Preface: For those sitting at home rocking out with their iPod, tweeting or otherwise and wondering why the should go to NIFFF (www.nifff.ch)… well, I have to say – NIFFF is one of the most prestigious and well run film festivals I’ve ever attended. How many film fests give you a back drop of the Swiss Alps in a charming lake town with not only the best and latest in genre cinema but an overall Las Vegas buffet style multiple offerings that cover a wide swath of great cinema past and present. It’s fantastic but its also rich as an overall experience that any film festival die hard should get out to at least once in their life. It’s that rare fest that puts a smile on your face as you recall it or an instant connection when you meet others that have attended it. Flip-tastic indeed as it makes you wanna do a flip in the air when it gets near (you can also review my tribute to this fest here).
Then lets talk about some of the films they have this year. Now they don’t have Mother which is an incredibly powerful and very dark Bong Joon-ho film, but they do have him programming several titles that inspired him. They also have in Ekko (Echo) which was hands down one of my favorite 3 films I saw in 2008. I’m so excited to see this film get some more festival play and convert some more fans along the way. They also have Antichrist which is a film that is full out serious about not being serious. It’s so absolutely apologetically demented and gorgeous you can’t help but sit back and enjoy it. While also being one of those rare films that will cause wild applause at the end and at the same time have people at various points in it running out in shock, disgust or rage at whatever just transpired on screen. If it was a haunted house put on by von Trier it would be called Women are Evil and if you glanced at people exiting they’d be in either be disgust demanding their money back or racing to get back in line to do it all over again bearing huge mischievous smiles.
Today the full program for the 9th Neuchatel Fantastic Film Festival held each year in the cozy lake town of Neuchatel, Switzerland has announced its full lineup for this year. Fest now in its 9th incarnation kicks off with a grand opening night screening of Moon by Duncan Jones and wraps up with a closing night screening of The Good, The Bad and The Weird by Ji-woon Kim. The lineup is both sprawling and diverse with 13 different tracks of programming. You get 7 titles in their tribute to Aoyama Shinji. There are 3 titles that Bong Joon-ho (Mother & The Host) himself hand picked as huge inspirations to him that will be screening in Kairo by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, The Thing by John Carpenter and The Housemaid by Kim Ki-young.
Other tracks include its International Competition (Antichrist, Barbe Bleue, The Children, Fish Story, and more), Open Air (outdoor screenings by the lake; 20th Century Boys, Crank 2 and more), New Cinema from Asia (Connected, The Handsome Suit, Cyborg She, Histeria and more). Retrospective on Hong Kong Category III titles in its track Category III: transgression made in Hong Kong (Ebola Syndrome, Electrical Girl and more), Cold Sweat: contemporary Scandinavian genre cinema (Just Another Love Story, Ekko, Sauna and more), William Castle a visionary illusionist Program (House on Haunted Hill, 13 Ghosts, and more), special screenings, Swiss Art Video, European Shorts and Swiss Shorts.
Full Lineup and Press Release Follow (after the link bump):
