Swiss documentary film festival Visions du Réel (VdR), meaning “Visions of Reality,” unveiled its 2026 lineup on Wednesday, featuring the latest films from established and new names, as well as a selection of the best from the recent fest circuit.
The 57th edition of the festival in Nyon, near Geneva, which runs April 17-26, will present a program featuring 164 films from a record 75 countries. “Among the 128 new films presented, 83 are world premieres and eight international premieres. 58 first films, including 36 first feature-length films, complete the picture,” with no fewer than 26 Swiss productions or co-productions, organizers said.
Among the lineup are Heat, the new doc by Jacqueline Zünd, and such recent festival highlights as John Wilson’s The History of Concrete, American Doctor by Poh Si Teng, Jaripeo by Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig, and CPH:DOX winner and hybrid doc Whispers in May by Dongnan Chen. Even Oliver Laxe’s Oscar-nominated drama Sirât made the cut. The 57th edition will open with a screening of Oscar-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras’ Cover-Up.
“We are delighted to note that the reputation of Visions du Réel and its films continues to grow, allowing us to continually expand the cinematic territories and realities explored, as well as to reaffirm our ambition to showcase new talent – the number of first films has risen to 58, including 36 debut feature-length films, and the screenings will feature 83 world premieres and eight international premieres,” highlighted VdR artistic director Emilie Bujès. “While some producing countries differ from the filmmaker’s origin or the country where the film was shot for financial or political reasons, the number of countries represented in the selection continues to rise steadily and significantly.”
And she noted: “Certain regions, such as Asia, particularly stand out in 2026, as well as relatively rare countries like Sudan (in the Burning Lights Competition), Vietnam, Indonesia, Yemen and Palestine – which delights us both from a cinematic and a symbolic perspective.”
Among this year’s special guests at VdR will be Kelly Reichardt, the guest of honor for the 57th edition. Beyond a retrospective of her films and a curated selection of documentaries chosen by the filmmaker, a special evening will be dedicated to her, featuring a ceremony and the premiere screening of The Mastermind, her latest feature. A masterclass will take place the following day. Also, Sergei Loznitsa is the special guest at this year’s VdR.
Check out the 2026 Visions du Réel lineup below.
International Feature Film Competition
A Fire There by Marlene Edoyan, Canada, 2026, 94’, world premiere
Death in the Making by Piotr Pawlus, Netherlands/Poland, 2026, 84’, world premiere
Dentro by Elsa Amiel, France/Switzerland, 2026, 95’, world premiere
Djeliya, mémoire du Mandé by Boubacar Sangaré, Burkina Faso/Côte d’Ivoire/Mali/Senegal/France, 2026, 112’, world premiere
From Dawn to Dawn by Xisi Sofia Ye Chen, Spain/France, 2026, 94’, world premiere
Heat by Jacqueline Zünd, Switzerland, 2026, 87’, world premiere
Humboldt USA by G. Anthony Svatek, USA, 2026, 89’, world premiere
Magilligan by Ross McClean, United Kingdom/Ireland/USA, 2026, 74’, world premiere
Meanwhile in Namibia by Jonas Spriestersbach, Germany/Namibia, 2026, 120’, world premiere
Saudades Eternas by Emma Boccanfuso, Switzerland/France, 2026, 94’, world premiere
The Night and the Days of Miguel Burnier by João Dumans, Brazil, 2026, 82’, world premiere
The Price of the Sun by Jérôme Le Maire, Belgium/France/Morocco, 2026, 91’, world premiere
Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest by Viv Li, Germany/Netherlands, 2026, 85’, international premiere
Burning Lights Competition
Above the Waterline by Elisa Sepulveda Ruddoff, Chile/France, 2026, 72’, world premiere
Alea Jacarandas by Hassen Ferhani, France/Algeria, 2026, 78’, world premiere
Baby Jackfruit Baby Guava by Nong Nhat Quang, Vietnam/South Korea, 2026, 104’, world premiere
Club Heaven by Jona Honer, Netherlands/Belgium, 2026, 78’, world premiere
Comme un château fort by Lou Colpé, Belgium, 2026, 83’, world premiere
Don’t Tidy or Clean My Room, I Like It as It Is by Ignacio Ceroi, Argentina/Spain, 2026, 81’, world premiere
Fracture by Keren Kraizer, Belgium, 2026, 85’, world premiere
If Only the Year Had 364 Days by Almourad Aldeeb, Germany/Syria, 2026, 78’, world premiere
In Between, a Place by Faezeh Nikoozad, Germany, 2026, 95’, world premiere
Kukata Miti by Daniel Kötter, Germany/Indonesia/Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2026, 80’, world premiere
La Voix du troupeau by Matthias Joulaud and Lucien Roux, Switzerland/France, 2026, 80’, world premiere
Nothing Happens After the Revolution by Ibrahim Omar, Sudan, 2026, 74’, world premiere
The Case Against Space by Graeme Arnfield, United Kingdom/France, 2026, 73’, world premiere
The Illusion of a Quiet Night by Olga Chernykh and collective work, Ukraine, 2026, 70’, world premiere
Time and Tide by Vee Shi, Australia, 2026, 99’, world premiere
National Competition
Alma by Rafael Palacio Illingworth, Switzerland, 2026, 70’, world premiere
Common Ground by Jonathan Jäggi, Switzerland, 2026, 89’, world premiere
Der Runde Tisch by Benjamin Bucher and Juliette Menthonnex, Switzerland, 2026, 41’, world premiere
En terrain neutre by Stéphane Goël and Mehdi Atmani, Switzerland, 2026, 80’, world premiere
Eternal Snow by François Kohler, Switzerland, 2026, 90’, world premiere
First Lap Crash by Liam Erlach, Switzerland, 2026, 73’, world premiere
Nicole Nicole by Lauren Dällenbach, Switzerland/France, 2026, 81’, world premiere
Safe Spaces by Sarah Horst, Switzerland, 2026, 104’, world premiere
The Roots of Madness by Edgar Hagen, Switzerland, 2026, 107’, world premiere
To the Moon and Back by Elisa Gomez Alvarez, Switzerland/France/Philippines/Qatar, 2026, 85’, world premiere
Tricontinentale, lettre à ouvrir au cas où by Laura Cazador, Switzerland/Cuba, 2026, 96’, world premiere
Was das Wasser erzählt by Maria Iorio and Raphaël Cuomo, Switzerland, 2026, 75’, world premiere
What Comes From Sitting In Silence by Sophie Schargo, Switzerland/France/South Korea/USA, 2026, 77’, premiere internationale
Borderlight
The new section is dedicated to feature fiction films that engage with documentary approaches or cultivate a close relationship with notions of “the real” in all its complexity.
Bouchra by Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani
Chronovisor by Jack Auen and Kevin Walker
Forêt ivre by Manon Coubia
Dao by Alain Gomis
I Want Her Dead by Gianluca Matarrese
Tristan Forever by Tobias Nölle
Wide Angle
This section showcases feature films that have already captivated audiences at other festivals or are set to make an impact in the year ahead and address contemporary social or political issues such as climate change.
Melt by Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Dear Ancestor by Nantenaina Lova
Replica by Chouwa Liang
Birds of War by Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak
Adam’s Apple by Amy Jenkins
Palestine for Life by Ahmet Seven
American Doctor by Poh Si Teng
#SainteJulie by Giulia Montineri
A Child of My Own by Maite Alberdi
Belleville Kitchen by Marine Gautier
For Life by Ahmet Seven
Nuisance Bear by Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman
To Hold a Mountain by Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić
Whispers in May by Dongnan Chen
Highlights
This section showcases “some of the year’s most essential film propositions.”
A Distant Call by Andrea Suwito
Good Valley Stories by José Luis Guerin
Memory by Vladlena Sandu
Jaripeo by Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig
Past Future Continuous by Morteza Ahmadvand and Firouzeh Khosrovani
The Beauty of Errors by Jukka Kärkkäinen
The History of Concrete by John Wilson
Special Screenings
Cover-Up by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus
Ghost Elephants by Werner Herzog
Landmarks by Lucrecia Martel
Law and Order by Frederick Wiseman
Newport & the Great Folk Dream by Robert Gordon
Sirāt by Oliver Laxe
The Oligarch and the Art Dealer by Andreas Dalsgaard
Vacío Luminoso by Uberto Rapisardi
While the Green Grass Grows : A Diary in Seven Parts by Peter Mettler
