Kafka au Congo this film will be shown again on Tuesday 20:00 in the Salle Communale The wheels of justice turn very slowly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, very slowly indeed, particularly for Gorette Mawazu who has resorted to jurisdiction to evict a squatter on her land. She has been trying for 15 years. At the start of the film we see Gorette having her shoes polished outside the court room before going inside to have her case heard. What follows is an instant entry to another world, watching this film from the well ordered, organised life of Switzerland, we are thrown in the chaos of a Congoloese courtroom, we hear all the noises of life inside and out as we watch the postponement of cases, documents produced from worn and tatty files, seemingly indifferent or apathetic court clerks and judges, files lost, lawyers deliberately misrepresentating facts. Kafkaesque indeed. When Gorette is back at home her daughter ask her; "Why it taking so long Mum, why do they hate you?" "It's not hate daughter", she says, "It's about money. The longer the case drags on, the more money the lawyers and everyone else can get out of me." We have already seen her pay a deposit of 20 dollars to a court clerk to enable the judges to visit the land in question. No receipt is given to her even though she ask for one. It's not suprising that the visit never materialises and she never sees her money again. You can only assume that this kind of thing has happened before, many times. There is a phrase that goes "pot calling the kettle black", meaning we can't really criticise others before we look at our own mistakes. So for a British person to comment on the corruption particularly amongst the politicians that is seen in "Kafka au Congo" would indeed be a like a pot calling a kettle very black in the light of the expenses scandal amongst some members of parliament in Britain. However, the sheer amount of corruption that goes on in society in ths film, from the bribery in the courts to bribery in electioneering is astonishing. What is even more astonishing is that it all happens so blatantly in front of the cameras. This excellent documentary, like many films at this festival immerses us in the life of others abroad and here often in humorous scenes. From the small minutaie of daily village living; the monkey painstakingly picking the fleas out of a pet dog, to the frequent power cuts back in Kinshasa. Then there is the sight of a sports programme on TV blaring away in a minister's office during meetings, his brother in law coming to him to ask for money to pay for his daughter's wedding. Later on in the countryside, the repeated scenes of a minister putting his hand into the inside pocket of his smart suit to give out dollars to villagers (many of them barefoot) before getting into his 4 x 4 car are all very telling and speak for themselves. When Gorette the main protogonist in the film goes to a tribal leader to find a different way of solving her legal problem, she asks for his advice. He says; " There are three ways of doing this, the legal way, the amicable way and the ancestral way". She continues with the legal way and during the course of filming we see the final verdict after 15 years of legal action. As this film is being shown again on Tuesday at 20:00 at the Salle Communale. I won't reveal whether Gorette wins her case. Go see for yourself. A superb documentary.

Film review -The Dog Hill This film will be repeated on Tuesday at 17:30 at the Capitole 2 Fellini This year as in every year, there are variety of films on offer at Visions du Réel. Some of them are big budget, some are shown with a lot of fanfare and publicity, some of the films are complex and deal with profound issues ie: elections in Iran, corruption in Africa, the use of pesticides on crops in South America. Others films are smaller ones and cover simple subjects and come to the festival with not as much pomp and ceremony, but are nevertheless are good films. The Dog Hill is one of them. It is a quiet and lovely film. Its main premise; a simple subject, the life and conversations of four shepherds working in the Polish countryside and filmed over a summer. They shear sheep, they smoke, they make cheese, the older ones give advice to the youngest shepherd amongst them, they argue amongst themselves, they make up. They hand out words of wisdom to each other, and what words of wisdom these are. When one of the shepherds tells another that his wife has been unfaithful but he is learning to forgive her, the other shepherd says “ You think you have forgotten but trust me you won’t, when another man has drunken another man’s soup you will never want to touch that soup again”. They continue on this vein with home spun homilies.There are some amusing moments and there is tenderness too, when one of them talks about the sadness he feels due to the recent death of his mother, the other shepherd is sympathetic. The cinematography in this film is simply beautiful, the soft colours of the surrounding nature, the earthy brown of the shepherds clothing, the white of the sheep’s coat, very few colours jar on the screen and we really feel and see the beauty of the Polish countryside. It’s a quiet film and a short one, just 39 minutes long, but every minute is sublime.

Salaam Isfahan (Good Morning Isfhahan) - Film review by Emma Johnson This documentary is part of the International Competition and is screening again on Tuesday, 20 April at 20:00 in the Capitole 2 Fellini cinema. In this graceful and moving documentary, Sanaz Azari quietly explores Iran’s political and social climate in the days surrounding the 2009 elections. Subtle and respectful in her approach, the director remains in the background, leaving room for the people of her birthplace to express their thoughts. This is not the story of tumultuous crowds or outright politics, nor are we told how Iran is. Rather, it is about individual voices, personal hopes and the all too human need for self-expression. Under the guise of a photo shoot, the crew takes to the city streets in order to capture a glimpse of peoples’ daily lives. The film opens with a shoot already in place on a quiet, shady road. The majority of people pass by quickly, refusing to be photographed. One neatly dressed man, who has himself posed for several photos, remarks “they don’t want any trouble with the elections coming”. This aside introduces the political undertone that flows through the film and grows in importance with greater proximity to the elections. While the political situation is not often directly referred to, it is always there – we can feel it. Many participants in the film are all too keen to have their photos taken for a European documentary. Their willingness indicates their need to be heard, their need to be recognised as an individual. What is perhaps most poignant in this documentary is the fleeting moments captured before the click of the shutter, where people’s reactions and gestures allow brief insights into themselves as they nervously look at the camera or unabashedly pose. These silent moments reveal much and give weight to a very human story. By asking simple, disarming questions like “What did you do today?” or “Where are you going?”, Azari gives the participants room to open up and reveal something about themselves, albeit unknowingly. In doing so, she offers the audience a privileged position – one where they are not told what to think but are able to see and interpret for themselves. Tender hopes for what might have been, and vulnerabilities are also exposed. One man who poses before the camera speaks of his childhood dream to become a Hollywood action hero. Others reflect on lost musical heritage or other changes in the city. A young girl wants to know when the documentary will screen, so that she can tell her friends. Parts of the documentary are filmed in various interiors, allowing the audience entry into a more intimate, secret world - one where private thoughts can be spoken aloud. In a particularly touching scene, a female protagonist demonstrates how to wear the different headdresses that are obligatory in a post-revolution Iran. Showing the camera the “latest fashion” and the different styles, she implicitly touches on the need for self-expression and the way this manages to emerge, even within the most limited confines. In a beauty salon, three women talk and joke about what they are still able to do in Iran under the current regime, in between applying make-up and swapping beauty tips. We visit them again after the results are announced. Here the violence surrounding the politics is explicitly addressed – they speak with sadness about the young people who have died in the demonstrations, “for nothing”. Yet the sense of futility soon dissipates as a philosophical note is struck with humour – one of the women who is preparing for a wedding notes that at least there will be no official raids at the wedding party to verify if there is dancing, as the army now “has bigger fish to fry”. On election day, the documentary moves outside the city and up to the nearby hills. People stroll in the soft, fading light, far above the city spread out below. A reflective, peaceful mood reigns here, seemingly far away from the political tensions below. Families and friends pose for photos as they talk about their days. Yet at the same time, just as the city remains in the frame, politics loiters in the background – it is an ever-present reality. Many talk of having gone to vote or the general climate, but their worries about the current situation remain unspoken. Two friends are asked what they love about Iran and respond that it is home, that is the only place where one is not a foreigner. Then one of them concedes that you can be a foreigner even in Iran, depending on the political climate. In one of the most striking and beautiful shots of the documentary, the camera slowly follows the gondola’s descent back down the dark hill to the glowering lights of the city. The noise of the crowds shouting political slogans rises, (though we do not see them) signalling an inevitable return to the city and to all its problems. In a final series of photos, a young couple poses on a bridge that traverses a dry riverbed. They express frustrations about the fraudulent election that touch the audience and make them wonder about Iran’s future. When asked where they are going, the young man replies that they are off to join the demonstrations and to “get beaten up”. A heartbreaking sense of futility is evoked, as is admiration for their resolve. Beautifully filmed, Salaam Isfahan documents the lives, reactions and feelings of normal people living under extraordinary circumstances. By giving room for people to knowingly or unwittingly tell their own story, Sanaz Azari opens up various personal Irans and gives the audience another experience of the country, one that we can access and relate to, despite the foreignness of the circumstances. And she does it with a moving grace. Director - Sanaz Azari

Les Arbitres / The Referees by Jean Libon and Yves Hinant in cooperation with UEFAFilm review by Trish Thalman Michel Platini never had a red card. It’s true! The iconic French International Football Team member and then manager, Juventus player, and now President of UEFA, Michel Platini gleefuly states his claim of ‘no red card’ to a large group of smiling and relaxed, professional European football referees gathered in Vienna at a kick-off event for the June 2008 UEFA European Cup Championship. He nervously said he had never been in the presence of “so many referees at one time”. What follows is an exciting, fast-paced, lively, ‘passion-for-football’ film at the June 2008 European Cup Championship which was shared between Switzerland and Austria. It's not a film focussing on the young, highly talented, sometimes handsome, (not always disciplined ) well-paid football players. What we see is an accessible film relating the impressive and surprising insight into the lives of the world-class, well trained, extremely fit, mature and emotionally disciplined referees, who make the important and final decisions about the rules of playing ‘the beautiful game’. These referees are the generally unacknowledged, often threatened, men on and off the field, who spend their professional careers running backwards, while looking forward, reaching into their shirt pocket to pull out the dreaded red or yellow card, writing a name in their pocket notebooks, or standing very tall and still, firm jaw, arm extended with finger pointing to the exit tunnel and ordering a player or team manager ‘out, get out’. Using modern recording technology, the referees and their assistants (the ‘trios’) wear radios and headsets, so we have the ‘front row experience’ of hearing uncensored swearing, out-of-breath players yelling at a referee in their native language (what did he say?), and personal conversations between referee and assistants during the matches making sure they agree on the calls. The filmmakers and recording technicians are given agreed, liberal access to the referees during the entire four weeks of the Championship. We get clear, in-depth telephoto shots of the referees on the playing fields dealing with decisions and disputes, facing up to the adrenalin-fuelled, often aggressive, players who hope to change the decisions by using either charm and pleading body language, or if that fails, down-right ugly language. Yellow card! We are taken into the quiet hotel rooms where the referees-as-fathers are wistfully looking at photos on the TV screen while missing their children, the referee’s stadium dressing room with high tension before a match, the half time rest/discussion concerning a call, “good game” and celebratory atmosphere among the ‘trio’ at the end of the match. The film is spontaneous and ‘happening now’, with close-up shots of referees and players, hand-held cameras bumping along following referees into and out of the stadiums, or panning across the tight-knit brows of the men at the critical referee meetings where the names of those who will go forward into the next tier of match play are announced. We enjoy the captivating, leading-edge audio and visual technology that goes into the production of this very ‘organic’ film. But we also learn at a major UEFA meeting concerning the persistent call for ‘video replays’ of referee’s decisions, that the players still do not use any technology during a game. They know the rules. They make mistakes. The game has referees who know the rules and make decisions according to what they know and see at the moment of a rule-broken. They make mistakes. The game is not foolproof. Football is not perfect. A remarkable achievement for a film that looks into the professional (and in a few cases private) lives of the extraordinary men who devote their lives to ensuring that football is played to the highest standards of fairness and success for all. Some of the referees even receive a handshake and “thanks” from delighted players at the end of the match - when they win! I think that was a smile on the face of Roberto Rosetti after the last whistle of the Euro Cup Final match. This film was shown on Monday night in Nyon as part of the Visions du Reél festival and there were questions and answers afterward with the film makers and two of the referees featured in the film. A DVD of the film will be on sale in Switzerland from 18 May 2010 in French and German. You can see a clip here on U tube which gives you a good flavour of what it is about.

Nyon circus school On Saturday 29th May at 20:30 and Sunday 30th at 17:00 L'elastique Citrique (the circus school in Nyon) will be presenting a show by a London-based company called "Like the rain when it stops". Performing in this London based company is an ex pupil from the Nyon school. The circus school is just next to the car parking in Place Perdtemps and two minutes from the train station. Based on previous performances this should be a superb show. -------------------------- Play in English The Chalk Garden Also a reminder that next week Geds (Geneva English Drama Society) will be performing "The Chalk Garden" by Enid Bagnold - Directed by Jenny Buffle at the Théâtre Pittoëff Geneva (rue de Carouge) 1-5 June 2010 Tuesday to Friday 20:00 Saturday 19:00 Written in the 1950s, this play was recently revived in the West End of London to great acclaim. See GEDS Synopsis - A modern parable about growing up and growing old and combines humour, drama, poetry and passion. In an old manor house on the Sussex downs, an aging London hostess struggles to control her unruly granddaughter and her equally unmanageable garden. When she hires a new governess for the child, she opens the door to more than she bargained for. However, help often comes in unexpected disguises and dark, brooding secrets may resolve themselves in happy endings! First night patrons may join the cast for a glass of bubbly after the show. Tickets - CHF 28.- (seats are numbered). British comedy night The following week on Tuesday 8th June "Funny Laundry" will be bringing two comedy acts to Switzerland with Arthur Smith and Josh Widdicombe. Venue: Le P'tit Music 'Hohl, 54 Avenue Louis-Casai, Geneva. Show starts at 18.30 Doors open at 19:30 Pre-show dinner reservations 022 798 8798. Tickets 35chf in advance from www.starticket.ch or on the door. See Funny Laundry

It's the Spring market in Nyon on Saturday 28th, with lots going on in the centre of town. Shops are open until 18:00, there are stands in the street from a Morroccan souk selling couscous and mint tea and other specialities, to jazz bands to a second hand bike sale in the place du chateau (see post below). On Sunday there will be a mini Chopin festival of four concerts held in the Conservatoire of Nyon. The first begins at 14:30 and the festival will finish at 19:00 with a performance of Sonata No 2 performed by Jean-Selim Abdelmoula, a former pupil of this renowned music school. See site for details. Also on Sunday it's the monthly fleamarket along the lakeside.

The tents are in place, the bands are beginning to arrive and everything is set for three days of rocking as Longirock begins today. This one off rock festival is taking place up in the beautiful area of Longirod and has attracted some big names of rock from The Scorpions to the Young Gods, Skunk Anansie to Juliette Lewis. There are Swiss bands playing too, so if you want to hear Swiss rock, Longirock is also the place to be. On Saturday, Gogol Bordello are due to play (this band proved extremely popular when they played at previous rock festivals in the area). See this U tube video of them here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMtYzF9b6hA Some nights are for fans of heavy rock, punk and heavy metal, some nights for a slightly "softer" sound, but rock is the focus of all three nights. There are covered tents for the bands and audience so the weather shouldn't stop the music, but it is obviously advisable to dress warmly and wear sensible shoes. Along with the music there will be stands for food, bars, merchandising etc. There has also been an art contest for this festival with big prize money for the winners. Their work will be shown in an open air exhibition on site. The Longirock website is in English to find out more about the festival. Tickets are still available online or at the festival site. This is a one off festival when for three days, the village of Longirod and area of just 400 people will host up to 40,000 so don't miss out! How to get up to Longirod. Free transport has been arranged from Gland and Bassins (see below) By car: From Lausanne: Take the A1 motorway direction Geneva. Take exit Aubonne, direction Aubonne and Gimel. From Gimel follow signs to festival. From Geneva: Take the A1 motorway direction Lausanne. Take exit Gland, direction Begnins / Marchairruz. Pass through Vich, Begnins, Burtigny and Marchissy. From Marchissy follow signs to festival. Car sharing: you can organise car sharing on e-covoiturage.ch. More information in "Car sharing" section. Public transport : A free transfer system will be put in place between the train station of Gland and the festival. The same service will be available from the train station of Bassins along the Nyon St-Cergue train line. More details and the time table can be downloaded as a PDF file from the Longirock site.

An essential information guide book and community resource to this area, "Know it all Passport" has recently launched a brand new website with a new look and it now has an events calendar too! Take look at their recent listings and you will see a huge choice of events from a lecture on ethical sourcing by GWIT (Geneva Women in International Trade), to a talk by Forth Capital on 4th May on UK Tax Efficient Pension schemes, to the production of "Shakers", a play being performed by GEDS on Thursday 29th (more info on this below).There's also information on public transport, and a free classifieds section, and lots of useful links. "Know it All" is the guide for English-speakers in the Geneva, Vaud, and neighbouring France. So if you can't find what you are looking for on Living in Nyon, then check out "Know it all Passport"! Lisa Cirieco first published this guide back in 1999 and it has gone on from strength to strength and each new edition contains more useful information. The latest edition is due for release at the end of August this year and will contain over 650 pages of entries, the book contains maps of where the listings are plotted, practical checklists on relocating to or from Geneva, there are even conversion charts! Lisa has a herculean task putting all this information together in one book for each new edition, but the result is always worth it. You can pre-order the new edition when it comes out, click on the side bar link. Fim in English at Nyon cinema tonight Oscar winning production of "A Single Man" in English at cinema tonight in Nyon."A Single Man" is showing in English every day at 18.30 until tomorrow Tuesday (27 April) at the Capitole cinema in Nyon Director: Tom Ford Cast: Colin Firth (Oscar nominee for this role) and Julianne Moore. Synopsis Set in Los Angeles on November 30, 1962, a month after the Cuban missile crisis, A Single Man is the story of George Falconer (Colin Firth), a middle-aged English college professor who has struggled to find meaning in his life since the car accident that killed his longtime partner, Jim (Matthew Goode), eight months earlier. Jim's family disapproved of his relationship with George and thus refused George permission to attend the funeral. Throughout the single day depicted in the film, and narrated from his point of view, George dwells on his past, shown in flashbacks, and his seemingly empty future Film Reviews of Vision du Réel Due to a family emergency here at Living in Nyon, not all the film reviews by the reviewers at the Vision du Réel film festival were able to be posted on this site during the festival itself, however, the reviews are still due to be posted here over the next few days. Some of these films went on to win prizes at the festival which means there is a good possibilty they will be shown on TV or in Swiss cinemas in the future. Drama production of ShakersGEDS presents “Shakers” a preview of GEDS entry to the forthcoming Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies. April 29th and 30th. Synopsis and details provided by GEDS below Four waitress work at the fanciest cocktail club in town. They work great as a team, their personalities compliment each other. But they are all they're own unique and special character all of which flourish throughout this play. The mixture of fast paced over the top action, mixed with multiple roles, Shakers (re-stirred) is another brilliant play by John Godber co-written with Jane Thornton. Funny, fast and witty – this play was a great success in London’s West End This production has been condensed to one-act with the kind permission of the publishers. Therefore this preview will be presented on Friday and Saturday the 29th and 30th of April; at the Théatre Les Salons, rue Bartholoni, in Geneva (near the Grand Theatre). Performances start at 20:00 . We advise our audience that since this is an abridged version; the actual performance will last just under one hour. Tickets CHF 15 (programme included) from theatreinenglish.ch from April 17th or by phone 022 341 51 90 from April 26th (or at the theatre box office on the night). Numbered seating. www.geds.ch

The "Thank goodness it's Friday" drinks evening tonight will be at the Sixteenth Century Hotel in Nyon in Place du Marche from 18:30 to 20:00. If the weather remains nice we will be in the courtyard of the hotel (chairs are usually out on the cobblestones or under the arches). If it is raining, then inside. Please note because the walls of the hotel are so thick sometimes there can be signal problems when using mobile phones in this area. Click on "plan d'ccess" on the hotel's own website for directions.

The rain held off last night for the first few hours of Longirock when the fans began to arrive for a second night of rocking. If you want to go up to this three day festival, free buses will leave from Gland and Bassins to take you to the venue. Dress warmly, wear your boots, be prepared to get muddy and have fun as these fans did in the photos below. On the programme for Saturday is the band the Scorpions (their only date in Switzerland) Juliette Lewis and more. Check out the other bands playing on the programme. Below: Images of the festival from last night Below: Salome Faure and Vincent Borgeaud from the Valleé de Joux. They are camping at the festival for the whole three days to see all the bands but are big fans of the Scorpions playing tonight Saturday

Living in Nyon is reviewing a selection of films on at the Visions du Réel film festival which is on in Nyon until this Wednesday 21 April. "My Village" had just the one screening, but other films reviwed in previous posts will be shown again. My Village 2007 China by Shao Yuhzen - Film review by Trish Thalman. “Are you filming again”? The question asked by nearly all the people in the rural village of Shaziyun near Beijing had become used to the assertive, kind-hearted, sensitive woman with the video camera who was there to “record my life and my village" and because she wanted to "see the changes”. This delightful, sumptuous, yet simple film about the daily lives of people in a hard-working farm community is eye-catching, humorous, and sensitive and gives us a vital glimpse into the constant modern changes being made at breath-taking speed for the majority of people in rural China. The film captures the activities and changes during the year 2007. The old way of life is passing too quickly. A specific change is measured with the main road that goes by the village. In January, with icy fog and hoar frost on the trees, the road is mostly dirt and partially paved. It supports the cyclists, a few trucks and cars. By late summer heat, there is a four lane, paved, marked and divided road with many more trucks and cars, but few cyclists. The road is too fast and dangerous for them. They have to find alternative routes to travel. The staple crops of the village are healthy looking watermelons, twice the size of footballs, with light green, delicately patterned rinds and ‘Barbie' pink interiors. Weighty sweet potatoes and abundant clusters of peanuts are planted in the early, cool spring and harvested in the hot and humid summer and autumn, The village committee reluctantly welcomes a young, recent graduate from the Beijing Agriculture University who has been sent to live and work in the village. He will “help to improve the way you farm for better income returns”. With the expected increased income, a tantalising concept is promoted: they (the men) will be able to afford Western style T-shirts and suits to wear when they go into town. That way people will be unable to tell they are from a farming village. Modern times. The greatly anticipated Spring Festival involve outdoor rehearsals in winter weather by local women who will perform the songs and dances dressed in village costumes while singing Communist party songs. One of the women in the group is also the village ‘stand-up comedian’ telling her greatly appreciated and applauded, earthy jokes at the festival. A visit to the village’s ‘oldest person’, a spunky, tiny woman of 92, painfully hunched over after her life in the melon, potato and peanut fields using old farming methods, fiercely insists on having a drum to beat while she joyfully performs her song and drum act. Greatly frustrated that she can no longer sing like she used to, she informs the camera that years ago she was better than the singers in the Beijing Opera. It’s voting day in the village to elect a District director and Committee members. Shao Yuzhen and video camera are there to record the men with their ever-present cigarettes, casting their vote in order to receive the 10 Yuan they are paid to vote. They cynically already know who has won the ‘election’. New babies drinking from plastic bottles, old women slowly dying, small children riding fluorescent-coloured tricycles, husbands sleeping on the couch, a woman grieving after the death of her daughter. Men painstakingly folding the plastic covering they will reuse next year to protect the melon seedlings, young educated communist party leaders visiting the village to see who is a registered member. The Down’s Syndrome children helping with the harvest, and Shao Yuhzen confronting the Beijing TV crew who want to rehearse the village people before doing an interview (she refuses!), all feature and contribute to the reality of changing life in small, rural villages of China. Shao Yuhzen is well known to Beijing Radio and TV journalists, as part of the ‘Villager Documentary Project’ which began in 2005. Fools and charlatans beware – she is filming life and truth.

Wow! What a superb way to start a film festival. The avant première film of Visions du Réel that was screened in Nyon last night, not only brought a standing ovation from the audience, but kicked the whole evening off with a great atmosphere as it came with a few surprises too. One of the surprises and certainly the most exciting one, came after the screening of the film "Aisheen -Still Alive in Gaza". Here the audience was treated to a satellite link up to Gaza itself on the night. As we sat in in our shiny new seats in Nyon (another surprise as the seats have now finally been updated), and were waving at our cameras, we were able to see a whole group of people sat in their seats in a club setting in Gaza waving at their cameras. A truly great collaborative affair and and an exchange of bonhomie between nationalities. It didn't matter that there was a considerable time delay in the sound, the idea worked and worked exceedingly well. The film itself is an intimate look on life in Gaza after the war. The film maker Nicolas Wadimoff filmed various families going about their daily life over a relatively short time frame. From the clowns entertaining the children in the schools to cheer them up in hard times, to the frustrations of the zoo keepers who had no food to feed their animals, to the humour of the boys who named one of the monkeys "Sharon" ("he's vicious and he attacks"), these individuals stories were superbly documented. See a U Tube trailer of the film here. Then we saw the patience of the mechanic on the fairground who stoicly kept on repairing bits of machinery in order to get the fairground running. There was a sublime ending to the film at the sight of a solitary happy teenager as he spun around on a finally working fairground attraction. Filming in Gaza obviously comes with risks and we saw and heard these risks as a bomb fell very close by when the cameras were turning. Daily life also meant that the Gaza citzens had to queue for food supplies and the chaos and claustrophobia of people becoming squashed in the queue was palpable. We could see their obvious and painful discomfort from the comfort of our new Nyon seats. Conversations among families were captured, the poignant talk from a grandfather to his grandaughter who had lost her mother in a bombing. He advised her to take heart and look positive and to try to look after her brothers and sisters. There were students who talked about their demotivated teachers, but we also saw teachers trying their best in the face of adversity, encouraging acting and role playing to ease tension and one teacher getting her little pupils to dip their hands in bright coloured paints to create wall hand paintings. Then we saw what was to become one of the main focusses and highlights of the show, a rap group called the DARG team rehearsing in a small room and on that particular day with no electricity. Improvisation took over and the boom box was created by their voices, the rappers worked on a song along while a toddler in the room accompanied them banging out a beat with her balloon. The rappers were then later interviewed on Gaza radio and had to listen in to a barrage of criticism from listeners who said that their music wasn't representative of the people, the rappers took it all in good grace They have now gone on to record an album and this is where the evening last night really came into its own as they then performed via satellite for the Nyon audience. A collaborative group of rappers from Geneva then came on stage to accompany them. The audience loved it and responded by standing and clapping, some danced and the theatre resounded to the sound of rap. A great inaugaration, a great film. You can catch the film again on Monday 19th at 17:00 in the Salle Communale and Wednesday 21 at 14:00 in the Théatre de Marens. It will also be shown in cinemas in French Romandie from May 19th. Note: Films that are shown in both the Salle Communale and the cinema screening room Capitole 1 will be provided with interpreters giving simultaneous translations if the subtitles are not in English. In the other venues including the Theatre de Marens this is not guaranteed. The full list of programmes is available in the Visions du Réel brochure which can found either in the tourist board or in the Usine a Gaz (central area of the festival) or at the cinema itself in an outside rack on the exit.