Image: still from Reas, Lola Arias
The Online Industry of Visions du Réel 2020 closed last Thursday on its traditional awards ceremony which was too, held online. All activities took place as planned and provided tailor-made platforms to 1,300 accredited professionals, host to fruitful exchanges and encounters. A series of online talks centered on the uncertainties the film industry faces in the current time was also held, gathering prestigious speakers on the Festival's Forum for discussions open to the public.
Thank you very much to all attendees, filmmakers, project holders and partners for making this one-of-a-kind edition a true success!
Image: still from The Miracle of Almería, Moon Blaisse
A total of 28 projects were selected from China, Burkina Faso, Chile and Norway and many other countries. This diversity can be seen not only in the countries of production or in the topics addressed, but also in the list of winners awarded this year by the various juries.
The Pitching du Réel, international co-production forum, was thus able to maintain its three traditional stages: a live presentation of 15 projects followed by more than 200 professionals and virtual round tables bringing together more than 170 people, complemented by a multitude of individual meetings.
As for the Docs in Progress activity, it brought 9 project holders into contact with distributors, festivals and numerous television channels.
More than 400 individual meetings have been organized as part of these activities, thus offering industry professionals the opportunity to connect with each other and in many cases to initiate collaborations allowing projects to be realized more easily or quickly.
Finally, the Rough Cut Lab gave the opportunity - as is also the case in its physical form - to 4 projects to obtain valuable feedback in the framework of an editing workshop gathering dedicated tutors and editors.
Once again special emphasis was placed on the Swiss film industry. First of all, the co-production meeting Switzerland Meets UK brought together Swiss and English producers and institutions. They were able to discuss the challenges and opportunities that co-productions between these two countries entail. The RTS activity: "Perspectives d'un Doc" prize enabled 7 projects to be presented with a view to development aid, while at the same time the channel decided to award a new prestigious prize consisting of a pre-buy of a project as part of the Pitching du Réel. The now traditional SWISS FILMS Previews were set up in partnership with SWISS FILMS and will take place on Monday, May 4.
The vast majority of the Industry's activities have been transposed virtually, thanks to fruitful technical collaborations: in particular Eventival, which has enabled the implementation of a secure platform, B.Square, which has created a customised interface for managing individual appointments, and Cinando, which has optimised access to the Media Library. This last virtual platform brings together more than 400 films, including the official selection, as well as more than 250 films with a high distribution potential proposed by the selection committee and partners.
03.05.2020 | Editor's blog
Cat. : AWARDS