Visions du Réel Crowns ‘The Prince of Nanawa' as Grand Prix Winner, ‘The Vanishing Point' Claims Burning Lights Award
Clarisa Navas' 'The Prince of Nanawa' claimed Swiss doc fest Visions du Réel's top prize, while Iranian filmmaker Bani Koshnoudi's 'The Vanishing Point' took the top Burning Lights honor.
Clarisa Navas' 'The Prince of Nanawa' has taken home the Grand Prix at international Swiss doc fest Visions du Réel, while Bani Koshnoudi's 'The Vanishing Point' earned the top award in the Burning Lights section.
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Argentina's Navas, best known for her 2020 San Sebastián-winning film 'One in a Thousand,' spent a decade filming 'The Prince of Nanawa.' The documentary follows the story of Ángel, a charismatic boy with fierce love for his Guarani roots and a vision for his Paraguayan hometown of Nanawa. With a camera in hand, Ángel helps craft his own story.
The jury, comprising Japanese film festival director Hama Haruka, U.S. filmmaker Eliza Hittman ('Never Rarely Sometimes Always,' 'Beach Rats') and Greek director Athiná-Rachél Tsangári ('Attenberg,' 'Chevalier,' 'Harvest'), praised the film as 'a work that straddles autofiction, fiction and non-fiction with confidence and humility… The camera becomes a communal, familial instrument that passionately records the microcosm of youth as it negotiates borders and boundaries. The filmmaker's gaze is hospitable and tender – without ever sentimentalizing or othering their subject.'
The Grand Prix comes with a 20,000 CHF ($24,000) cash prize.
The Special Jury Award in the same section went to 'To Use a Mountain' by Casey Carter, which investigates the six rural U.S. sites once considered for nuclear waste disposal. Marie Voignier's 'Anamocot,' which chronicles a French scientist's lifelong search for the mythical Mokélé-Mbembé, received a Special Mention.
Koshnoudi, an exiled filmmaker and visual artist whose work has been shown in exhibitions around the world, picked up the festival's second most prestigious award for 'The Vanishing Point,' which breaks her family's decades-long silence about a disappeared cousin executed during the 1988 purges in Iran.
In their citation, the jury, made up of U.S. filmmaker Scott Cummings ('Realm of Satan,' 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always'), French producer Thomas Hakim ('All We Imagine as Light'), and Georgian-Swiss director Elene Naveriani ('Blackbird, Blackbird, Blackberry') called it 'a bold and radical exploration of shared pain and collective resistance,' commending how the filmmaker 'opens her family history to unlock a kaleidoscope of materials, both personal and political, past and present, that culminates in a manifesto of resistance against the regime.'
The award comes with a 10,000 CHF ($12,000) cash prize.
David Bim's 'To the West, in Zapata' had a strong showing, picking both the Burning Lights Special Jury Prize and the International Critics' Prize – Prix FIPRESCI.
A Special Mention also went to 'Fierté nationale: de Jéricho vers Gaza' by Sven Augustijnen, which follows a Palestinian diplomat's journey from the occupied West Bank to Gaza's border.
In the National Competition, 'The Multiple Lives of Andres' ('Les Vies d'Andrès') by Switzerland's Baptiste Janon and Belgium's Rémi Pons claimed the top prize. Inspired by a novel about an early 20th century cart driver, the film depicts his contemporary twin, a truck driver navigating a contemporary Europe obsessed with profit. The prize comes with 15,000 CHF ($18,000).
Laura Coppens' 'Sediments' picked up the runner-up Special Jury Award, and 'Toute ma vie' by Matias Carlier received a Special Mention.
The audience award went to Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner 'Cutting Through Rocks' by Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki.
Visions du Réel's artistic director Émilie Bujès praised the 2025 selection as 'a true bulwark against the standardization of both cinema and ideas.'
'The 154 films presented at the 2025 festival offer a myriad of prisms through which to explore contemporary documentary cinema and to discover bold, personal, and singular cinematic voices. I'm delighted to see that this year's awards reflect this ambition, notably including films created over extended periods of time. This confirms our deep commitment to offering powerful and original cinematic experiences,' she said.
All winning films had their world premieres at Visions du Réel.
The festival runs until Sunday evening, with its curated online selection available until 20 April.
Find all the awards for Visions du Réel 2025 here:
International Feature Film CompetitionGrand Jury Prize'The Prince of Nanawa' by Clarisa Navas
Special Jury Award'To Use a Mountain' by Casey Carter
Special Mention'Anamocot' by Marie Voignier
Burning Lights Competition'The Vanishing Point' by Bani Khoshnoudi
Special Jury Award'To the West in Zapata' by David Bim
Special Mention'Fierté nationale: de Jéricho vers Gaza' by Sven Augustijnen
National Competition'Les Vies d'Andrès' by Baptiste Janon and Rémi Pons
Special Jury Award in the National Competition'Sediments' by Laura Coppens
Special Mention'Toute ma vie' by Matias Carlier
International Medium Length and Short Film CompetitionJury Prize for the Best Medium Length Film'Les Voyageurs' by David Bingong
Jury Prize for the Best Short Film'Another Other' by Bex Oluwatoyin Thompson
Special Youth Jury Award for a Medium Length Film'Objects Don't Randomly Fall From the Sky' by Maria Estela Paiso
Special Youth Jury Award for the Best Short Film'The Town That Drove Away' by Grzegorz Piekarski and Natalia Pietsch
Special Mention from the Jury of the International Medium and Short Film Competition'Khmerica' by Thibaut Amri, Antoine Guide and Lucas Sénécaut
Wide AngleAudience Award in the Wide Angle Competition'Cutting Through Rocks' by Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki
International Critics' Award – FIPRESCI AwardFirst feature film presented in the International Feature Film Competition or the Burning Lights Competition'To the West, in Zapata' by David Bim
Interreligious AwardFeature film of the International Competition that highlights questions of meaning and human solidarity'Nuit obscure – 'Ain't I a Child?'' by Sylvain George
Perception Change Project AwardPrize awarded to a film that sheds light on the current issues that will define the world of tomorrow'The Family Approach' by Daniel Abma
Zonta AwardThe ZONTA Creation Support Award rewards a female filmmaker whose film, selected in the Burning Lights or National Competition sections, reveals mastery and talent and calls for support for future creations.'And the Fish Fly Above Our Heads' by Dima El-Horr
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