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Festival coverage

Visions du Réel

17 April – 26 April 2026

Cover-Up will open the festival
Cover-Up will open the festival

The 57th edition of the festival runs from April 17 to 26. Special guests at this year's festival are Kelly Reichardt, Laura Poitras, Sergei Loznitsa and Meriem Bennani. The festival will open with Poitras' lastest film Cover Up.

Other years (2)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Bouchra
    Review preview for Bouchra

    This isn’t about rejection but about navigating the difficulties full acceptance bring.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A New York-based filmmaker writes an autobiographical script about a fictional double, while also appearing in animated form as a coyote moving through a city of furry creatures.
  • American Doctor
    Review preview for American Doctor

    A fourth doctor, unsuccessful in his efforts to get to Gaza, helps in whatever ways he can. This enables the film to move between intense scenes within Gaza itself, and the US, where it’s easier to breathe.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    When three American doctors — Palestinian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian — enter Gaza to save lives, they find themselves caught between medicine and politics, risking everything to expose the truth.
  • From Dawn To Dawn
    Review preview for From Dawn To Dawn

    Chen narrates the piece herself, and that voice is crucial. She has the instincts of a poet and the discipline of a storyteller

    Edin Custo · 4 out of 5
    Observes a man torn between criminal heritage, familial duty and a search for moral clarity.
  • Heat
    Review preview for Heat

    Zünd’s film comes at extreme climate change from a human perspective, showing its impact on those who live in the region.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    After envisioning a near future in which climate change disrupts lives and relationships in Don’t Let the Sun, Zünd seeks out that same dystopia in the real world.
  • The Illusion Of A Quiet Night
    Review preview for The Illusion Of A Quiet Night

    The strength of The Illusion Of A Quiet Night lies in the huge range of perspectives it contains.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Filmed during one night in July 2025 by forty filmmakers and hundreds of citizens, The Illusion of a Quiet Night paints a vast collective portrait of war-torn Ukraine.
  • Jaripeo
    Review preview for Jaripeo

    The documentary is attentive to contradiction without flattening its subjects into symbols.

    Edin Custo · 3.5 out of 5
    A journey to Michoacán’s hypermasculine rodeos descends into the subconscious of memory, queer desire, and longing, leading to a reckoning with the wounds and beauty of a home left behind.
  • Nuisance Bear
    Review preview for Nuisance Bear

    By viewing the situation, at least initially, mostly from the perspective of the bears, the directors ask us to consider who exactly is trespassing on whose turf.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A polar bear is forced to navigate a human world of tourists, wildlife officers, and hunters as its ancient migration collides with modern life. When a sacred predator is branded a nuisance, it becomes unclear who truly belongs in this shared landscape.
  • To Hold A Mountain
    Review preview for To Hold A Mountain

    Filmed over seven seasons, the co-directors make time tactile.

    Edin Custo · 5 out of 5
    In the remote highlands of Montenegro, a shepherd mother and daughter proudly defend their ancestral mountain from the threat of becoming a NATO military training ground, stirring memories of the violence that shattered their family.
  • The Mastermind
    Review preview for The Mastermind

    Reichardt’s attention to detail is visible in every aspect, and the perfect casting is no exception.

    Marko Stojiljkovic · 4.5 out of 5
    In a quiet corner of Massachusetts circa 1970, JB Mooney, an unemployed carpenter turned amateur art thief, plots his first major heist. But when things go south, his life is turned upside down.
  • Sirât
    Review preview for Sirât

    The film looks amazing, but it sounds even more incredible.

    Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
    A father arrives at a rave deep in the mountains of southern Morocco with his son, looking for his daughter who has been missing for months.

A–Z of Visions du Réel 2026 reviews

Features

  • Taking the temperature
    Jacqueline Zünd on exploring the climate crisis through companion films Heat and Don't Let The Sun
  • Bear necessities
    Jack Weisman and Gabriel Osio Vanden on working together and making naivety work for them in Nuisance Bear
  • Bearing witness
    Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman on balance and perspectives in Nuisance Bear
  • Song of the desert
    Kangding Ray on changing attitudes to music in cinema, and scoring Sirât
  • In-between moments
    Kristen Stewart and Kelly Reichardt on Certain Women.