Neuchâtel 2024: All Awards Round-up

Last Saturday saw the closing ceremony of the 23rd edition of the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival, followed by the Swiss première of Longlegs. In the previous eight days, the festival had been a general place of bliss to visit. Rain? Watch a movie. Sweltering heat? Jump into the ridiculously clean and clear lake. Genre-film festivals tend to be fun, a place where like-minded people meet. But throw a beautiful location and a good organization (with impressively rich sponsors) into the mix, and you get... well, the 'fantastic' in the title is not just about the films. I felt blessed to be there, magnificently spoiled even. Swiss chocolate each day, Swiss absinthe each night!

But all good things come to an end, and at that end are awards. So what did win?

Of the feature films, the Norwegian zombie drama Handling the Undead went home with two big awards: the festival's Narcisse Award for Best Feature Film and the Silver Meliès for Best European Feature Film. It is a slow and deliberate look at the heartbreak and disruption which happens when recently deceased people crawl out of their graves and visit their loved ones. It's also based on a book by the writer of Let the Right One In, so expect a unique slant in its story. You can read Mel Valentin's review here.

Other awards by the same jury: Tilman Singer's super-fun monster mystery Cuckoo got an honorable mention, and you can read Kurt Halfyard's review here. A special design award went to Jane Schoenbrun's excellent feeling-uncomfortable-in-your-own-body drama I Saw the TV Glow, of which you can read Mel Valentin's review here.

Scandinavia was well-represented during the awards ceremony, as Ulaa Salim's environmental science fiction drama Eternal won the Youth award. An interesting choice as older jury members without fail found the movie not to their taste, but younger viewers connected to its message of urgency in rescuing whatever future is left. A review will follow soon.

The audience award went to the Irish jumpscare-funfest Oddity. This was helped no doubt by a fun screening where one member of the audience left for the toilet, returned to his seat during the darkest part of the film, and stumbled with a loud yelp making everyone jump three feet into the air. You can read J. Hurtado's review here.

The award from the Critic's Jury (of which I was a part) went to Shalini Ushadevi's smart science fiction drama Ennennum, in which a couple gets the opportunity to become immortal together. Why we considered it to be great you can read in my review here.

The festival also has a special Asian section with its own selection of films, and its own audience award. That went to Soi Cheang's entertaining and incredibly star-studded gangster film Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In. You can read James Marsh' review here.

The festival also shows short films and those can win awards too. The biggest short winner was Meat Puppet by Eros V, which won both the youth award and the audience award. The Silver Méliès for best European short went to Ali Cherri's excellent The Watchman (my personal favorite) and a special Narcisse for best Swiss short went to Kantarama Gahigiri's Terra Mater.

All I can say is a large "Thank You" to the City of Neuchâtel for hosting such a grand genre festival, and an even larger "Thank You" to the festival staff (or 'stafff' as they're known as) for allowing me to be a guest there. I hope I can visit it many more times in the future!