Swiss film nabs top award at Visions du Réel festival

For the third year in a row, the top award at the Visions du Réel documentary film festival has gone to a Swiss film. On Friday evening in the western Swiss city of Nyon, Nicole Vögele received the Grand Prix 2024 in the international feature-length competition. The 41-year-old Swiss-German filmmaker and journalist was praised for her film The Landscape and the Fury, which explores the Bosnian-Croatian border with deminers and migrant families. "It's a joy to see the work of a daring filmmaker, and a Swiss one at that, rewarded for a great film," said Emilie Bujès, artistic director of Visions du Réel. "Her school film had already been presented at the festival in 2013." Tizian Büchi of Lausanne won the main prize in 2022 with L'Îlot, and Swiss-Canadian Peter Mettler in 2023 with While the Green Grass Grows. The jury, made up of producer Dora Bouchoucha, artistic director Carlo Chatrian and filmmaker Carmen Jaquier, explained that they were "impressed by the approach of [Vögele's] ...