The world really does come to Nyon over the next week, as film makers, producers, film buyers and representatives from TV stations arrive in town for Visions Du Réel, the film documentary film festival.
A view of the world through these doors
The best part of this festival is that is not exclusive, the general public are also invited to watch the films which are shown in screening rooms across the town. Many films are either subtitled in English, or in English itself, or there are interpreters giving simultaneous translations at each screening.
No ties or red carpet at this film festival, just an open mind
There are many other events scheduled alongside the films, from debates to workshops to photography exhibitions. Ticket prices are per film (it is good value to buy a daily pass if you intend to see more than one film) Tickets can be bought 30 minutes before each screening. There’s bar in front of the Salle Communale to have a snack in between films and another restaurant down at the Usine a Gaz.
The festival seems to get bigger and better each year and in 2009 it has reason to celebrate as this year it is the 40th edition of an event that started in 1969 and the 15th anniversary of Visions du Réel itself. There are over 1,500 films entered so its a Herculean task to choose and whittle it down to the 153 that are shown. Some of these films are entered into competition and the end of the festival, juries announce the winners in various categories. Local schools also get involved with special screenings of film for classes.
Living in Nyon caught up with the festival director Mr Jean Perret a few weeks ago.
“What makes this festival unique, is its international flavour, this year, like every year, we have films from all over the world covering a myriad of subjects. Important events such as the fall of the Berlin wall, and the state of Europe since then, will be the focus of debate amongst film makers from the former GDR. Other events include the Kazakh film maker Sergey Dvortsevoy coming to Nyon to talk about his work, (he won his first international prize in Nyon in 1995 and the prize money helped him to support his family for six months).The festival is proud to have had many film makers show their first films here only for them to go on to be successful in their careers.
There’s a workshop with some Lebanese film makers and there will be a retrospective of films made by U.S filmmaker Susan Mogul and the opening film on Thursday night is from Venezuela so this festival crosses all borders. We have a film called Traders on the very topical subject of those that work in the stockmarket. As it is a celebratory year, we have also asked film makers for a haiku in film-three shots of their view of the world”.
From tomorrow there will be reviews on Living in Nyon on some of the films available to see. The full programme is available as a PDF file on the Visions Du Réel site or the printed brochures can be found at outlets across the town, such as the tourist office, the cinema.
The brochures ready and waiting for all film fans by the cinema with reflection of Nyon.