Swiss Docs Range Far and Wide as They Question Received Opinion

In Europe, only Russia and its “big five” powers produced more features in 2019 than Switzerland’s 119. Few have a more pronounced documentary output. Twenty-six Swiss titles play at Swiss doc fest Visions du Réel this year, from “The Bubble” and “Ostrov” in main International Competition to 12 in a National Competition. Five more projects, near completion, mostly from directors who have already made their mark, screened via excerpts at a Swiss Films Previews showcase on Sunday. They say a lot about some directions that one of Europe’s proudest documentary traditions is heading:

Europe’s Most Cosmopolitan Production Sector 

One direction, most obviously, is abroad. “The Bubble” is a shrewd take on the world’s biggest retirement community, in Florida. “Ostrov” is set on the benighted shores of the Caspian Sea. Another Swiss doc, “The Lunar Course of My Life” in National Competition, takes a pained look at Japan’s “hikikomori” youths, who suffer severe social phobia. Of the five titles in the Swiss Films Previews, only one, “LUX,” takes place entirely within Swiss borders. Others range over seven African countries (“Women’s Africa”) or from Canada to Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai (“My Old Man”) or from France to Germany and the U.S. (“Loving Highsmith”). “I Coroneri” unspools mostly in Rome. An outsider’s perspective, with no domestic agenda, may benefit many of these films.