The Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) continues its efforts to reduce its environmental footprint and improve its social impact. Implemented in 2021, this 5-year plan has the support of the Banque Cantonale Neuchâteloise (BCN), a long-time partner of the festival, and Viteos, and involves all aspects of the event.
SUSTAINABILITY PARTNERS
To the NIFFF 2023 festivalgoers (30 June – 8 July):
- Enjoy 50% off bicycle renting from NeuchâtelRoule with the following code: NIFFF2023
- Get collectors goodies made by Fondation Alfaset, which works towards better inclusion for disabled people: wallets, laptop cases, and hairbands can be found at the NIFFF store!
- On Friday July 7th, visit the For Womxn, Period. stand at Jardin anglais. This Romandie-based association promotes access to information, provides advice, and gives out adequate and environment-friendly products for periods and perineal health.
- A film from our programme will be accessible for people suffering from sight or hearing loss thanks to our collaboration with Regards Neufs. NORMAL will be available with audio description and subtitles from mobile phones.
- The NIFFF website now features an ACCESSIBILITY button on its home page. It provides essential information for people with disability who are attending the festival. The pages’ layout can be changed directly by the user.
MEASURES
TRANSPORTATION
The NIFFF encourages everyone to use public transports or car-sharing to go to the festival. In addition, the NIFFF supports soft mobility and endeavours to develop ways to access the festival with the bicycle or on foot.
Key measures:
- Partnership with Neuchâtelroule – initiated by the City of Neuchâtel to encourage cycling on the lakeside and promote sustainable development – which allows the NIFFF team to use their bikes and offers discounts to festivalgoers.
- Long-time partnership with TransN, in order to make public transport schedules from the Neuchâtel canton more easily available during the festival.
WASTE
The NIFFF takes place indoors and outdoors – between concrete walls but also in public, green areas. It is therefore essential to reduce the amount of waste created by the festival, to make recycling better, and to implement dedicated signage.
Key measures:
- The OFFF area will include a stand from the For Womxn, Period. association, which aims at making it easy for everyone to access information, advice, and adequate and environment-friendly period or perineal hygiene products. The association fights for a feminist, progressive, inclusive, intersectional, secular, and sustainable society.
- Many upcycling projects have been initiated by the NIFFF since 2020 in order to reuse tarps from previous editions. In 2023, the NIFFF is joining forces with Fondation Alfaset to create goodies from old promotional items.
- Since 2020, the NIFFF is committed to no longer produce single-use or single-edition promotional materials made out of PVC (tarps, roll-ups, etc.).
- Recycling bins for public use have been improved, especially at the OFFF area (Jardin anglais).
FOOD AND BEVERAGES
Food and beverage consumption greatly impacts the environment. We must reduce this impact as best we can by sourcing local, seasonal, organic, and vegetarian products.
Key measures:
- The food trucks at the Jardin anglais must all offer at least one vegetarian option.
- The NIFFF bars only offer 100% Swiss beer, wine, and water.
- The meals provided to the festival team and our volunteers are mainly vegetarian.
INFRASTRUCTURES AND ENERGY
Any event on the scale of the NIFFF requires many resources (energy, raw materials, equipment) and installations. The festival is setting up several structures in two strategic locations in Neuchâtel: an Open Air cinema on Place des Halles, and the OFFF area at the Jardin anglais. To welcome our festivalgoers in the best possible conditions, we must set up recreational areas, tents, bars, decorations, and bathrooms.
Key measures:
- Viteos, a company that develops renewable energies, became a sponsor of the NIFFF in 2021. Thanks to this collaboration, the festival has been able to use local and green electricity since 2021.
- The NIFFF and Viteos collaboratively installed a water fountain in the middle of the Jardin anglais. We want to make it easy for people to access water and avoid seeing PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles thrown into bins or in the wild as much as possible.
- Since 2022, the new two-storey OFFF pavilion, which is used for the general audience as well as the festival’s VIP guests, is set up on the Jardin anglais square, near the Casino. This allows us to take better care of the grass areas all the while expanding our infrastructures. We thank the Office des parcs et promenades from the City of Neuchâtel for making this possible.
SOCIAL CONCERNS
In terms of social responsibility, the NIFFF pays particular attention to:
- Inclusivity and accessibility
- Safety
- Our volunteer’s amazing work
Key measures:
- In 2023, the NIFFF is partnering with Fondation Alfaset, which employs people with disabilities. They are the ones who drove the NIFFF 2023 upcycling projects, taking the festival’s old promotional tarps as a base. Wallets, laptop cases and hairbands can be purchased in the NIFFF store, at Théâtre du Passage.
- At the heart of our sustainability goals is the improvement of accessibility in terms of programming as well as physical access to venues.
On the latter, the challenge is that we use venues that do not belong to the festival. This year, we will offer better access to the OFFF pavilion for people with physical disabilities.
On the former, the NIFFF has collaborated with the Regards Neufs association, whose aim is to make films available to people suffering from sight or hearing loss. This year, two films from the programme will be available with audio description and subtitles from mobile phones.
Finally, the NIFFF.CH website now features a dedicated page for accessibility. The whole layout can be changed according to the user’s needs. - In 2022, the NIFFF made space for the GSN (Générations Sexualités Neuchâtel) and Addiction Neuchâtel associations at the OFFF.
- The NIFFF wants to highlight its volunteers’ hard work and thus provides them with certificates as evidence of their work during the festival.