It's The Real Thing

 

“It's The Real Thing - Basel Documentary Platform” is a festival of documentary and propaganda arts. Unique in Europe in its focus, “It's The Real Thing” highlights the diverse ways in which we represent, imitate, propagate, and produce reality in different media and spheres of society.
The festival was founded by Boris Nikitin. 

Contrary to what the subtitle suggests, it is not about a representation of the documentary genre, but rather with how the non-fictional can be appropriated, falsified, distorted, subverted, transformed, propagated, destroyed, or altered. The focus is on the artistic act. We borrowed the title “It's The Real Thing” from a former Coca-Cola campaign.

Each edition of the festival invites international artists and thinkers with outstanding work to Basel. Previous guests at “It's The Real Thing” have included Gabrielle Goliath, Rabih Mroué, Joshua Oppenheimer, Ligia Lewis, Gob Squad, Samira Elagoz, Milo Rau, Jerome Bel, El Conde de Torrefiel, Kim Noble, Jaha Koo, Samuel Koch & Robert Lang, the vacuum cleaner, Laura de Weck, Mats Staub, Georger & Deefort, Chappatte, Margarita Tsomou, Olaf Breuning, Robert Pfaller, Monster Truck, MedingScheerTibbe, Benedikt Wyss, Oliver Zahn & Julian Warner, Diedrich Diederichsen, Storm/Störmer, Ursula Martinez, Suely Rolnik, Dirk Baecker, She She Pop, Markus&Markus Kollektiv, Rohit Jain, Markus Öhrn, Emily Magorrian, Marcel Schwald & Claire Dessimoz, Betrand Lesca & Nasi Voutsas, Cuqui Jerez, Beatrice Fleischlin, Ariane Andereggen, Marie Rothkopf & Klaus Theweleit & Dirk Cieslak, Didier Eribon, Tim Etchells, Marta Górnicka, Ariane Koch & Sarina Scheidegger and the Museum of Broken Relationships.

From March 25 to 29, 2026, “It's The Real Thing” will enter its fifth edition.

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