23/03/2021 - Unspooling 14 to 22 April, the event will welcome 29 projects across three sizeable forums: VdR-Pitching, VdR-Work In Progress and VdR-Rough Cut Lab

The upcoming edition of VdR-Industry (14 - 22 April), which is unfolding within the framework of the International Film Festival Nyon - Visions du Réel (running 15 - 25 April), will adopt a hybrid form (read more), unspooling online as well as in person in Nyon, sanitary measures permitting. 29 projects have been selected for the event (from among 527 submitted), coming courtesy of 35 directors hailing from 32 countries, with 25 of these works being shot and produced by directors from the southern and eastern hemispheres.

Depending on the production phase that each of the projects finds themselves in, the selected works will take part in one of three activities: 16 will participate in VdR-Pitching, the forum dedicated to funding and international co-productions. These projects, which are now ready to be produced, should stand out for their strong themes and international reach. 9 projects in the final phase of production, meanwhile, will take part in VdR-Work In Progress, a platform which screens clips of works in competition with the aim of capturing the attention of attendees and securing vital opportunities in terms of distribution, festival participation or post-production funding. Last but not least, 4 feature film projects, which are likewise in the final phase of production, will be invited to take part in VdR-Rough Cut Lab, a workshop for documentaries requiring specific feedback or advice based on a rough cut.

A huge number of European productions or co-productions have been selected for the three forums, namely the Swiss works #TimesUp Kyrgyzstan by Leigh Labobucci, Our Money by Hercli Bundi and Under Open Skies by Charlie Petersmann, the French offerings Life After Siham by Namir Abdel Messeh and Transfariana [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joris Lachaise
film profile] by Joris Lachaise, Sweden’s Aana by Anna Eborn, Oscar Hedin and Åsa Ekman, Serbia’s Another Spring by Mladen Kovačević, Georgia’s But Dear Lord Why? by Rati Tsiteladze, UK's The Story of Looking [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Mark Cousins and the co-productions Facing Darkness [+see also:
film review
interview: Jean-Gabriel Périot
film profile] by Jean-Gabriel Périot, The Vanishing by Rama Thiaw, The Wolves Always Come at Night by Gabrielle Brady, We, Students! [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Rafiki Fariala and Taamaden by Seydou Cissé.

VdR-Industry is the Nyon Festival’s hub for film industry professionals, but it acts, first and foremost, as a springboard for projects in search of production support. “This year’s selection not only shows the incredible diversity characterising the contemporary documentary scene, but also its ever greater range of influences”, points out Madeline Robert, the new head of VdR-Industry and the festival’s artistic adviser, stressing the innovative power of this cinematic form which has taken reality and made it its creed. There will be three new trophies at the VdR-Industry Awards, with prizes due to be allocated by a prestigious international jury composed of Eurimages’ Executive Director Roberto Olla, Italian film director Roberto Minervini and La Lucarne - Arte France’s Art and Independent Film Curator and Commissioning Editor Rasha Salti. The Visions Sud Est (South East Visions) jury, meanwhile, will consist of Outside the Box distributor and Fribourg International Film Festival programmer Sebastiano Conforti, film critic and Locarno Film Festival programmer Daniela Persico, and the director of Trigon-Film Meret Ruggle.

The selected projects are as follows:

VdR-Pitching

#TimesUp Kyrgyzstan - Leigh Labobucci (Switzerland)
Production: Veronique Vergari, Agnès Boutruche (Framevox Sàrl)

Aana - Anna Eborn, Oscar Hedin, Åsa Ekman (Sweden)
Production: Oscar Hedin, Marina-Evelina Cracana (Film and Tell)

But Dear Lord Why? - Rati Tsiteladze (Georgia)
Production: Nino Varsimashvili, Olga Slusareva (ArtWay Film)

Egypt, a Love Song - Iris Zaki (Israel/US)
Production: Asaf Galay (Galay Productions)

Facing Darkness [+see also:
film review
interview: Jean-Gabriel Périot
film profile] - Jean-Gabriel Périot (France/Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Production: Cécile Lestrade (Alter Ego Production)

King Coal - Elaine McMillion Sheldon (US)
Production: Shane Boris (Cottage M)

Life After Siham - Namir Abdel Messeh (France)
Production: Camille Laemlé (Les Films d'ici)

Looking for the Words - Joel Stängle (Colombia)
Production: Carolina Campos (mnemo.cinema.lab)

Malqueridas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tana Gilbert
film profile] - Tana Gilbert (Chile)
Production: Paola Castillo (Errante)

Our Money - Hercli Bundi (Switzerland)
Production: Susanne Guggenberger (Mira Film)

Science Fiction - Ezequiel Yanco (Argentina)
Production: Ana Godoy, Ezequiel Yanco (Isoi Cine)

The Last Year of Darkness - Ben Mullinkosson (China/US)
Production: Sol Ye (Mutual Friends Films)

The Prince of Nanawa - Clarisa Navas (Argentina/Paraguay)
Production: Eugenia Campos Guevara (Gentil)

The Vanishing - Rama Thiaw (Senegal/France)
Production: Hortense Maunoury (Boul Fallé Images), Jean-Laurent Csinidis (Films de Force Majeure)

The Wolves Always Come at Night - Gabrielle Brady (Germany/Australia/Mongolia)
Production: Julia Niethammer (Chromosom Film GmbH)

Yoga Village - Rongfei Guo (China)
Production: Wenxin Zhong (Shanghai Jiemian CLS Technologies Co., Ltd.)

VdR-Work in Progress

About Everything There is to Know - Sofía Velázquez (Peru)
Production: Carolina Denegri (Cultural Mercado Central)

Another Spring - Mladen Kovačević (Serbia)
Production: Iva Plemić Divjak (Horopter Film Production)

Blue Island - Tze Woon Chan (Hong Kong/Japan)
Production: Catherine Chan, Peter Yam (Blue Island Production Company Limited)

Flickering Lights - Anupama Srinivasan, Anirban Dutta (India)
Production: Anirban Dutta (Metamorphosis Film Junction)

The Home - Jessie Zinn, Chase Musslewhite (South Africa/US)
Production: Jessie Zinn (Red Coat Films)

The Story of Looking [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Mark Cousins (UK)
Production: Mary Bell, Adam Dawtrey (Bofa Productions)

Transfariana [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joris Lachaise
film profile] - Joris Lachaise (France)
Production: Line Peyron (Mujo)

Under Open Skies - Charlie Petersmann (Switzerland)
Production: Stephanie Argerich (mnemosyn films)

We, Students! - Rafiki Fariala (Central African Republic/France/Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Production: Daniele Incalcaterra (Makongo Films)

VdR-Rough Cut Lab

I Will Be There Every Single Night - Tati Franklin, Suellen Vasconcelos (Brazil)
Production: Thiago Moulin Pai (Grande Filmes)

Silent Beauty - Jasmin Lopez (US/Mexico)
Production: Jasmin Lopez (Corazon Oscuro Productions)

Silent House - Farnaz Jurabchian, Mohammadreza Jurabchian (Iran/Philippines)
Production: Elaheh Nobakht (Eli Image), Jewel Maranan (Cinema Is Incomplete)

Taamaden - Seydou Cissé (France/Cameroon/Belgium/South Africa)
Production: Eugénie Michel Villette (Les Films du Bilboquet), Dieudonné Alaka (TARA GROUP)