'Nightwatchers'

Source: Visions du Reel

‘Nightwatchers’

The Visions du Reel film festival has unveiled the first titles for its 2023 edition, set to run April 21-30.

The documentary festival, based in Nyon, Switzerland, will open with the world premiere of French director Juliette de Marcillac’s feature debut Nightwatchers. Filmed at high-end ski resort Montgenèvre on the French-Italian border, it tells the story of volunteers trying to help migrants, and the authorities trying to catch them.

The film is part of the Grand Angle competition, with 12 titles competing for the audience award worth CHF 10,000 ($10,925).

The section includes two further world premieres; Pieter Van Eecke’s Planet B, about activist group Extinction Rebellion; and Behind The Lines by Syrian filmmakers Alisar Hasan and Alaa Amer, about Idlib’s first female cartoonist and featuring animation and live action footage.

Among the section’s Swiss premieres Tatiana Huezo’s The Echo, which won best directior in the Encounters section at this year’s Berlinale.

The non-competitive Highlights section presents 11 Swiss premieres including Paul B. Preciado’s first feature film, Orlando, My Political Biography, which also won a Berlin Encounters award; and Claire Simon’s Notre Corps, described as a political ode to the female body.

The section also includes Cyrielle Raingou’s Le Spectre de Boko Haram, which won the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s top prize, the Tiger award, earlier this year.

As previously announced, Alice Rohrwacher and Lucrecia Martel will appear as special guests at the festival.

The full Festival programme will be announced on March 28.

Grand Angle

After Wor (Swe-It-Nor)
Dir. Erik Gandini

Against the Tide (Fr-Ind)
Dir. Sarvnik Kaur

Behind the Lines* (Bel-Fr-Ger-Lux)
Dirs. Alisar Hasan, Alaa Amer

Eat Bitter (Central African Republic-China)
Dirs. Pascale Appora-Gnekindy, Ningyi Sun

Fantastic Machine (Swe-Den)
Dirs. Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck

Nightwatchers* (Fr)
Dir. Juliette De Marcillac,

Paradise (Fr-Switz)
Dir. Alexander Abaturov

Pianoforte (Pol)
Dir. Jakub Piątek

Planet B* (Bel-Hol)
Dir. Pieter Van Eecke

She Chef (Ger-Austria)
Dirs. Melanie Liehheit, Gereon Wetzel

The Echo (Mex)
Dir. Tatiana Huezo

The Mountains (Den)
Dir. Christian Einshøj

Highlights

Apolonia Apolonia (Den-Pol-Fr)
Dir. Lea Glob

Ciné-Guerrillas: Scenes from the Labudović Reels (Fr-Ser)
Dir. Mila Turajlić

Le Spectre de Boko Haram (Cam-Fr)
Dir. Cyrielle Raingou

Love Is Not an Orange (Bel-Fr-Hol-Moldova)
Dir. Otilia Babara 

My Worst Enemy (Fr-Switz)
Dir. Mehran Tamadon

Notre corps (Fr)
Dir. Claire Simon 

Orlando, My Political Biography (Fr)
Dir. Paul B. Preciado 

Theater of Violence (Den-Ger)
Dirs. Emil Langballe, Lukasz Konopa 

The Last Year of Darkness (US-China)
Dir. Ben Mullinkosson

Vera (Austria)
Dirs. Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel 

When Spring Came to Bucha (Ger)
Dirs. Marcus Lenz, Mila Teshaieva

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