24/03/2023 - Unspooling from 24 March-2 April, the 45th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival boasts 41 films in competition and a variety of associated events

Today saw the 45th Cinéma du Réel International Documentary Film Festival kick off in Paris, having cancelled its usual pre-opening screening scheduled for the day before (of Alexander Abaturov’s French-Swiss production Paradise [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) in solidarity with the dramatic protests currently unfolding in France against the pension reform. The festival is due to close on 2 April, courtesy of Paul B Preciado’s star attraction Orlando, My Political Biography [+see also:
film review
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interview: Paul B Preciado
film profile], which bagged multiple awards in Berlin.

At the heart of the line-up concocted by Catherine Bizern is a competition with a new format, offering up 41 films (of which 20 feature films), including 27 screening in world premieres, three in international premieres and 11 in French premieres. Stand-out movies on the agenda notably include Bloodhound [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Switzerland’s Yamina Zoutat, Slaughterhouses of Modernity by Germany’s Heinz Emigholz, Belgian-French production Adieu Sauvage [+see also:
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interview: Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento
film profile] by Colombia’s Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento, American-Croatian production The Fuckee's Hymn by Travis Wilkerson, and various titles well-received in the Berlinale Forum, such as The Trial [+see also:
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film profile] by Ulises de la Orden (produced by Argentina, France, Italy and Norway) and Being in a Place – A Portrait of Margaret Tait [+see also:
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film profile] by Scotland’s Luke Fowler.

Likewise in the running are the French feature films The Base [+see also:
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film profile] by Agnès Perrais, Navire Europe by Marina Déak, Up the River with Acid by Canada’s Harald Hutter, Journey to the Lake by Emmanuelle Démoris (a 634-minute, three-part exploration revolving around Lake Bolsena in Italy), Brazza, Chronicle of a Wasteland by Antoine Boutet and I Don’t Know Where You Will Be Tomorrow by Emmanuel Roy. Also worth a mention in the realm of European co-productions is the French-Colombian movie Ana Rosa [+see also:
interview: Catalina Villar
film profile] by Catalina Villar, the French-Nigerian work Coconut Head Generation by Alain Kassanda and the French-Belgian-Chilean title Otro sol by Francisco Rodríguez Teare.

A number of works will enjoy their premieres at the festival, namely Claire Simon’s Our Body [+see also:
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film profile] (the star attraction of the latest Berlinale Forum), Jean-Charles Hue’s The Soiled Doves of Tijuana (unveiled at the IDFA), Armel Hostiou’s The Other Profile (screened in CPH:DOX), Katy Léna Ndiaye’s L'argent, la liberté, une histoire du franc CFA, and the two films by French-Iranian talent Mehran Tamadon which were recently discovered in Berlin (My Worst Enemy [+see also:
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interview: Mehran Tamadon
film profile] in the Encounters line-up and Where God Is Not [+see also:
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interview: Mehran Tamadon
film profile] in the Forum).

A tribute is also set to be paid to Jean-Louis Comolli, alongside retrospectives dedicated to Franssou Prenant, Olivier Zabat and Jean-Pierre Gorin, while viewers can also look forward to line-ups such as "The World, Differently", "Popular Front(s)" and “First Window” (for short films).

As regards the 10^th edition of the festival’s professional sidebar ParisDOC, the Work-in-Progress section will revolve around six films in post-production (courtesy of Gianluca Matarrese, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Pierre Carles, Yana Sad, David Beltrán i Marí and the duo Isabelle Ingold - Vivianne Perelmuter), the round tables unfolding within the Public Forum and Morning Sessions are set to examine the current state of affairs for independent documentary film and its creation, and First Contact will provide producers with an opportunity to discover ten projects in the writing phase, without mentioning the European meetings for heritage documentaries.

(Translated from French)