#press #kit #medias #information www.fiff.ch #fiff17 Summary A sneak peak of the FIFF Did you know? 36 The FIFF in a nutshell 3 Cultural mediation 38 Interview with Thierry Jobin 4 Planète Cinéma 39 #spirit The sections of the FIFF 7 #revelation FIFForum 40 #altitude #emotion Programme Masterclasses 41 Official Selection 8 Encounters 41 > International Competition 9 Round tables 42 ‒ Feature FIlms Think Tank 42 ‒ Short FIlms > Opening and Closing Films 15 Juries and Awards 43 Exhibitions 48 Parallel Sections 16 Practical information > Genre Cinema 17 Ghost stories for Journalists 51 > Decryption 20 for Festival goers 52 A cinematic cabinet of curiosities > Diaspora 23 Myret Zaki and Egypt List of Films 54 > Hommage à… 24 Guest list 56 Freddy Buache > New Territory 25 Agenda 58 Nepal > Sur la carte de 29 Douglas Kennedy Special Screenings 30 > FIFFamily around the world 31 > Films of the International Jury 32 > Passeport suisse 33 > Midnight Screenings 35 Festival International de Films de Fribourg CH-1701 Fribourg [email protected] 2 Esplanade de l’Ancienne-Gare 3 | CP 550 T +41 (0)26 347 42 09 www.fiff.ch The FIFF in «The FIFF wants to keep things as immediate a nutshell as possible between the films, the filmmakers and the public.» A sneak peakpeak of of the the FIFF FIFF The Fribourg International Film The FIFF is a talent incubator that For the 31st Festival, as well as Festival (FIFF) is one of the most has screened films from film- the international short and fea- important festivals in Switzerland. makers who have gone on to be ture film competitions, the FIFF Programme Over the last 30 years, the Festival celebrated at prestigious festivals invites you to explore the role has become a national bench- such as Cannes, Berlin and, most of ghosts in films around the > Official Selection mark for diversity. Its programme recently, Venice. There, Filipino world, a carte blanche for the offers everything from auteur films Lav Diaz won the Golden Lion writer Douglas Kennedy, films > Parallel Sections to popular cinema and draws a in 2016 after being awarded at from Nepal, a selection of films bigger crowd every year. In 2016, Fribourg 10 years earlier. from Egypt chosen by Myret Zaki > Special Screenings the FIFF achieved 43,000 entries. for Diaspora, a Decryption sec- It enjoys an excellent reputation Numerous renowned guests have tion entitled A Cinematic Cabinet within the international scene. visited the Festival these last few of Curiosities, and a homage to Did you know? years: the Dardenne brothers, Eric Freddy Buache, the iconic founder Founded in 1980 by Magda Bossy Cantona, Charles Aznavour, Marthe of the Cinémathèque Suisse. and Yvan Stern, with encourage- Keller and Geraldine Chaplin. Welcome to the FIFF! Cultural mediation ment from Freddy Buache, the The FIFF wants to keep things as Festival was initially unabashedly immediate as possible between called the Third World Festival. the films, the filmmakers and the FIFForum In recognition of its growing size public. A warm, informal atmo- and to distance itself from what sphere and a return to the raw some filmmakers deemed rather material (the films) have attracted Juries and Awards problematic connotations, the numerous high profile guests who event was renamed Fribourg Film appreciate being able to meet up Festival in 1990 with ‘International’ and share an experience in an Exhibitions being added in 1998. Martial uncomplicated setting. Knaebel, who was the event’s first Artistic Director, was succeeded The FIFF puts particular emphasis Practical information by Edouard Waintrop in 2008. on cultural outreach. Over the last 20 years, FIFF’s school programme Today with Thierry Jobin, Planète Cinéma has become the Films and Guests Artistic Director since 2012, biggest in Switzerland, with over François Nordmann, Chairman 11,000 students aged 4 to 25 in of the Association, and 2016. The FIFForum, which offers Agenda Giovanna Garghentini Python, masterclasses, conferences and Administrative Director, the origi- Think Tanks, is an important event nal mission of the Festival remains for Swiss film professionals, FIFF’s at the heart of the endeavour, international guests and the fes- namely to discover, select and tival audiences. screen high quality work from around the world that is not usually distributed via the usual channels. The exceptional selec- tion of cinematic gems helps the public encounter cultural diversity and social realities, as well as giving them a chance to marvel at big unknown productions in Swiss cinemas. The Festival is characterised by a spirit of unlim- ited openness towards the world. A sneak peak of the FIFF 3 Interview with Thierry Jobin, Artistic Director of the FIFF A sneak peakpeak of of the the FIFF FIFF Comment est née cette relation film with their phone. It’s almost As well as Decryption, there are become easier to make a film two sections that are particu- than to write. The camera-pen larly resonant: those curated by Programme that Alexandre Astruc spoke of in Douglas Kennedy and Freddy the late 1940s now really exists. Buache, who are each presenting > Official Selection us with film classics from their After the themes of women and home continents of America and > Parallel Sections humour, this year the FIFF is tack- Europe. What will these films ling cinematic curiosities. Where bring to the FIFF’s world view? > Special Screenings did your desire to step behind the camera come from? As I mentioned before, for some sections I let myself be led by Did you know? There’s never a conscious plan what worldwide production has when I come up with a section. to offer. Then there are cartes In fact, I had originally planned blanches like Hommage à…, Cultural mediation How did the Fribourg-Nepal con- on something else, as is often Sur la carte de... and Diaspora nection for the New Territory the way. In the end though, it’s which have become FIFF’s calling selection originate? global production that dictates cards. These cartes blanches FIFForum what I should do. I went to Cannes help put the history of cinema The New Territory section is in May with an idea in mind, but into context, particularly the sec- always sparked off by several after speaking to over 90 interna- tions prepared by Buache and Juries and Awards things. It takes years to see tional vendors and going through Kennedy. It has always seemed a new film industry emerge. their entire catalogues, I realised a little pointless to me to only Suddenly you see a single film, there were a lot of films talking show films from Asia, Africa and Exhibitions then two, then three entering about cinema in all its forms. So, Latin America if there isn’t also big festivals. It’s not every day from the very act of creating, with something strong to contrast that a film industry like Nepal’s for example the last film from them with what is being done in Practical information manages to get a film into Berlin the late Abbas Kiarostami and a the West. Freddy went back to his and then two into Venice. That is documentary made by his assis- roots as a cinephile to propose what happened with Highway by tant, who was the only person five absolute masterpieces. He Films and Guests Deepak Rauniyar and The Black allowed to film the artist at work, suggested them over the phone Hen by Min Bahadur Bham, which to the enjoyment of film, with for with complete spontaneity. He was in competition here in 2015. example Gentleman Rissient, the had perhaps prepared his choices Agenda He had already caused quite wonderful short from Pauline in advance, but he really knew a buzz when he came to pres- Jeanbourquin on La Séance de what he wanted. He focused on ent one of his short films at the 15h at the Cinémathèque Suisse Europe with a historical slant. FIFF. Meanwhile, Locarno has or the story of a young cinephile, It starts off with L’Atalante and been interested in Nepal since in which I of course saw myself, M and ends with John Huston’s its Open Doors programme last Moi, Thomas, 12 ans, Cinéfou last film The Dead, which I’m August. These were all triggers for by Mamad Haghighat. Then in delighted to be able to screen at me to meet with some Nepalese between there’s archiving and the FIFF because it would also fit producers and filmmakers. The the absolute turning point that very well into the section Genre film industry in Nepal grew from is the disappearance of celluloid. Cinema: Ghost stories. The 2017 when a lot of filmmakers work- This year’s programme really FIFF is full of these interconnec- ing there today were involved in underlines the extent to which tions between sections. the production of foreign films, digital is taking over. Even cinema such as documentaries for the archives that still have cellu- BBC, the Discovery Channel and loid films do not bring them out National Geographic, and films willingly, and if they do, only on about Mount Everest. By helping expensive conditions. the production teams, a bit like Sherpas, they got the chance to familiarise themselves with the equipment. Little by little, they developed their own films. I should add that these emerg- ing film industries are due to how accessible filmmaking is these days. Anyone can make a A sneak peak of the FIFF 4 “I’ve always felt that struggle and hard- ship help strengthen art.“ A sneak peakpeak of of the the FIFF FIFF And what about Douglas Kennedy This isn’t the first time that FIFF What kind of specimens have you and the US? has combined economy and cul- caught in your ghost catcher? ture (the Decryption section on And what can we take from these Programme Douglas Kennedy’s carte blanche the economic crisis in 2014).