Neuchatel 2023: Off to a Flying Start

The Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival kicked off this past Friday, and, so far, has sold more tickets than last year. It's not just numbers, though.

Indeed, more tickets sold means more people in theaters, at screenings, and attending live events, and as all festival-goers know, that means more buzz and excitement, which tends to grow during the remaining days of the festival, as friends tell friends about what they've seen and experienced, and then share that with strangers waiting in the inevitable lines and/or on social media.

As for me, I'm stuck here in Texas, U.S.A., dreaming about Switzerland and wishing I could be in attendance. If I was, here is what I could be doing, according to the official verbiage from the festival's press office:

"Today is the day leading figures such as Katsuhito Ishii (conference on July 3rd at 5:30 p.m.) or Richard Pickersgill (Pinocchio's Puppets, July 3rd at 3:45 p.m.), puppet maker for Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, will be talking publicly about their work in animation. The creators of the impressive White Plastic Sky, which is part of the International Competition, will round things out with their dark and poetic work.

"There will be a roundtable dedicated to our Female Trouble retrospective and to female character archetypes in genre cinema (on July 5th at 3 p.m.), bringing together Carlota Pereda, director of Piggy, Anna Bogutskaya, author, critic, and host of the The Final Girls podcast, and Mónica García Massagué, General Director of the Sitges Festival. The public conference from Charles Burns, illustrator, graphic novel author, and master of the weird, will be another highlight that will mix humour with horror (on July 5th at 5 p.m.). Finally, Josiane Balasko will open the doors to the imaginary world of her collection of short stories, JAMAIPLU, for a public talk followed by a book-signing session (on July 6th at 5 p.m.)."

And that's just today! We'll have something more about the films themselves as the week progresses. For now, see a bit more about the festival by visiting Andrew Mack's initial article, his second article on the programming, and then further exercise your imagination by visiting the official site.

(Picture attached: © Claire Zombas / NIFFF 2023 )