Against an intact lake by time, the Neuchâtel Intl. Fantastic Film Festival offers an annual snapshot of a gender landscape in movement. By holding its 24th edition from July 4 to 12, the Swiss showcase of fantastic film, Asian cinema and digital creation has evolved into a trailer, passing from the institution as an overseas rate and the authors seized ever greater opportunities.
“We have heard the assertion that” the genre has left its ghetto “for almost as long as we have been there,” said Nifff artistic director Pierre-Yves Walder. “Of course, it was never completely marginalized, but there were simply not as many high -level films openly embracing the fantastic. This changes, and we have to evolve with.”
This year’s program shows the same. Opening with the first international of the science fiction thriller “Dalloway” – with Star Cécile de France on site to launch the festivities – this Nifff selection boasts of a Wrion Cotelard and the Benodict of Cuberbat heavy goods vehicles like “Alpha” by Julia Ducournau, “Eddington” by Ari Aster and “Sirât” to Oliver Laxe, “Sirât”.
If these titles only make up a fraction of the 87 films selected and spread over five sections of feature films – the festival highlighting 40 other shorts, with several world worlds – the international competition from Neuchâtel nevertheless puts in many points of Vode the “mother’s baby” of Moder and the winner of the Ratchapoom Boonbunchacho ” Ghost ”.
“We have seen a clear change,” said Walder, who worked as a Nifff program before taking over in 2021. “When we traveled the markets for gender films, the main ranges of festivals are also abundant. ecosystem. “”
To find out, when Walder and his team came across the Australian horror film “Dangerous Animals” on the European cinema market earlier this year, they immediately perfected the thriller of Sharks and Serial as a perfect adjustment for the ultra movies price of their festival – a section devoted to a price of mid -night Gonzo which is negotiated the elegance of the author. To their surprise (and their pleasure), the bloody mashup then failed on the Croisette, adding blood and guts to the range of the fifteen of the directors of this year.
“ Shark attack with hot spring ”
The carnage continues in Neuchâtel, where the “dangerous animals” will compete against the Japanese horror comedy “Hot Spring Shark Attack” in a double-feature of Selache. Going up this rising tide, the two films have already ensured the American distribution, the first now on the release and the last one that relies on the screens in July.
But for Hound Helvetics and shark lovers, this kind of access has not always been guaranteed – a NIFFF Gap has long worked to close by defending gender films that could otherwise have trouble finding the domestic market.
“From the start, our mission was to link these films with the public they deserve,” explains Walder. “In Nifff, people can experience them in the best possible conditions – often their only real chance of doing so. Many films that have never found any commercial success have found their place here. ”
While like Cinema reaches unprecedented visibility levels, Walder and his team have doubled their conservation mission, going beyond the simple discovery to promote deeper and more durable connections with the public.
“We want people to have fun, but we also want to arouse curiosity and reflection,” explains Walder. “Fantastic cinema is not only a niche or a playground for initiates, and it is certainly not only the value of the shock.
‘Reflection in a dead diamond’
The festival applies the same philosophy to public commitment, strengthening its links with the local university – which has long provided a constant flow of achèdes and volunteers – while developing screening initiatives for children and the elderly.
“Cultural life does not stop at 50,” explains the chief of the Nifff.
With inclusiveness in mind, Neuchâtel has also introduced a new label called “chillsless chills” (“thrills without chills”), even offering the most delicate festival -goers Olivier Theyskens and the director John Hsu.
“The jury channels the same spirit as the selection,” explains Walder. “It is a question of exploring different facets of a shared imagination. Each filmmaker, each member of the jury, contributes to this world. We work in the field of fantastic, and to its best, the genre is a mosaic of fears, desires and dreams. Each part of this festival should reflect this.”
‘Alpha’
“Alpha” (Mandarin’s graciousness & company / Kallouche Cinema / Frakas Productions / France 3 Cinema)
