The Swiss festival Visions du Réel has unveiled its official International Feature Film Competition lineup for 2025. It features several African productions, including Anamocot, a Cameroon-France collaboration by Marie Voignier; The Attachment, a Senegal-Belgium-France coproduction by Mamadou Khouma Gueye; and Where Two Oceans Meet, a South Africa-France-Belgium film by Lulu Scott.
Anamocot explores a research in a forest in Cameroon, where the researcher is torn between scientific proof on a final journey made of powers, knowledge and the invisible. The Attachment is an exploration of Guinaw Rail, a suburb of Dakar, which faces displacement as bulldozers demolish homes to make way for the Regional Express Train. It follows the community, and how it has been shaped by the railways.
Where Two Oceans Meet follows Kulsum, a mother living in a township near Cape Town. Separated from her husband, imprisoned for 25 years under the harsh legacy of apartheid, Kulsum navigates the complexities of single parenthood.
“We are proud that our selection once again reflects an openness to the world,” artistic director Emilie Bujès said while speaking to Variety. “What makes it also very precious to us is how these films compose another image together.”
She added: “Today, we are so used to swiping away when we don’t like something, so it’s about trying to create — within each section — a spectrum that’s as wide as possible, as inviting as possible, so people stay and even watch some other titles. That’s our job: each section has to compose an image of what cinema can look like in 2025.”
The Visions du Réel documentary festival runs from April 4 – 13 in Switzerland. Its official competition jury features a panel of international filmmakers, including Hama Haruka, director of the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, American filmmaker Eliza Hittman, and Greek filmmaker Athiná-Rachél Tsangári.
Here’s a list of the official International Feature Film Competition films at Visions du Réel 2025:
- Anamocot by Marie Voignier, Cameroon/France, 2025, 91’, World premiere
- Aurora by João Vieira Torres, Brazil/Portugal/France, 2025, 129’, World premiere
- Iron Winter by Kasimir Burgess, Australia/Mongolia, 2025, 90’, World premiere
- Little, Big, and Far by Jem Cohen, Austria/USA, 2025, 122’, International premiere
- La Montagne d’or by Roland Edzard, Belgium/France, 2025, 85’, World premiere
- Niñxs by Kani Lapuerta, Mexico/Germany, 2025, 86’, World premiere
- Obscure Night – “Ain’t I a Child“ by Sylvain George, Switzerland/France, 2025, 164’, World premiere
- Shifting Baselines by Julien Elie, Canada, 2025, 101’, World premiere
- Soldiers of Light by Julian Vogel and Johannes Büttner, Germany, 2025, 108’, World premiere
- The Attachment by Mamadou Khouma Gueye, Senegal/Belgium/France, 2025, 76’, World premiere
- The Mountain Won’t Move by Petra Seliškar, Slovenia/North Macedonia/France, 2025, 94’, World premiere
- The Prince Of Nanawa by Clarisa Navas, Argentina/Paraguay/Colombia/Germany, 2025, 212’, World premiere
- To Use a Mountain by Casey Carter, USA, 2025, 99’, World premiere
- Where Two Oceans Meet by Lulu Scott, France/Belgium/South Africa, 2025, 75’, World premiere
