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Visions du Réel Prizes Faya Dayi, 1970, Les Enfants Terribles
John Hopewell, provided by
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Jessica Beshir’s mesmeric Sundance hit “Faya Dayi” won big at Visions du Réel on Saturday, scooping both its top Grand Jury Prize as well as a Fipresci International Critics Award.
The prize – and Beshir’s surprised but ecstatic acceptance via Zoom from New York – brought to a climax a festival which, as director Emile Bujes pointed out at the closing ceremony, was one of the first to go completely online in 2020. This year, she noted, it became one of the first to open up an on-site component after third-wave COVID-19 launching second-half-of-the festival cinema screenings and welcoming 200 industry members. The initiative came after the Swiss government announced, one day before the festival began, that theaters could re-open in Switzerland.