films), Dwi Sujanti Nugraheni (DS Nugraheni/Jawa Dwipa Films)
The Days I Would Like To Forget (Ukr-Fr-Aust)
Dirs. Alina Gorlova, Maksym Nakonechnyi, Simon Mozgovyi, Yelizaveta Smith
Prods. Eugene Rachkovsky, Maksym Nakonechnyi and Karina Kostyna (Tabor), Nabil Bellahsene (Les Valseurs), Ralph Wieser (Mischief Films)
The Guest (Pol)
Dirs. Zuzanna Solakiewicz, Zvika Gregory Portnoy, Michal Bielawski
Prods. Maria Krauss (Plesnar & Krauss Films)
The Reserve (Arg-Mex)
Dir. Ezequiel Yanco
Prods. Elena Fortes (No Ficcion), Ezequiel Yanco (Isoi Cine), Juan Martín Hsu
VdR–Work in Progress 2023
Can’t Feel Nothing (Den)
Dir. David Borenstein
Prods. Jesper Jack (House of Real)
Friday At The Window (Bel-Iran-Qat)
Dir. Atiye Zare Arandi
Pros. Bram Crols, Nina Payrhuber (Associate Directors)
Immortals (Switz-Iraq)
Dir. Maja Tschumi
Pross. Nadine Lüchinger (Filmgerberei), Mohammed Alghadhban (Rola Production)
Night Has Come (Peru)
Dir. Paolo Tizon
Pros. Diana Castro (Sans Soleil Films)
Piropolis (Chile)
Dir. Nicolás Molina
Prods. Joséphine Schroeder (Pequén Producciones), Francisca Barraza (Funky Films)
Rising Up At Night (Democratic Republic of Congo-Bel-Ger-Burkina Faso)
Dir. Nelson Makengo
Pros. Rosa Spaliviero (Twenty Nine Studio & Production), Dada Kahindo (Mutotu)
While The Green Grass Grows (Switz-Can)
Dir. Peter Mettler
Prods. Cornelia Seitler (maximage), Peter Mettler (Grimthorpe Film)
VdR–Rough Cut Lab 2023
Our Daughters (US)
Dir. Chithra Jeyaram
Prods. Chithra Jeyaram (Real Talkies LLC)
The Silence Of The Mountain (Col)
Dir. Inti Jacanamijoy
Prods. Jorge Forero (Marginal Cine), Inti Jacanamijoy (La Cueva Films)
Untitled Project (My)
Dir. Min Min Hein
Prods. Min Min Hein (BurmaCat Films)
XiXi (Tai-Phil-S Kor)
Dir. Fan Wu
Prods. Fan Wu and Venice Atienza (Svemirko Film Productions), Sona Jo and Yoonsoo Her (Sona Films)
VdR–Development Lab 2023
Few Monuments More, Few People Less (North Macedonia-Neth)
Dir. Aneta Lesnikovska
Prods. Kornelija Ristovska, Aneta Lesnikovska (AKA Film)
Just Like A Dream (Leb-Ger)
Dir. Corine Shawi
Prods. Nancy Sabbagh
Olympic Rifle (Honduras-Arg-Col)
Dir. Manuel Muñoz
Prods. Mauricio S. Burckhardt (Haus Kino)
The Birdwatcher (My)
Dir. Sai Kong Kham
Prods. Lin Sun Oo (Tagu Films)
The Road Ahead (Cuba)
Dir. Carla Valdés León
Prods. Rosa María Rodríguez (GatoRosa Films), Carla Valdés León
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