FESTIVAL FILES Visions du Réel 2021
My thoughts on the 52nd edition of Visions du Réel, where I also had the pleasure of serving as a jury member.
A year ago, I was watching the Visions du Réel selection on my computer or tablet, unable to attend any physical screenings in Nyon due to lockdown (Swiss cinemas reopened in June 2020). I was glad because I got to work, as this was my first festival since the Berlinale and March and April had been largely devoid of new movies, with the job consisting primarily of covering Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.
But still, there was a bittersweet element to it because, while I don’t mind watching stuff on my devices (including during festivals, since scheduling issues sometimes make it necessary to resort to screeners), having it as the only option does get annoying after a while. That said, the selection was good, and I was happy for the festival staff, as they managed to salvage a year’s worth of work and keep all forms of documentary filmmaking on the map (only two of the selected films were withdrawn from the online edition, one of which because the pandemic had halted its post-production).
Fast forward to January 2021, when I received the customary reminder from the Swiss Association of Film Journalists to apply for any festival juries I might be interested in, to which I replied by picking Nyon. At that point, cinemas were closed again, but I was hoping at least some on-site stuff would be allowed to happen. That was indeed the case, as it was announced that select physical screenings would be allowed for professionals: press, film industry members, students and jury members. I qualified for two of those, being a critic and – at that point – confirmed as part of the FIPRESCI jury.
For those unfamiliar with the term, FIPRESCI is the French acronym indicating the International Federation of Film Critics, an association that has juries in most of the major festivals around the globe. My two colleagues (one from Israel, one from Spain) and I were entrusted with the task of picking the best first feature film out of the two main competitions. We had to watch 13 films and pick the winner via a couple of Zoom meetings (my colleagues were unable to travel).
All of the films were available to us online, but I chose to watch some of them in the cinema, because there’s nothing quite like the theatrical experience. My fellow attendees shared that opinion, even if, as we all conceded, it wasn’t really like old times just yet, due to a limit of 50 people per screening. Still, it was fun, and it felt like being home again (we gave the award to the Ethiopian film Faya Dayi, pictured above).
In addition to carrying out my jury duties, I also took the opportunity to get reacquainted with Nyon (for obvious reasons, I hadn’t been there in over a year), reconnect with people I hadn’t seen since before the pandemic and meet some Facebook friends in the flesh. The one unpleasant aspect, albeit one I’m used to by now, was getting tested in order to collect my badge. The staff even got a good laugh when I answered the question on whether I had received the vaccine with “Well, my job and my age would suggest I haven’t.”
The on-site experience was shorter than usual, due to the festival’s slightly improvised timeframe and having to put on three events roughly at the same time: the online version open to all Swiss viewers, which ran April 15-25; the physical screenings for professionals, April 18-22; and, courtesy of the Federal Council allowing cinemas to reopen during the festival, select on-site showings for the regular audience, April 22-25. A triple celebration of cinema and its bond with reality, and I enjoyed every second of it.
Hopefully, we will return to a proper edition next year. In the meantime, though, this year was a captivating image of our current reality: not quite back to normal, but enough to take some of the edge off compared to 2020. And hopefully, the new cinema reopening won’t lead to another shutdown. That’s the one reality none of us would like to return to.