Like an Island [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Tizian Büchi
scheda film], first feature film from Swiss filmmaker Tizian Büchu, which cleverly mixes fiction and reality, won the International Feature Film Competition and the La Mobilière Golden Sesterce of Visions du Réel 2022. It was in 2013 that a Swiss film was last awarded the prestigious prize. This is a real consecration for a first feature film that speaks with accuracy of a Lausanne neighbourhood and its inhabitants. This same neighbourhood becomes, through Büchi's camera, the setting for a mysterious story led by a duo of colourful security guards.

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The jury, composed of director Jessica Beshir, the general delegate of the Venice International Critics' Week Beatrice Fiorentino and the director of the Sarajevo Film Festival Jovan Marjanović, defined "the small urban island" depicted in Tizian Büchi's film as "a metaphor for contemporary Europe, a reflection on the absurdity of borders, rules, fences and barriers." The Special Mention in the same competition went to How to Save a Dead Friend [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Russian director Marusya Syroechkovskaya (a co-production between Sweden, Norway, France and Germany), a gripping portrait of a lost generation. The American film Bitterbrush by Emilie Mahdavian received the Special Jury Prize offered by the Nyon Region.

The Burning Lights Competition jury, composed of Argentine producer Gema Juárez Allen, MUBI senior programme director Chiara Marañón and Swiss director Cyril Schäublin, awarded three strong films that are not afraid to explore the intimacy of their protagonists: the Chinese film A Long Journey Home by Wenqian Zhang (Canton de Vaud Golden Sesterce for the best feature or medium-length film) and the poetic and mysterious Herbaria [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by the Argentinean Leandro Listorti (a co-production between Argentina and Germany) won the Society of Coastal Hoteliers Jury Prize. A special mention goes to Europe [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Philip Scheffner e Merle K…
scheda film] by German director Philip Scheffner, who, by opting for fiction, tells us the story of Zohra Hamadi, whose residence permit has been revoked by the French government, highlighting the violence and aberration of such a step.

In the National Competition, the medium-length film Fuku Nashi by Swiss-Japanese director Julie Sandro won the SRG SSR Golden Sesterce. The jury, made up of Senegalese director Katy Léna Ndiaye, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival programmer Martin Horyna and Swiss producer Olivier Zobrist, highlighted the "strong cinematographic proposition" of the film, which tells the story of the protagonist's return to her grandmother's home in Japan in the form of an autofiction. The film also won the ZONTA Prize for creative support, awarded to a director whose work reveals a mastery and talent that call for support for future creations. The colourful family of Jules Guarneri's Le Film de mon père won the Special Jury Prize.

Visions du réel is delighted to end its important 2022 edition with about the same number of entries as its last in-person edition. Emilie Bujès, the festival's artistic director, points out the large number of first films that have won awards (seven in total), which share the limelight with oeuvres by directors already recognised for their committed work.

The prize list:

International Feature film Competition

La Mobilière Golden Sesterce
Like an Island [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Tizian Büchi
scheda film] – Tizian Büchi (Switzerland)

Nyon Region Special Jury Prize
Bitterbrush - Emelie Mahdavian (United States)

Special Mention
How to Save a Dead Friend [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Marusya Syroechkovskaya (Sweden/Norway/France/Germany)

International Burning Lights Competition

Canton of Vaud Golden Sesterce
A Long Journey Home - Wenqian Zhang (China)

Society of Coastal Hoteliers Jury Prize
Herbaria [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Leandro Listorti (Argentina/Germany)

Special Mention
Europe [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Philip Scheffner e Merle K…
scheda film] - Philip Scheffner (Allemagne/France)

National Competition

SRG SSR Golden Sesterce
Fuku Nashi - Julie Sando (Switzerland/Japan) (mid-length film)

SSA/Suissimage Jury Prize
Le Film de mon père - Jules Guarneri (Switzerland)

International Competition for Mid-Length Films and Shorts

Clinique de Genolier Prize – Mid-Length Feature
Without - Luka Papić (Serbia)

Goblet Foundation Prize for Best Short Film
Aralkum - Daniel Asadi Faezi and Mila Zhluktenko (Uzbekistan/Germany)

Special Mention
Jaime - Francisco Javier Rodriguez (Belgium)

Youth Jury Prize – Mid-Length Feature
Churchill, Polar Bear Town - Annabelle Amoros (France)

Mémoire Vive Youth Jury Prizes for Best Short Film
Marianne - Rebecca Ressler and Lara Porzak (United States)

Other prizes

Audience Award
Fire of Love – Sara Dossa (United States/Canada)

Interreligious Prize
My Paper Life [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Vida Dena (Belgium/France/Iran)

Zonta Award
Fuku Nashi - Julie Sando

FIPRESCI International Critics Award
Steel Life - Manuel Bauer (Peru/Spain)