Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Those looking for homegrown talent and stories at the largest documentary film festival in Switzerland, Visions du Réel, will be spoiled for choice in 2025. This year’s edition, which runs April 4-13, features a whopping 31 Swiss productions or co-productions, including the festival’s opening film, Christian Frei’s “Blame.” Veteran Frei, the first-ever Swiss filmmaker to be nominated for an Oscar back in 2002 for “War Photography,” stands alongside a crop of new talent in feature debuts such as Agostina Di Luciano and Leon Schwitter’s “The World Upside Down.” On the healthy crop of Swiss productions and co-productions this year, Charlotte Ducos, documentary and marketing strategies consultant at the country’s national agency Swiss Films, says it is “incredibly important to have Swiss films across the program and to have the opening film of the festival not only be Swiss but also a very expected title by a renowned filmmaker.” Ducos also emphasizes how 43% of Swiss films are currently co-productions, a testament to the importance of collaborating with their European neighbors such as Italy, Germany and Austria.
