The 23rd edition of the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF, 5-13 July) got off to a flying start on Friday with a sold-out Opening Ceremony – a good omen for a very thrilling first weekend. Nothing could stop festivalgoers from taking over the NIFFF theaters, neither the rain nor the Euro soccer games: more than 12,000 tickets were sold, on a par with 2023.
A WHOLE SLEW OF SOLD-OUT SCREENINGS ANNOUNCE ROBUST ATTENDANCE NUMBERS
The 23rd edition of the NIFFF opening ceremony set the tone for the festival’s first few days: a sold-out screening, engaged speeches, and captivated guests and audience members. Director Emma Benestan and main actress Oulaya Amamra were in attendance for the international premiere of ANIMALE, which is also part of the International Competition. Members of the various juries have arrived in the lakeside city for an intense week of film-watching. They will announce the prize list during the closing ceremony on Saturday, July 13th.
While the International Competition is already in full swing with many sold-out screenings such as DES TEUFELS BAD (Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala), I SAW THE TV GLOW (Jane Schoenbrun), and L’EMPIRE (Bruno Dumont), the other sections are not to be outdone as MISÉRICORDE (Alain Guiraudie) and LES PISTOLETS EN PLASTIQUE (Jean-Christophe Meurisse) also played to a full house. Same goes for the Swiss premiere of KRAZY HOUSE (Steffen Haars, Flip Van der Kuil) which had festivalgoers laughing their head off in the presence of Dutch director Steffen Haars.
On Saturday, July 6th, Swiss fantastic films took center stage. Intrigued by the quality and diversity of the country’s productions, people came in great numbers to the SWISS SHORTS competition, the new AMAZING SCHOOLS program, and the Swiss premiere of MILCHZÄHNE, with director Sophia Bösch in attendance.
Finally, our guest of honor Asia Argento came to meet the NIFFF audience for an Open Air screening of classic horror film LES YEUX SANS VISAGE (Georges Franju) while our showing of VAMPYR (Carl Theodor Dreyer), which was part of her carte blanche, sold out.
COMING UP NEXT: THE NIFFF EXTENDED CONFERENCES
On Monday and Tuesday, the IMAGING THE FUTURE symposium will offer a series of conferences during which world-class guests will be discussing the visual effects of the series 3 BODY PROBLEM and THE LAST OF US, as well as the animation techniques used in the making of NIMONA Video games (LET’S PLAY NATURE, THAT COSY FEELING) and Internet backrooms (INTERNET HORROR) will also be the subject of two conferences. Simon Weisse, model maker for Wes Anderson, and Ishan Shukla, member of the international jury and director of SCHIRKOA: IN LIES WE TRUST, will also be giving talks on Tuesday.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the NEW WORLDS OF FANTASY literary forum will start with Julien Blondel, versatile screenwriter known for his dark universes, and Saul Pandelakis, renowned for his ambitious and sensible works. The latter will also partake in a roundtable discussion about environmentalism in fantasy worlds (EMBODYING (DIS)ENCHANTED TOMORROWS) with artist and author Lucia Masu, utopia expert Alice Carabédian, and actress and researcher Sophie Desbiolles.
NIFFF EXTENDED also includes the RTS ARCHIVES: CREATING A TV HOAX conference, as well as the EAT THE RICH roundtable discussion that will focus on the rich gaze in genre cinema – a perfect opportunity to delve deeper into the portrayal of the elites.
Finally, Swiss celebrity MOON, to whom the NIFFF is giving a carte blanche, is arriving today! The most film-loving drag queen of all will be in Neuchâtel until Tuesday to present 3 feature films.
