Visions du Réel

Visions du Réel (Visions of Reality) is an internationally renowned documentary film festival held in April each year in Nyon, Switzerland. Established in 1969[1] as the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival, the event adopted its current name in 1995 and is the largest Swiss documentary festival.[2]

Visions du Réel

Location	Nyon, Switzerland
Founded	1969, Moritz de Hadeln, Erika de Hadeln
Awards	Sesterce d'or
Directed by	Emilie Bujès
Festival date	Annually, in April
Language	International
Website	http://www.visionsdureel.ch/

At its inception, the festival promoted Swiss films and films that were otherwise inaccessible — that is, those created in the Eastern Bloc countries behind the Iron Curtain.[3] Now open to worldwide entries, the week-long festival has been directed by film critic Jean Perret since 1995.[3]

The festival was founded by Moritz de Hadeln (who later headed the Locarno International Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, the Venice International Film Festival and the short-lived New Montreal FilmFest of 2005)[4] and his wife Erika de Hadeln:[5]

Our motivations at that time were strictly political. We believed in documentary, we all had the same idea that documentary could change the society which we live in. It was not the time television was controlling everything...[1]

Moritz de Hadeln directed the festival until 1979, and he assisted Erika when she took over as head of the festival from 1980 to 1993.[6]

During the early years of the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival, Erika de Hadeln negotiated with the film authorities in East Europe and Russia — and worked with documentary filmmakers including Joris Ivens, Roman Karmen, Georges Rouquier, Basil Wright, and Henri Storck.[6] The event served as a template for film festivals that followed, including those in Amsterdam and Munich.[6]

Each year, the festival invites and pays tribute to a guest of honor who has made significant contributions in the field of documentary and/or fiction films. The honoree is awarded the prestigious Honorary Award (previously the “Prix Maître du Réel”). Past recipients include Claire Denis, Werner Herzog, Claire Simon, Peter Greenaway, Alain Cavalier, Barbet Schroeder, and Richard Dindo.

Visions du Réel is part of the Doc Alliance – a creative partnership between seven European documentary film festivals.