We're at the halfway point in our coverage of the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival in Switzerland, which means we catch our collective breath and take a look around at all the gorgeous scenery that surrounds us.
By which I mean, since I am moored in hot hot Texas right now, and can only gaze upon the very cool films remotely -- through the kindness of Bastien Bento, Head of Press, and Léa Eigenmann, Press Coordinator -- allow me to tell you of the titles that I would love to see in the future, perhaps at a festive occasion closer to my home.
Gaze upon the gallery below, where you can click at your leisure and dream a little dream with me. Watch the included videos, as well. Let's begin with a film that one of our writers has already seen and written about.
Sissy
Screens tonight at 22:00 and again on Friday night at 22:00. Visit the official festival page to learn more.
Directed by Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes, this "influencer slasher" comedy comes from Australia. Our trustworthy editor J Hurtado saw the film at SXSW earlier this year and reported thusly in his review:
"The advent of social media magnified a problem that really always existed but was easy enough to avoid, perception versus reality. Sissy uses that dichotomy as a jumping off point for a more intimate investigation of the outward versus the inward self, and just how much we can change from our inherent natures. It’s a delicate balance, and one that someone like Cecelia has trouble finding. …
"Sissy is one of my favorite films of the Midnighters selection this year."
Nos Cérémonies
Screens this afternoon at 14:30 and again Friday evening. Visit the official festival page to learn more.
From France and 26-year-old director Simon Rieth comes a disquieting tale. Two brothers return to the coastal town they left a decade before to bury their father. Old memories, including "dark secrets," begin to rise. The festival description notes:
"This coming-of-age, a simultaneously invigorating and mortiferous experience, is a funny, sometimes upsetting, and often disturbing fraternal drama. Coarse realism mixes with dream-like fantasy, and the past merges with the present in this fascinating tale of life and death."
The film screened in competition during Cannes' Critics' Week recently. Here's an official clip that provides a taste.
Domingo and the Mist
Screens today at 17:00. No other screenings are listed. Visit the official festival page to learn more.
"Foreboding" is the word that came immediately to mind when I watched the video. Ariel Escalante directs the film, which hails from Costa Rica, a land that is rich in desirable beauty and other assets. The only description provided?
"In the heart of Costa Rica's tropical mountains, where mystical secrets and infinite beauty lurk, greedy builders covet the land of widower Domingo. Bewitching."
La Nuit de 12
Final screening today at 19:15. Visit the official festival page to learn more.
Dominik Moll directs a crime story. The festival provides a synopsis:
"On the night of the 12th, a young woman is burnt alive. The police’s investigation quickly takes on a symbolic dimension. Why have these men been burning women for generations? At a loss for answers, the detectives flounder and their mission turns into an obsession. La Nuit du 12 draws up a nuanced picture of lost souls. It plunges us into the twists and turns of criminal police work and proves once again how talented Dominik Moll is as a director."
The trailer suggests that many French people are very sad, unhappy lost souls.
Leonor Will Never Die
Screens today at Visit the official festival page to learn more.
We covered Filipino zombie drama Day Zero, so it sounds fair to write about another Filipino film, but one that is billed as an "escapist dream-fantasy." The festival synopsis gives a few more details:
"Leonor, a retired film director, lives a dreary life. Her husband left her, her favourite son is dead, and she struggles to pay her bills. To stave off boredom, she watches her own movies and chats with the ghost of her son.
"One day, she is hit by a television that was thrown out a window and drifts into an imaginary world. But things look familiar: It’s the world from one of her own scripts.
"With this film within the film, director Martika Ramirez Escobar asks questions about the role of the audience, our relationship to art, and delivers a striking love letter to cinema."
Love the premise! Where's the trailer?
Visit the official festival page to learn more about today's programming.