The New Visions competition is now open to emerging international talent!
Originally dedicated to the first feature films by Quebec and Canadian filmmakers, this year the competition will welcome films from around the world, further strengthening the international focus of the RIDM. The New Visions competition serves as a showcase for filmmakers at the start of their careers. By placing national works alongside those of the world’s emerging directors, RIDM reaffirm their commitment to promoting local cinema while celebrating the diversity of contemporary documentary voices.
Here are the nine selected films:
AN OSCILLATING SHADOW (Chile, Argentina, France) by Celeste Rojas Mugica - In a darkroom, the filmmaker and her father, a dissident photographer in the Pinochet years, revive an intimate and political history through a fascinating sensory journey.
OKURIMONO (Canada) by Laurence Lévesque - Back in Nagasaki, Noriko Oi is confronted with her deceased mother’s painful past and decides to break the silence surrounding the intergenerational trauma caused by the nuclear attack.
KOUTÉ VWA (Belgium, France) by Maxime Jean-Baptiste - In a blend of fact and fiction, Melrick visits his grandmother's home in French Guiana, rediscovering a country that lives within him and walking the path of tough forgiveness.
UP THE RIVER WITH ACID (France) de Harald Hutter - This debut feature by Harald Hutter is a deeply personal exploration of memory, resilience, and the inevitable passage of time, experienced through the lives of his parents, Horst and Francine.
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LES MIENNES (Belgium, France) by Samira El Mouzghibati - The film explores honest and heartfelt conversations within a family of Moroccan origin, revealing the emotional complexities that run through mother-daughter relationships.
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THE TREASURY OF HUMAN INHERITANCE (Canada) by Alexis Kyle Mitchell - the film uses a poetic approach to explore the experience of living with a genetic disease, while questioning family inheritance and mortality.
THE UNDERGROWTH (Spain) de Macu Machín - The film follows the relationship of three sisters living in the Canary Islands, where the volcanic landscape symbolizes both the beauty and the tensions that permeate their daily lives.
EASTERN ANTHEMS (Canada, United States, Ecuador) by Jean-Jacques Martinod and Matthew Wolkow - A relay between two artists, this experimental film shows the return of a species of cicada that only emerges every 17 years in an America that also may be starting a new cycle.
RISING UP AT NIGHT (Congo, Belgium, Germany, Burkina Faso) by Nelson Makengo - The film depicts the daily struggles of the people of Kinshasa to restore electricity, symbolizing the quest for light, both literally and figuratively.
The New Visions competition jury is composed of Paula Astorga from Doclisboa in Portugal, Maximiliano Cruz from FICUNAM in Mexico, and Antoine Thirion from Cinéma du réel in France. These three representatives from international festivals will award a prize offered by La Scam, for the best work in this competition.
The complete lineup for the 27th edition of RIDM will be unveiled on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.