The numbers for the first weekend of the 22nd edition of the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF, 30 June – 8 July) are overwhelmingly positive: After a sold out Opening ceremony, the festival has sold close to 12,000 tickets, which is even better than last year. Our five prestigious International Jury members have arrived in the lakeside city, and are getting ready for a week of discoveries. They will share their conclusions on Saturday evening during the Closing ceremony.
NIFFF EXTENDED IS IN FULL SWING FROM TODAY ONWARDS
Today is the day leading figures such as Katsuhito Ishii (conference on July 3rd at 5:30 p.m.) or Richard Pickersgill (PINOCCHIO’S PUPPETS, July 3rd at 3:45 p.m.), puppet maker for Guillermo del Toro’s PINOCCHIO, will be talking publicly about their work in animation. The creators of the impressive WHITE PLASTIC SKY, which is part of the International Competition, will round things out with their dark and poetic work. There will be a roundtable dedicated to our FEMALE TROUBLE retrospective and to female character archetypes in genre cinema (on July 5th at 3 p.m.), bringing together Carlota Pereda, director of PIGGY, Anna Bogutskaya, author, critic, and host of the THE FINAL GIRLS podcast, and Mónica García Massagué, General Director of the Sitges Festival. The public conference from Charles Burns, illustrator, graphic novel author, and master of the weird, will be another highlight that will mix humour with horror (on July 5th at 5 p.m.). Finally, Josiane Balasko will open the doors to the imaginary world of her collection of short stories, JAMAIPLU, for a public talk followed by a book-signing session (on July 6th at 5 p.m.).
PROGRAMME OVERVIEW
A rich and vivid look into Swiss creation, the AMAZING SWITZERLAND section is giving the audience a chance to discover one of the earliest TV shows from the RTS channel released in 1969, SIAL IV (on July 3rd at 4:45 p.m.) in a restored version, as well as the feature film UNTIL BRANCHES BEND (July 5th at 4:45 p.m.) from Sophie Jarvis. Projects emerging as part of the WORLD BUILDING workshop in La Villa will have a public preview on Wednesday, July 5th at 6:30 p.m. THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE SENTINEL, selected as part of the FILM DE MINUIT, section, will be analysed by journalist and critic Julien Comelli, for the enjoyment of thrill-seeking cinephiles. The latter will also find what they’re looking for with the historical horror tale IN MY MOTHER’S SKIN in the Asian competition, the Lithuanian slasher PENSIVE (July 4th, 00:30 a.m.), the Nigerian-British production MAMI WATA (July 4th at 7:30 p.m.), and the Malaysian film TIGER STRIPES (July 4th, 5 p.m.), which will all give them the opportunity to explore less-trodden paths of genre cinema… The adventure has only just begun!
THE FIRST WEEKEND IN PICTURES
