While the Green Grass Grows by Peter Mettler - Following his 2020 retrospective and masterclass at Visions du Réel, multi-media artist Peter Mettler joins the festival again with his latest project, While the Green Grass Grows. Renowned for his unique style of filmmaking and intuitive process in crafting audiovisual journeys - Mettler's filmmaking feels closer to the works of a jazz composer, stringing together images through free association and in an improvised fashion. His latest project, which will be screening at the festival, is part of a larger 7-part film with parts 1 & 6 premiering at the festival.

Machtat by Sonia Ben Slama - The film's synopsis already sparked an exciting exchange among us as we started sharing reflections on our own cultural bridal customs. We are looking forward to catching Machat, which closely follows three women who are professional musicians at traditional wedding ceremonies in Mahdia, Tunisia, and hearing how it resonates among audiences. 

Antier Noche: We are capping our evening with a nocturnal film, Antier Noche (The Night Before Last"), by Alberto Martín Menacho. Set in a village in the Spanish region of Extremadura, the film offers a contemporary portrait of the youth in the town where the filmmaker's grandparents were born.   

An Owl, a Garden & the Writer by Sara Dolatabadi - A daughters portrait of her father, the prolific Iranian novelist Mahnoud Dowlabadi, this film was also edited by Afsaneh Salari, whose previous film the Sihloettes (VdR 2020 - International Competition), was among one of the first films Docs in Orbit featured on the podcast. 

Astrakan 79 by Catarina Mourão - The trailer for this film excited us with its dramatic and emotive atmosphere. Astrakan 79 is the latest film produced by Terratreme Films, a film company that has produced many incredible films, including Dry Ground Burning (Berlinale Forum, 2022) and António and Catarina (Locarno, 2017).

Taxibol by Tommaso Santambrogio -The latest film is from filmmaker Lav Diaz, renowned as one of the key members of the slow cinema movement. The film mainly takes place within the confines of a taxi, where Diaz chats with the driver about politics and history.  

Natalia by Elizabeth Mirzaei - A black and white portrait of a young woman's transition from student life to the bride of Christ, Natalie has been on our list of films to catch since it premiered at the True/False, where it received praise from both audiences and critics. 

Love is Not an Orange by Otilia Barbara - We recently saw this film at MoMA DocFortnight, and it's worth a second viewing. Composed almost entirely of VHS home footage from the late 90s collected from families in Moldova as the country struggled to adjust to the post-Soviet climate where women were forced to leave home and work overseas to provide for their children. A collection of scenes documenting moments in their children's lives and opening care packages their mothers send them from afar, LOVE IS NOT AN ORANGE paints a powerfully intimate collective portrait of a generation. A piercing emotional work of domestic cinema that lingers days after watching.

Orlando, My Political Biography by Paul B. Preciado - In line with the theme of literature in this year’s program, we are delighted to wrap up our festival experience with this film straight from the Belerinale where it won four awards. In “Orlando, My Political Biography,” Preciado sheds light on Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando,” the first novel in which the main character changes sex in the middle of the story.  A century later, Preciado, who is a trans writer and activist, decides to send a film letter to Woolf, telling her that Orlando has come out of her fiction and is living a life she could have never imagined.

Dark Room by Asli Baykal - Satiating our love for analog film practices, and the delightful image-making process, Dark Room brings us into a film photography workshop for children in a Turkish border town. 

The Avalanche by Pınar Öğrenci -  After selecting films, we realized we have a shared affinity for films that traverse between art installation spaces and cinemas. That's why we plan to end our evening with the latest film by artist and activist Pınar Öğrenci. Avalanch takes place in southeastern Turkey, where issues like fascism, forced displacement, and genocide have persisted for decades. The film was realized in Documenta 15 this past year and edited by Eytan Ipeker, whose previous films we sincerely appreciate ("Mimaroglu: The Robinson of Manhattan Island" (VdR 2020), The Pageant (VdR 2020), and "Ah Gözel Istanbul" (available on MUBI). 

Self-Portrait Along the Borderline by Anna Dziapshipa - A film that examines one's fractured cultural identity growing up with ties to Georgia and Abkhazia, two nations in conflict since 1992. With a moody trailer and creative use of archival images, we anticipate an engaging personal story and an exciting montage of images (edited by Eka Tsotsoria).

The Echo by Tatiana Huezo - We are drawn to Tatiana Huezo's cinema for her sensitive renderings of families and children, often with mothers at the narrative's core. Her latest film, The Echo, premiered at the Berlinale to critical acclaim, and we can't wait to finally have the chance to watch this film in Nyon. 

Paradise by Alexander Abaturov - Set in the small village of Shologon in Northern Siberia, this film documents the local inhabitants battling severe and extreme wildfires during the summer months. A favorite of discover of ours from IDFA 2022, Paradise set off an alarm in us and became a must-see.

The Wonder Way by Emmanuelle Antille - Taking off from Michel Foucault's assertion that "there are countries without places and histories without chronology," Emmanuelle Antille's latest film takes us to the existence of imaginary territories. It explores the people who create them as a means of resistance to the present world. With a captivating premise and Antille's background in visual arts, video art, and photography, "The Wonder Way" is a film we look forward to catching at the festival.

Floating Islands by Nicolas Humbert & Simone Fürbringer -The inclusion of "Floating Islands" in our watchlist is driven by our admiration for Humbert's prior works (including the splendid "Middle of the Moment" co-directed with Werner Penzel). Humbert has established himself as a master of poetic and associative storytelling, and his new film promises to be no exception. In addition, his collaboration with Fürbringer, who has demonstrated her editing talent in works such as "Wild Plants" and "Brother Yusef," further raises our anticipation for this release.