15 films to look out for at Visions du Réel 2026
From the 17th to the 26th of April 2026, Visions du Réel returns to Nyon and the shores of the Lac Léman for its 57th edition with a rich programme of 164 films, with 75 countries represented.
83 films selected will be screened as world premieres and a further 8 will be international premieres. The festival continues to do well in terms of representation, with 44% of films selected directed by women (it was 38% in 2025), 7% by mixed-gender co-directions, 1% by non-binary people and 48% by men.
In attendance this year is an impressive all-star cast of special guests.
The festival’s Guest of honour is renowned fiction filmmaker Kelly Reichardt (First Cow, The Mastermind…) who will be leading a public Masterclass in partnership with the Cinémathèque suisse, the ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne and the Fondazione Prada.
Post-soviet historical filmmaker and archive legend Sergei Loznitsa (The Invasion, Babi Yar. Context…) will be this year’s Guest of honour, with a comprehensive retrospective of his work shown during the festival and the revered investigative filmmaker Laura Poitras, who’s film Citizenfour first introduced the world to Edward Snowden, will be opening the festival with her latest film : Cover-Up, as VdR Industry Special Guest.
There is so much to discover in this year’s programme, be it films that have already garnered attention at previous festivals, new releases from major filmmakers (from Werner Herzog to John Wilson) or exciting new projects from promising newcomers, we thought we’d share what we’re most looking forward to seeing in 2026.
So here are Doc Weekly’s 15 films to look out for at Visions du Réel 2026, section by section…
Feel free to reach out if you’d like to meet up with the Doc Weekly team during the festival!
International Feature Film Competition
Magilligan by Ross McClean
World premiere
Between the all-too-familiar prison walls and his mother's house, Ryan grapples with himself, eventually finding an escape with the sheep in the verdant fields of Northern Ireland. Ross McClean, whose great-grandfather was also a unionist, offers his protagonist a space for freedom, a friendly and graceful embrace, in which to escape determinism.
You can read our interview with Ross McClean about his brilliant short film No Mean City which premiered at Visions du Réel in 2025.
A Fire There by Marlene Edoyan
World premiere
In an isolated village in the high plains of southern Georgia, three lifelong friends from the Armenian community discuss their future. Torn between family expectations and personal desires, tradition and change, and facing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, here are three life stories that remain to be dreamed and written, somewhere between a documentary and a visual poem.
A Walk and talk with director Marlene Edoyan will take place through the streets of Nyon to delve deeper into the topics of her film on Friday 24th April.
Death in the Making by Piotr Pawlus
World premiere
Filmmaker and cinematographer Piotr Pawlus volunteered to the war effort in Ukraine, delivering aid from Poland and transporting civilian refugees. On the heels of In Ukraine (VdR 2023), he captures with visual power and compassion the suffering and resilience of the Ukrainian people, the destruction wrought by the Russian invasion, and life continuing against all odds.
Burning Lights Competition
Alea Jacarandas by Hassen Ferhani
World premiere
In the streets of Algiers, jacaranda trees bloom like shards of memory. Following in the footsteps of his father, Ameziane, a writer haunted by these purple trees, Hassen Ferhani (143 Sahara Street, Roundabout In My Head…) explores the city, legacy and love. A rich and intimate quest in which writing, filming or choosing beauty become acts of resistance.
Like a Fortress by Lou Colpé
World premiere
After the sudden disappearance of her partner one summer in Corsica, Lou Colpé returns to Durnal. Their home, a place where the absence is tangible, is transformed into a sanctuary. Everything there becomes a treasure and a ritual. She films what is reinvented every day: her survival. A moving manual for grief, Like a Fortress (Comme un château fort) captivates with its luminosity, its humour and its masterful ode to friendship.
Club Heaven by Jona Hooner
World premiere
At night, at the EDM Playhouse club in Chengdu, the euphoria of some feeds on the fatigue of others. The crowd, caught between the desire for an unfettered expression of life and the outward display of wealth, finds its contrast in the exhaustion of those who serve the revelry and in the precariousness of their work. Club Heaven captures this choreography of mirrored bodies through precise observation and biting social commentary.
The Echo of the Herd by Matthias Joulaud & Lucien Roux
World premiere
Didier works on a cattle farm. Deaf from birth, he lives alone in an isolated house in the countryside. Since the death of his brother and only companion, Claude, he has taken refuge in his work. While the farm experiences a health crisis, Didier is driven by a critical need: to reinvent his language, to make himself understood and to transform his disability into a strength.
National Competition
Tricontinental, Letter to Open in Case Of by Laura Cazador
World premiere
A life of political commitment led filmmaker Michèle Firk from the underground support network of the Algerian FLN to the guerrilla struggle in Guatemala. In 1966, she was in Havana when the Tricontinental took place, a conference aimed at forming a united anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist front of countries from the Global South. Laura Cazador dedicates a rich and fascinating archival film to their intertwined histories.
International Medium Length & Short Length Competition
Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon by Bill Morrison
World Premiere
October 12, 2025: masked and unidentified agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seize a man without a warrant on a residential street in Chicago. After the Oscar-nominated Incident, Bill Morrison continues in the vein of his previous work, using footage from phones and body cameras to dissect and reconstruct a neighbourhood’s struggle against impunity within a brutal administration.
Normal Planet by Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse & Quentin L'helgoualc'h
World premiere
In a ruined virtual museum, a group of avatars – a security frog, a prowling velociraptor, a romantic penguin and some Kawaii TikTokers – offer a witty commentary on its works. Normal Planet marks the return of the filmmakers behind Knit's Island, with a brilliant essay on the pantheonisation of art and the consumption of culture.
Grand Angle Selection
To Hold a Mountain by Biljana Tutorov & Petar Glomazić
Swiss premiere
On the Montenegrin highlands, a shepherdess and her adopted daughter, haunted by the violent death of her mother, defend their mountain against its transformation into a NATO military training ground. Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić paint a tender and visually striking portrait of a community of women grappling with both internal and external structures of oppression – Sundance's 2026 Grand Jury Prize.
A Child of My Own by Maite Alberdi
Swiss premiere
How many extraordinary stories lie behind the hastily and sensationalistically narrated news items in the media? In the hands of Maite Alberdi, and thanks to her signature blend of documentary and fiction, even the story of a kidnapped baby becomes an opportunity to move beyond hasty judgments and recognise the complex humanity of people who made mistakes and paid for them.
Highlights Selection
The History of Concrete by John Wilson
Swiss premiere
A film about concrete? Indeed, and a hilarious one at that... After attending a workshop on writing and selling a romantic movie for TV, John Wilson (How to With John Wilson) sets about applying the recipe – to a documentary about concrete. The History of Concrete transforms this most mundane material into a wild adventure, proving that no subject is too grey to be brilliant.
The Beauty of Errors by Jukka Kärkkäinen
Swiss premiere
Father and son Tero and Henri live a life of deep affectionate complicity, spending their time repairing engines and reheating meals. When Henri moves in with his girlfriend, Alina, Tero has to relearn life without him. A moving yet drily humorous story about men coming to terms with life’s long apprenticeship, the absurdity of existence and the fear of loneliness.
Special screenings
Ghost Elephants by Werner Herzog
Legend says there are “ghost elephants” hidden in the highlands of Angola. Acclaimed director Werner Herzog (Guest of Honour, VdR 2019) follows an epic quest to the Angolan highlands led by National Geographic Explorer and conservation biologist Dr. Steve Boyes to find these majestic and elusive creatures.
We can’t wait to discover these and many more films at Visions du réel.
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