Neuchâtel 2024 Starts This Week

Tomorrow, the 23rd Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival starts, bringing nine days of horror, fantasy and science fiction films from all over the world to a beautiful Swiss location.

This year, the poster and trailer point to a general theme of a sudden switch, a plot twist which puts an audience on the wrong footing. The focus of its main retrospective programme, called "Eat the Rich" this year, is on the portrayal of elite classes in film. Titles shown here will be ranging from classics like Buñuel's The Exterminating Angel and Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell anime to cult films like Brian Yuzna's Society. A second retrospective, called "Forever Young", will focus on aging and will show films like Ron Howard's Cocoon. And adjacent to its genre content, the annual festival always reserves a part of its line-up for digital creativity and a special section for Asian cinema as well.

For contemporary films, the programme has fourteen films in competition, including Ti West's Maxxxine, Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow, Thea Hvistendahl's Handling the Undead and Tilman Singer's Cuckoo. Aside from the monetary awards, winners get the 'Narcisse', a trophy statue designed by the late great Swiss artist H. R. Giger. Outside of competition there are programme sections for genre-hopping films called 'Third Kind', extreme cinema called ' Ultra Movies', which will show titles like Krazy House and In a Violent Nature.

There are guests aplenty: many of the filmmakers whose films are being shown are at the festival. Special guests range from Asia Argento to special effects model builder Simon Weisse.

And I will be around too, representing ScreenAnarchy on the Critics' Jury this year! Yes, I will have to be in Neuchâtel for a week, see at least 14 films and share my thoughts for picking the winner. It's a tough job but somebody has to do it. ;-)
I was lucky enough to have visited the festival a few years ago and it is one of the most fun events you can attend. The films... the people... the absinth...

So if you're in the neighborhood, definitely check out the festival, and if you're not in the neighborhood... well, it's worth the travel!
You can visit the festival's website here, and browse their line-up here.