The newest version of Visions du Réel’s extremely selective Paintings in Development show off, spotlighting six daring world documentaries in late-stage manufacturing, shall be pitched Tuesday on the Swiss competition’s business platform.
Spanning topics of state violence, queer identification, collective reminiscence, resilience and resistance – from war-torn Chechnya and besieged Gaza to Brazil’s anti-femicide patrol and Mexico’s underground queer rodeo scene – the lineup gives placing, character-driven portraits in a global in flux.
The choice comprises each established filmmakers, akin to Hassen Ferhani (“143 Sahara Boulevard,” “Roundabout in My Head”), returning to VdR along his manufacturer Eugénie Michel Villette (“Six Pieds Sous Terre”), in addition to promising inexperienced persons bringing their debut options to the competition.
All six initiatives are world co-productions, subsidized by means of primary avid gamers together with ARTE, CNC, the Sundance Documentary Fund and IDFA’s Bertha Fund.
Fashionable on Selection
Selection spoke with the filmmaking groups forward of the pitch.
“Alea Jacarandas” Courtesy of Les Motion pictures du Bilboquet
“Alea Jacarandas” (France, Algeria) by means of Hassen Ferhani (“Roundabout in My Head,” “143, Sahara Boulevard”) is a poetic, deeply private portrait of Algiers, reframed by means of the unexpected lack of the director’s father. First of all conceived as a love letter to the town, the movie shifts after his father’s passing as Ferhani sees Algiers via his personal lens, enriched by means of what he learnt from his father’s gaze.
“The movie turns into a discussion between previous and gift, between literature and cinema, between a father writing and a son filming. Whilst accepting his absence, I come to higher perceive his lucid interest for Algiers, his quiet resistance to darkness. I in the long run to find my very own position within the tale,” Ferhani tells Selection.
“Alea Jacarandas” is produced by means of Eugénie Michel Villette at Les Motion pictures du Bilboquet and Oualid Baha at Tact Manufacturing. Backers come with ARTE, the CNC, the Institut Français in Algiers, Algeria’s nationwide movie fund FDATIC, Ingenious Europe Media, France’s Centre Nationwide des Arts Plastiques, French gross sales corporate Andana and Météores Distribution. Returning to Visions du Réel, the place his paintings has up to now been commemorated, Ferhani is looking for further investment and competition companions.
“Emergency Measures” (Brazil) by means of André Bomfim explores the paintings of the Maria da Penha Patrol in Alagoas, Brazil – a pioneering police unit named after a landmark anti-domestic violence regulation. The Patrol’s humanized, community-driven method gives important strengthen to ladies in peril in one of the vital international’s most deadly nations for gender-based violence. During the studies of 4 officials, the documentary examines the unit’s successes and its rising inner struggles within the face of mounting demanding situations.
“The police are a microcosm of society, that’s why it’s political,” Bomfim says. “You’re combating the similar misogyny, sexism, prejudice and resistance to gender justice that exist far and wide. I sought after to shift center of attention from perpetrators to sufferers, and construct actual relationships with the cops.”
Produced by means of Gustavo Rosa de Moura of Mira Filmes and Alessandra Orofino of Peri Productions, “Emergency Measures” is subsidized by means of Brazilian state grants and follows Bomfim’s debut “I’m Nonetheless Alive.” The group is looking for world gross sales at VdR.
“In Cod We Believe” Courtesy of Guro Saniola Bjerk
“In Cod We Believe” (Norway, Finland) by means of Guro Saniola Bjerk is an intimate and wryly funny portrait of Båtsfjord, one of the vital northernmost fishing villages on this planet, the place cod trumps God and the coldest landscapes are house to the warmest other people. Filmed over the route of 4 years, this observational documentary captures town’s eccentric and numerous population, exploring topics of house, identification, and resilience, in an remoted village, sure in combination by means of fish and nature.
Bjerk, who grew up and lives in Båtsfjord, stated she had at all times dreamt of constructing a movie that will make other people snigger however hadn’t imagined it might be in her fatherland. “Other folks shall be stunned by means of how a lot they acknowledge their very own hopes and needs in one of the vital international’s northernmost villages. It’s a hilarious movie, and the extra you get to understand the characters, the funnier it will get.”
“In Cod We Believe” is produced by means of Benedikte Bredesen of f(x) produksjoner and co-produced by means of Pasi Hakkio of Wacky Tie Motion pictures, which may be bringing “Ultras” to VdR. The movie has secured TV offers in Finland, Iceland and Sweden, and theatrical distribution in Norway. It seeks further gross sales, comments and competition companions for a fall 2025 free up.
“Reminiscence” Courtesy of VdR
“Reminiscence” (Russia, France, Netherlands) by means of Vladlena Sandu is a poetic, autobiographical hybrid revisiting her annoying youth recollections in war-torn Chechnya. After fleeing Chechnya in 1998, Sandu lived in exile in Russia, the place, as she recounts, the Chechen genocide used to be silenced and propaganda painted her other people as terrorists.
“It used to be vital for me to percentage the historic details as I noticed and felt them, to record them, and lead them to available to a much wider target audience. Historical past must be written by means of witnesses,” she says, revealing she needed to publish a pretend script to shoot in Grozny. “Even right through manufacturing, only a few other people at the workforce know the true tale.”
“Reminiscence” is produced by means of Yanna Buryak of Mimesis, and co-produced by means of Ludovic Henry of Countless and Raymond van der Kaaij of Revolver. The movie has the backing of CNC’s Aide Aux Cinémas Du Monde, the Netherlands Movie Fund, Région Île de France and IDFA’s Bertha Fund. At VdR, the group is looking for gross sales, broadcasters and impact-driven companions for a 2025 free up.
“Jaripeo” Courtesy of VdR
“Jaripeo” (France, Mexico) is Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig’s debut movie concerning the hidden queer subculture inside Mexico’s hyper-masculine Mexican rodeo custom. Set right through the Christmas Jaripeo season, it follows rancheros Noé and Joseph as they grapple with machismo, identification and forbidden want. Narrated by means of Mojica, the movie options re-enactments with pink strobe lighting fixtures and grainy song, providing “an intimate, layered exploration of identification in an area the place queerness stays unstated however ever-present.”
“We’re appearing how openness and homophobia can coexist. There are overlapping contradictions, identical to in existence. It’s a documentary about want, in all its complexities and idiosyncrasies,” Zweig says.
Co-director Mojica provides: “Once I inform other people I’m making a movie about homosexual cowboys, they are saying, ‘Queer cowboys don’t exist.’ However, in fact, they do. This movie is ready rejecting our internalized homophobia and seeing ourselves on display screen.”
“Jaripeo” is produced by means of Sarah Strunin of Jaripeo Documentary, Carine Chichkowsky of Survivance, Gerardo Guerra and Juan Pablo González of Tierra Roja, with strengthen from ITVS, Arte, the Sundance Documentary Fund, Rooster & Egg Motion pictures and SF Movie. The group is looking for inventive enter, further investment, gross sales and a competition release for 2026.
“Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Stroll” Courtesy of Sepideh Farsi
“Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Stroll” (France, Palestine, Iran) by means of Sepideh Farsi (“7 Veils,” “The Siren”), is an important, pressing paintings, born of necessity. Not able to go into Gaza, the filmmaker turns to Fatem, a tender photographer within the north of the territory, to record existence beneath siege.
“What I in reality attempted to seize within the narrative arc isn’t just information – however, above all, an emotional adventure: an figuring out of ways you live on as a tender girl and a photographer within the ongoing battle in Palestine,” says Farsi, who used to be arrested and imprisoned in her local Iran and now lives in Europe. “I’ve been in that scenario myself – no longer beneath bombs, in fact – however I relate to that state of being, of looking to keep inventive as a lady in a rustic at battle. It’s about resisting, pushing ahead, and proceeding to provide photographs.”
Produced by means of Javad Djavahery of Rêves d’Eau Productions and co-produced by means of Annie Ohayon Dekel of 24images Manufacturing, the movie is looking for further investment, post-production companions and world gross sales.
The initiatives are being pitched in Nyon on April 8. VdR-Business runs till April 9.
