On April 13, the Festival Visions du Réel 2018 in Nyon opened. It is dedicated to the broad spectrum of documentary film and its overlap with fictional forms of cinema. The festival presented 174 films from 53 countries in its various sections, 17 of them in the International Competition for long films. From them, the Interreligious Jury selected its winner. Their prize, worth CHF 5,000, was awarded for the 14th time.
The jury chose the Italian-French-Belgian coproduction "Almost Nothing" by Anna de Manincor and the artist collective ZimmerFrei. The film portrays the scientists of the European Research Center CERN in an idiosyncratic way. A Commendation went to "Storie del dormiveglia" (Stories of Half-Light), a poetic film about homeless people by Luca Magi. The main prize of the festival, the Sesterce d'Or, was awarded by the international jury to "O Processo" (The Trial) by Maria Augusta Ramos who filmed the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Roussef. "When Arabs Dance" by Jaouad Rhalib about the essential elements of Arab culture beyond Islam won the Audience Award.
In addition to the national competition and the competition for medium and short films, the new artistic director Emilie Bujès created a fourth competition section entitled "Burning Lights" dedicated to new forms of filmic expression. The opening film was "Of Fathers and Sons" by Talal Derki, which shows the everyday life of the family of the founder of an al-Quaida branch in Syria. It was programmed in the "Grand Angles" section, which shows outstanding films from other festivals and the coming year. The honorary prize of the festival went to French filmmaker Claire Simon.
Link: Festival website