Visions du Réel has unveiled the lineup for its 57th edition, with Laura Poitras’ Cover-Up set to open the Swiss documentary showcase in Nyon on 17 April. The 2026 edition will present 164 films from 75 countries, including 128 new titles, 83 world premieres and 8 international premieres.
Among the highest-profile titles, Poitras will also attend as an industry guest, while Kelly Reichardt arrives as guest of honor and will present her latest feature, The Mastermind. Other marquee screenings include Sergei Loznitsa’s retrospective and masterclass, Meriem Bennani’s Bouchra, screening in its Swiss premiere, and further festival-circuit standouts such as Alain Gomis’ Dao, José Luis Guerin’s Good Valley Stories, Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s Melt, Peter Mettler’s While the Green Grass Grows and John Wilson’s The History of Concrete.
The International Feature Film Competition will foreground 13 films, among them Piotr Pawlus’ Death in the Making, Ross McClean’s Magilligan, João Dumans’ The Night and the Days of Miguel Burnier, Xisi Sofia Ye Chen’s From Dawn to Dawn, Jonas Spriestersbach’s Meanwhile in Namibia, Elsa Amiel’s Dentro, Emma Boccanfuso’s Saudades Eternas, Viv Li’s Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest, G. Anthony Svatek’s Humboldt USA and Boubacar Sangaré’s Djeliya, mémoire du Mandé.
In the formally adventurous Burning Lights Competition, titles include Keren Kraizer’s Fracture, Hassen Ferhani’s Alea Jacarandas, Nong Nhat Quang’s Baby Jackfruit Baby Guava, Lou Colpé’s Comme un château fort, Olga Chernykh’s The Illusion of a Quiet Night, Graeme Arnfield’s The Case Against Space, Faezeh Nikoozad’s In Between, a Place, Almourad Aldeeb’s If Only the Year Had 364 Days and Ibrahim Omar’s Nothing Happens After the Revolution.
The Swiss National Competition includes Stéphane Goël and Mehdi Atmani’s En terrain neutre, Edgar Hagen’s The Roots of Madness, Laura Cazador’s Tricontinentale, lettre à ouvrir au cas où, Lauren Dällenbach’s Nicole Nicole, Liam Erlach’s First Lap Crash, Sarah Horst’s Safe Spaces and Elisa Gomez Alvarez’s To the Moon and Back.
New this year is Borderlight, a section for fiction features engaging documentary methods, featuring titles including Bouchra, Chronovisor and Forêt ivre. Elsewhere, the Grand Angle sidebar will showcase films such as Dear Ancestor, Replica, Birds of War, Adam’s Apple, For Life and American Doctor.
Find more information on the full 2026 Visions du Réel programme – HERE
