Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival
Switzerland's only film festival to celebrate genre films, Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) has a broad programme of films that take you away from the real world in some way.
Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF)
NIFFF is, possibly surprisingly, not a festival of only fantasy films. Rather, the concept of "fantastic" applies to any film that "transgresses ordinary reality". This means the programme is packed with incredible films from the world of science-fiction, horror, thrillers and more, including, of course, some fantasy.
The films also range from massive American blockbusters to niche French classics to eclectic Asian entries. The festival has several core strands to it this year:
Eat the Rich
This segment takes a look at class and societal divisions throughout film history and aims to highlight systemic oppression and the social dynamics that can bring about. Featured films here include the social-satirical Society (1989), zombie-horror Land of the Dead (2005) and dystopian sci-fi Snowpiercer (2013).
Forever Young
Here the festival deep-dives into what it is to grow old, and asks whether it is a terrifying horror to confront or if society is subconsciously ageist. The highlight of this section is the 1962 classic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, a claustrophobic thriller that plays its two ageing stars, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, off against each other to sinister and terrifying effect.
Invasion
Invasion is a staple of the festival, and is the part where the film comes to you! Including a youth programme and several street-art, circus and acrobatic performances, the main feature is the free open-air cinema that is set up on Place des Halles. The seating area is covered, so there's no need to worry about the changeable Swiss summer weather.
This year, they are showing five restored classics, including the very first Godzilla film from 1954, Hitchcock's Rope (1948) and The Matrix (1999), which is celebrating its 25th birthday this year!
Image credit: © Collection Cinémathèque / Snowpiercer
Extended
The sibling segment to Invasion, every year this brings world-famous guests to Switzerland for a series of conferences and talks on different aspects of film-making. This year features a look at the outstanding effects from the TV hit The Last of Us with their head of VFX, Espen Nordahl, and a talk with model-maker for Wes Anderson, Simon Weisse, exploring the marriage of practical and computer effects in film-making.
Guest of Honour
The Guest of Honour this year is Italian actor, director and script-writer Asia Argento. She has been given free rein to select four fantastic films that have inspired and influenced her. Among her selections are Vampyr (1932) and the film that people claim ended the career of feted director Michael Powell, Peeping Tom (1960).
Where is NIFFF taking place?
With so many events, films and talks, NIFFF usually ends up taking over about 10 different locations in Neuchâtel. The core locations are:
- Théâtre du Passage, Pass. Maximilien-de-Meuron 4, 2000
- Cinéma Arcades, Fbg de l'Hôpital 5, 2000
- Cinéma Studio, Fbg du Lac 7, 2000
- La Petite Rochette, Av. de la Gare 47, 2000
- Place des Halles, 2000
- Jardin Anglais, 2000
All of the locations are central and easy to reach on foot or by public transport.
Find out more about NIFFF
The full programme will be online from June 20 on the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival website. Individual tickets are also on sale there from June 20, while four- and 10-film passes can be bought at any time. These passes can be used individually or for groups, so you can go to four films by yourself, or decide to take three friends along with you to one film. With so many great films to choose from, these passes are a great deal!
As a final note, all the films are screened in the original language, and have English and / or French subtitles. The programme will make it clear for each film.
Thumb image credit: © Collection Cinémathèque / Swissmade