Visions du Réel 2017

For the 13th time an interreligious jury awarded prizes at the festival Visions du Réel in Nyon. The jury, composed of a Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim member, will took its choices among the 19 films of the international competition for long films. The Interreligious Film Prize, endowed with CHF 5000, went to "Los ojos de la mar" (The Gaze of the Sea), directed by José Álvarez from Mexico. In addition, the jury awarded a Commendation to "No Place for Tears" by Reyan Tuvi from Turkey. The International Jury decided upon best film for "Taste of Cement" by Ziad Kalthoum. The Syrian born director who lives today in Berlin portrays workers from Syria building houses in Beirut whilst there home country is devastated by civil war.

All in all, the festival will screen 179 films in twelfe sections. For the 7th, and the last time Luciano Barisone as artistic director has selected the programme. In his preface to the actual edition of the festival he choose love - "Agape" -  as its key term.  "Indeed, we make images because we love. Even the horrors represented make us feel—in their total lack of humanity—the need to love. And with this love (for film and for humanity), we fight against exclusion and against a fragmentary vision of the world. And we recognise only a single identity, that of human beings, things among things, at the same time equal and different."

French director Alain Cavalier will be honoured for his lifetime achievement as MaÎtre du Réel. On this occasion a retrospective of his film and a Masterclass are scheduled.

As opening film the festival shows the Chilean film "Los niños" (The Grown-Ups) by Maite Alberdi about a group of eople with Down's syndrome, their wishes for independence and their limitations.

Link: Festival website