NIFFF NEUCHÂTEL INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL 02 – 10 JULY 2021 FIA : SUPERMA DESIGN PRESSKIT DOSSIER DE PRESSE THE SWISS EVENT FOR FANTASTIC FILM, ASIAN CINEMA & DIGITAL CREATION SUMMARY NIFFF 2021 PROGRAMME 2021 2 INTERVIEW OF LOÏC VALCESCHINI, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AD INTERIM 4 PRIZE ET JURIES 6 NIFFF IN NUMBERS 8 PRESS OFFICE 9 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 10 CEREMONIES 17 NEW CINEMA FROM ASIA 18 FILMS OF THE THIRD KIND 20 ULTRA MOVIES 21 FORMOSA FANTASTICA 23 NIFFF 20th EDITION 26 CARTE BLANCHE TO A SWISS CELEBRITY : MARTIN VETTERLI 28 SWISS SHORTS (SSA/SUISSIMAGE COMPETITION) 29 INTERNATIONAL SHORTS 29 NEW SHORTS FROM ASIA 30 SPECIAL SCREENINGS 31 SAUVAGE EXTENDED 32 NIFFF EXTENDED MONDAY JULY 5 : IMAGING THE FUTURE 34 TUESDAY JULY 6 : IMAGING THE FUTURE 35 WEDNESDAY JULY 7 : STORYWORLDS 36 THURDAY JULY 8 : NEW WORLDS OF FANTASY 37 NIFFF INVASION 38 PRACTICAL INFORMATIONS 40 1 NIFFF NIFFF EXTENDED NIFFF INVASION INFOS PROGRAMME : Guest in situ : Guest online INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL - Chris Baugh, IE/UK, 2020, 88’ - Swiss Premiere CENSOR - Prano Bailey-Bond, UK, 2021, 84’ - Swiss Premiere CRYPTOZOO - Dash Shaw, US, 2021, 95’ - Swiss Premiere FLASHBACK - Christopher MacBride, CA, 2020, 97’ - Swiss Premiere GAIA - Jaco Bouwer, ZA, 2021, 98’ - Swiss Premiere IN THE EARTH - Ben Wheatley, UK, 2021, 107’, Swiss Premiere KING CAR - Renata Pinheiro, BR, 2021, 97’ - Swiss Premiere KNOCKING - Frida Kempff, SE, 2021, 78’ - Swiss Premiere LAPSIS - Noah Hutton, US, 2020, 108’ - Swiss Premiere MIDNIGHT IN A PERFECT WORLD - Dodo Dayao, PH, 2020, 91’ - International Premiere POST MORTEM - Péter Bergendy, HU, 2020, 115’ - Swiss Premiere SON - Ivan Kavanagh, IE/US/UK, 2020, 98’ - Swiss Premiere THE FEAST - Lee Haven Jones, UK, 2020, 92’ - European Premiere TIDES - Tim Fehlbaum, DE/CH, 2021, 104’ - International Premiere NEW CINEMA FROM ASIA BEAUTY WATER - Cho Kyung-hun, KR, 2020, 85’ - Swiss Premiere BEYOND THE INFINITE TWO MINUTES - Junta Yamaguchi, JP, 2021, 70’ - Swiss Premiere MY MISSING VALENTINE - Chen Yu-hsun, TW, 2020, 119’ - Swiss Premiere THE FABLE: THE KILLER WHO DOESN’T KILL - Kan Eguchi, JP, 2021, 123’ - European Premiere OK! MADAM - Lee Cheol-ha, KR, 2020, 100’ - Swiss Premiere SHOCK WAVE 2 - Herman Yau, HK/CN, 2020, 120’ - Swiss Premiere 2 NIFFF NIFFF EXTENDED NIFFF INVASION INFOS FILMS OF THE THIRD KIND A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX - Rodney Ascher, US, 2021, 110’ - Swiss Premiere TONKATSU DJ AGETARO - Ken Ninomiya, JP, 2020, 100’ - European Premiere WILD MEN - Thomas Daneskov, DK, 2021, 104’ - European Premiere MARYGOROUND - Daria Woszek, PL, 2020, 78’ - Swiss Premiere ULTRA MOVIES COMING HOME IN THE DARK - James Ashcroft, NZ, 2021, 93’ - Swiss Premiere FRANK & ZED - Jesse Blanchard, US, 2020, 90’ - European Premiere MÉANDRE - Mathieu Turi, FR, 2020, 90’ - Swiss Premiere THE SPINE OF NIGHT - Morgan Galen King & Philip Gelatt, US, 2021, 93’ - Swiss Premiere VICIOUS FUN - Cody Calahan, CA, 2020, 96’ - Swiss Premiere WEREWOLVES WITHIN - Josh Ruben, US, 2021, 97’ - Swiss Premiere FORMOSA FANTASTICA AS WE LIKE IT - Chen Hung-I & Muni Wei, TW, 2021, 107’- Swiss Premiere GET THE HELL OUT - Wang I-fan, TW, 2020, 95’ - Swiss Premiere MY MISSING VALENTINE - Chen Yu-hsun, TW, 2020, 119’ - Swiss Premiere THE MAGICIAN ON THE SKYWALK - Gilles Yang, TW, 2021, 95’ - European Premiere THE SCOUNDRELS - Hung Tzu-hsuan, TW, 2018, 105’ - Swiss Premiere THE TAG-ALONG - Cheng Wei-hao , TW, 2015, 91’ - Swiss Premiere SAUVAGE EXTENDED ANIMALIA SUM - Bianca Kennedy & The Swan Collective, DE/BR/IS, 2019, 9’ - Swiss Premiere HOMINIDAE - Brian Andrews, US, 2020, 6’ - Swiss Premiere ANOTHER SHORE - Théo Fischer, Pablo Perez & Hector Fassa, CH, 2021, 15’ - World Premiere BATVISION - Raffaele Grosjean, Eliane Zihlmann & Oliver Sahli, CH, 2020, 3’ - World Premiere AN ODE TO MOSS - SU, TW, 2020, 6’ - Swiss Premiere A SONG WITHIN US - Fangas Nayaw, TW/FR, 2019, 15’ - Swiss Premiere GREAT HOAX: THE MOON LANDING - John Hsu & Marco Lococo, TW/AR, 2020, 17’ - Swiss Premiere SAMSARA EP. 1 - Huang Hsin-chien, TW, 2021, 17’ - European Premiere 3 NIFFF NIFFF EXTENDED NIFFF INVASION INFOS INTERVIEW OF LOÏC VALCESCHINI ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AD INTERIM THE NIFFF IS CELEBRATING ITS 20TH EDITION THIS YEAR, AFTER ONE POSTPONEMENT AND A YEAR AND A HALF LONG PANDEMIC. HOW DOES ONE GO ABOUT ORGANISING THE EVENT IN SUCH TROUBLED TIMES? With a great deal of resilience! We had already partially gone through that in 2020 with the special edition but organising a festival during a pandemic is a complex and frustrating endeavour. That is why I am infinitely grateful to my team members for their flexibility and understanding when confronted with the many uncertainties that have made these preparations difficult. Since we definitely had no control over the situation or its evolution, we had to contend with a constant lack of visibility and a complete absence of concrete answers. It forced us to continuously rethink our approach, our format, and our projects. We had to come up with a variety of scenarios and budgets and adapt at all times to current and potential future measures. In late May, we decided on a format that would be able to adapt easily to restrictions all the while offering a diverse and quality programme. We have been working in a state of urgency for weeks. For example, we only learnt very recently that we would be authorized to have an outdoor socializing area at the Jardin anglais, which had to be redesigned in record time to comply with health measures. We have no other choice but to change things around every time a new rule comes into effect, and we must continue to do so until the last day of the festival. WHEN THE PANDEMIC STARTED, THERE WERE STORIES OF FILM PRODUCTIONS SHUTTING DOWN AND FESTIVALS HAVING A HARD TIME FILLING UP THEIR SLATE. HAVE THESE ISSUES HAD AN IMPACT ON YOU? The pandemic had a massive impact on all industries. Fortunately, it has never actually become a challenge finding new films to show for us. Of course, there were slow-downs and delays in some regions or countries, depending on the local contamination rates and the variants, but the industry has more or less kept going. The programme of all festivals was impacted in 2020, but some events were able to happen physically, and most have maintained an online presence. In Venice, Tallinn, Busan, Sundance, or Berlin, films were still able to leverage the power of the festival circuit. As far as distribution goes, the reality ended up being the opposite of what we thought would happen: despite the boost to streaming platforms and their growing catalogues, too many films piled up in limbo, waiting for cinemas to reopen. This had an impact on release dates and thus on the films’ availability. The industry adapted, and some paradigms have disappeared: in the United States and South Korea, simultaneous (or closely scheduled) physical and online blockbuster releases have taken place. THE NIFFF HAS DECIDED TO KEEP OFFERING DIGITAL SCREENINGS AND HAS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP THE HYBRIDITY OF SOME LABELS, SUCH AS NIFFF EXTENDED. HOW DOES THIS WORK AND WHAT ARE THE GOALS? The hybridity of our 20th edition complies with health measures while building on the lessons learnt last year. Livestreaming of NIFFF conferences started a few years ago. Then, the 2020 special edition 4 NIFFF NIFFF EXTENDED NIFFF INVASION INFOS went entirely digital. The NIFFF set up a VOD platform and launched the ambitious NIFFF TV, which amounted to 9 hours of television programming. We were able to make good use of this enriching experience to offer a strong digital selection for our 20th edition. This way, festival-goers can enjoy some of our films regardless of the situation. This increases inclusivity by allowing people who cannot travel to Neuchâtel to discover some of the programme. Finally, as NIFFF Extended conferences will not be geo-blocked, they can be seen by a wider, more international audience, which is in line with the objectives of this label geared toward industry professionals. THE 2021 SELECTION INCLUDES MANY FIRST OR SECOND FEATURES. IS THE FANTASTIC GENRE PARTICULARLY INSPIRING FOR NEW FILMMAKERS? We did notice an incredible number of young filmmakers making genre cinema their own. Two thirds of the International Competition are first or second features. It’s great seeing so much enthusiasm and reminds us how much of an inspiration fantasy can be for emerging directors. It’s the ideal tool to express one’s vision and reimagine the world. The fantastic genre can take any form, can be moulded according to one’s wishes. It can offer rich images, and thus has the potential to inspire widely. See for instance how students at the Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD) participated in a workshop driven by Basil Da Cunha to think about the genre and make films within it. For a school more accustomed to studying naturalistic cinema, the initiative shows the immense possibilities offered by fantasy, as demonstrated by the BETWEEN FANTASY AND THE REAL selection. ASIA IS A BIG PART OF THIS YEAR’S EDITION WITH THE NEW CINEMA FROM ASIA COMPETITION, AS WELL AS THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY FORMOSA FANTASTICA PROGRAMME. ARE FANTASTIC FILMS FROM ASIAN COUNTRIES PARTICULARLY CREATIVE NOWADAYS? Asian films have always been a big part of the festival, since its first edition actually. Japanese cyberpunk director Shinya Tsukamoto was one of our guests of honour in 2000. Asian cinema is dynamic and descends from unique traditions, but it suffers from a massive lack of visibility, and we hope to rectify that at least in part. This is why we chose to give the spotlight to Taiwanese productions though our special FORMOSA FANTASTICA programme this year. In Taiwan, as well as other Southeast Asian countries, romantic comedies tend to dominate the market, so it is very heart-warming to see that fantasy has managed to find its place in Taiwan’s industry in the last few years.