The Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF, 5 – 13 July) is thrilled to unveil the program for its multidisciplinary NIFFF INVASION label. Coproduced and financed by the City of Neuchâtel, this program is free and open to all. It will give the spotlight to the genre in all its forms in various spots all over the city. Like every year, we will also be offering diverse, ambitious, and inclusive artistic events at the Open Air (Place des Halles), at the OFFF area (Jardin anglais), and at La Villa (La Petite Rochette).
THE OPEN AIR BY NIGHT – FIVE RESTORED CLASSICS
With CLASSICS RELOADED, the audience can (re)discover five cult films for free in the reflective and now iconic setting of the Open Air. From the claustrophobic thriller ROPE (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1948) and the seminal masterpiece GODZILLA (Ishirô Honda, JP, 1954), to the deathly EYES WITHOUT A FACE (Georges Franju, FR/IT, 1960) and the revolutionary THE MATRIX (Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski, US/AU, 1999) – which turns 25 this year – festivalgoers will be able to bask in communal cinematic bliss under the stars. Directed by Fritz E. Maeder, Fredi M. Murer and Yves Yersin, the three visionary dystopian short films of SWISSMADE (CH, 1969) paint the picture of a cold and procedural Switzerland. They will be shown in collaboration with the Cinémathèque suisse.
ROPE
Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1948
Trailer
Synopsis : In this bone-chilling, single-setting, virtuoso (fake) oner, two students who are eager to test out the repugnant Nietzschean theory of their professor strangle one of their classmates before inviting the academic and the dead man’s friends and family to dinner at the scene of the crime.
GODZILLA
Ishirô Honda, JP, 1954
Trailer
Synopsis : In this seminal masterpiece, Godzilla stands for nuclear terror in a traumatized post-war Japan. The film’s striking night scenes have influenced other key figures in the giant monsters genre. This year the film celebrates its 70th anniversary and has been restored in 4K for the occasion.
LES YEUX SANS VISAGE
Georges Franju, FR/IT, 1960
Trailer
Synopsis : In the aftermath of a serious accident, a surgeon desperately tries to reconstruct his daughter’s face, leaving all moral and ethical concerns behind. Franju finds the sublime in this hopeless and deathly quest.
SWISSMADE
Fritz E. Maeder, Fredi M. Murer, Yves Yersin, CH, 1969
In collaboration with the Cinémathèque suisse
Synopsis : Many were stunned back then by these three visionary dystopian short films – financed by the Banque Populaire Suisse – that presented a cold and procedural version of Switzerland.
THE MATRIX
Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski, US/AU, 1999
Trailer / Image : © Park Circus
Synopsis : It’s been 25 years since Neo took the red pill, and the world has yet to recover. Having aged like fine wine, the Wachowski sisters’ revolutionary film still presents a very believable take on “reality”.
THE OPEN AIR BY DAY – STREET ART PERFORMANCES
For the fourth year in a row, the CCHAR (Centre de Création Helvétique des Arts de la Rue) will be taking possession of the Open Air with free street art performances every morning at 11 a.m. from Monday 8th to Saturday 13th. Stage performances, songs, dance, circus acts and acrobatics: the various troupes will make NIFFF mornings memorable for the (very) young and old alike.
Boys Band Baroque
CompaniMi
Suitable for all audiences
Description : Concerto for acrobatic trio. For this trio of clownish acrobats (not quite musicians, mostly circus artists), giving a baroque music concert is a childhood dream come true.
As the show unfolds, pyramids are built, bodies shift and intertwine, and choreographies appear while the music never stops.
Les Contes Spontanés
SevenAct
Suitable for audiences from 5 years of age
Description : There’s nothing like an interactive performance to share a special moment of bonding! Anything goes with this performer/musician duo who simply cannot say no to the audience. A fast-paced, dynamic, one-of-a-kind escape from reality that brings together improv, storytelling, theater, and music.
More info
Classe verte
Compagnie Robert et moi
Young audience
Description : Getting your hiking bag ready must be done rigorously and methodically: choose your camping equipment carefully, prioritize, forget unnecessary things. Only after careful examination can someone settle on a bivouac spot. Setting up a tent is a matter of logic. And don’t forget to prepare for food autonomy! Apéritif is of the utmost importance. Bivouac “educators” Mr Lemoin and Sylvain Grosperrin have 50 minutes to prepare children and reassure their parents.
More info
Little Garden
Cie Little Garden
Suitable for all audiences
Description : Welcome to Little Garden – a window on a little-known jungle.
A display of raw power, uproarious and animalistic.
An invitation to fire up one’s imagination. Quite simply, an ode to life.
Come and see this unique animal-juggler in his mating season – an endemic species whose sole purpose is to woo the audience.
More info
pourquoooOAA
La Fabrique Infinie
From 4 years of age
Description : Plouf and Splatsch are two frogs who ask themselves questions. Well, two frogs… more like a frog and a bee. Well, no: it’s a bee-frog… a freeg… a brog… To find answers, Plouf and Splatsch use pebbles, dirt, leaves, bubbles, and so on. And they laugh. And they embrace their emotions. They want to know. Yes, they want to know EVERYTHING… A great way of asking questions, finding answers, and accepting uncertainties with tenderness, humor, and poetry.
More info
O comme… Cacahuète
Cie Circolabile
Suitable for all audiences
Description : With « O comme… Cacahuète », Stoppino offers a series of unique, staggering pataphysical performances. Stoppino is like dynamite: it only takes a spark for him to explode, to surprise his audience with a gesture, a look, or by pulling a face. This everyday juggler transforms into an empathetic architect to build an ironic and oneiric vision of everyday life and human nature. All that without a single word.
More info
A BESPOKE PROGRAM FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
The NIFFF has collaborated with SEO (Service de l’enseignement obligatoire) and FILMETIC on two programs: KID-O-NIFFF, stop-motion short films made by Neuchâtel-based pupils aged 5 to 15, and FANTASTIC SHORTS, made by students aged 15 to 19. Furthermore, Professor Nimbus will be telling the incredible story of science fiction cinema at the Lanterne Magique cine-conference TO INFINITY AND BEYOND. This year, the Fantoche short films program (from the Baden International Animation Film Festival) will tackle the issue of difference. Finally, a writing workshop will be hosted by Magali Bossi, author, literary researcher, and cofounder of Geneva-based digital and cultural media La Pépinière (one of the workshop’s partners). Anyone over 16 who would like to broaden their imagination can register now.
HUNGER
An exhibition from Maison d’Ailleurs
The NIFFF continues its work with Maison d’Ailleurs through an exhibition that expands on the EAT THE RICH retrospective. Pictures and texts on display at Théâtre du Passage will sketch imaginary societies burdened with hunger or starvation. Could decadence be pushing us to feast on our fear of ending things?
Image : coll. Maison d’Ailleurs
CONTEMPORARY ART AND FANTASY
Produced and introduced for the first time by MUDAC, the La Villa centerpiece THE ALLUVIALS is a World Building project consisting of a film and a video game that gives American artist Alice Bucknell an opportunity to explore the political issues that would come with a Los Angeles drought in the near future, through the perspective of human and non-human actors. HYBRIS is an interactive installation that questions the new modes of social interaction. It was created by Neuchâtel-based artist Jonathan Droz and computer scientist Simon Plumey, an HE-Arc Ingénierie graduating student.
CAN Centre d’art Neuchâtel and the NIFFF are giving carte blanche to Paris-based artist collective GOSWELL ROAD, who have come up with two ideas. First, have iconic British artist and performer David Hoyle take to the streets to chat with audience members as they come out of film screenings. The second idea is called SUBSTRATE and is more subtle: ten contemporary artists have created a series of limited-edition beer mats that audience members can collect from various festival venues.
Finally, Neuchâtel-based artist and director Olivier Beguin, in collaboration with Chaoticlock Films, will be presenting his HYDE experience at Bleu Café, where Doctor Jekyll will welcome festivalgoers to his immersive photographic lab and reveal the Hyde within each and every one.
THE ALLUVIALS
Alice Bucknell
HYBRIS
Jonathan Droz and Simon Plumey
David Hoyle
Carte blanche – GOSWELL ROAD
SUBSTRATE
Carte blanche – GOSWELL ROAD
HYDE
Olivier Beguin
PLAYING THE QUESTIONS ANOTHER WAY
This year, some Neuchâtel game shops will leave a few games at La Villa for everyone’s enjoyment. NIFFF INVASION thus invites you to delve deeper into the topics tackled by the festival’s film program through a series of games for all audiences. For those interested in video game creation, the Epic Game Jam will be celebrating its ten-year anniversary by showcasing some of the masterworks that have come out of this legendary event.
AFFFTERS AT DTK
On top of the free music program every evening at the OFFF (Jardin anglais), late-night partygoers can count on the NIFFF and DTK to deliver fantastic AFFFTERS! Come dance the night away to the beat of local artists on Fridays 5th and 12th, Saturdays 6th and 13th, and Thursday 11th.
