The documentary film festival Visions du Reel, which takes place in the Swiss city of Nyon, ended on Saturday, 3 May. Among the award-winners of the festival, there is the film by Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski: "Domino Effect." The film was appreciated by the Interreligious Jury, consisting of: Jean-Jacques Cunnac (Programme Director – France), Amir Hafner-Al Jabaji (Islamologist and publicist – Switzerland), Brigitta Rotach (journalist – Switzerland) and Serge Molla (theologian, clergyman and film critic – Switzerland). "Domino Effect" won the Interreligious Prize for the film which "sheds light on existential, social or spiritual questions as well as human values."
"Domino Effect" is a story about true love in a non-existent country. Rafael – the Minister of Sport and Education and Natasha – a Russian opera singer try to live together in Abkhazi, destroyed by war. Observing their difficult relationship, we watch life in a place marked by war and nationalism. The film depicts trapped people, who dream about peace, normality and happiness. The film depicts the protagonists facing a difficult decision – whether to stay in the past, or take a risk and together enter an uncertain future in spite of everything.
In the competitions at the festival, there were two other Polish films: in the medium-length film competition – "Maximum Pleasure" by Katarzyna Trzaska, and in the short film competition – "Small Instruments" by Edyta Wróblewska. In addition to this, in the section Premiers Pas, the film by the student of Lodz Film School, Arjun Tawar, "Where I Can’t Be Found" was shown. However, these are not the only Polish features at the festival. At the accompanying film market Doc Outlook, one could see a programme of ten documentary films, prepared by Krakow Film Foundation (the partner of Doc Outlook). During the editing workshops for projects at an advanced stage of production – Rough Cut Lab – the director Rafał Skalski and editor Filip Drzewiecki worked on their film "Monk from the Sea" and during the workshops i_doc, Katarzyna Boratyn and Małgorzata Jurko ("Line no.9) and Agnieszka Pokrywka ("Confessions on a Razor’s Edge") developed their interactive documentary films under the guidance of specialists in this field.
The full list of award-winning films can be found on the festival’s website.