The Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival, hereafter referred to as Neuchatel 2026, is "the only Swiss festival dedicated to genre films," per their official description. "The event is mainly devoted to a specific film genre: fantasy. This main theme is complemented by two others: digital creation and Asian cinema."
Now that we've set the table, what is in store for today (Friday, 3 July)?
The Asian competition begins with a film that sets a very high bar: Yuen Woo-ping's truly awesome action-adventure Blades of the Guardians, which very much rewards the big-screen experience.
Our review by Rino Li began: "Yuen Woo-ping may not be the most prominent director of action films, but he is certainly one of the greatest martial arts directors when it comes to assembling a galaxy of martial arts talents within a spectacular scenario that evokes the mythic grandeur of contemporary epics like Dune."
The Swiss premiere of Emin Alper's Salvation is in the Third Kind selection. The official description reads as follows: "When two clans dispute the same land, old resentments resurface. In Anatolia, rising tensions push the protagonists into irrationality.
"Between dreamlike episodes and religious sermons, strong winds disrupt a fragile balance. From isolation to possession, how far can the downward spiral lead the region? Emin Alper draws inspiration here from a real-life incident that shook Turkey in 2009."
We've been hearing a lot about The Samurai and the Prisoner, and will feature a review closer to its U.S. release via Janus Films on July 31. It's also screening in the Third Kind section: "Two enemies - one a prisoner, the other a lord - investigate a series of murders in a castle. An adaptation celebrating samurai cinema in a philosophical whodunit."
Heading for a date at Fantasia later this month, ahead of its Shudder debut on July 31. Nightborn sounds quite inviting, unless you and/or your loved one is pregnant: "Saga moves with her husband to a forest in Finland and gives birth to a very strange baby. Are supernatural spirits in the woods to blame?"
Details here; we're be reviewing later this month.
Screening at Neuchatel under its original title, Gaua, the film was reviewed by our own Ard Vijn at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam earlier this year: "An example of European folk horror at its finest. ... The film respects the intelligence of its audience, is gorgeous, not too gory, horrifying or explicit... In fact, half an hour in I caught myself wishing I had brought my extended family with me. Then again... somewhat later a rather realistic depiction of a Witches' Sabbath happens and things get quite ehm... adult (so that would have been damn awkward)."
Receiving its Swiss premiere as part of the International Competition, Damian McCarthy's folk horror Hokum screened earlier this year at SXSW, where our own J Hurtado soaked it in: "Whatever it was that was missing from Oddity for me is here in spades with Hokum, a nonstop fright factory that immediately bumps McCarthy into the upper echelon of contemporary horror filmmakers alongside people like Ari Aster and Oz Perkins."
Special screenings will also be held for S.S. Rajamouli's astounding epic RRR -- FREE and in the OPEN AIR -- and Jordan Peele's sneakily scary Nope.
Of the latter, our reviewer J Hurtado wrote: "What Peele and his team have created here is a film that will reward repeat viewings, spark conversation, and brings smiles to fans of seeing big, loud, crazy shit on screen. As a viewer to whom all of that sounds appealing, I have to say that's a win; Nope may be Peele's least effective film, but that's nothing to sneeze at. I can't wait to see it again."
Brian DePalma's highly-recommended twisty thriller Sisters will also be screening. It's an early-career highlight for the director.
As one of eight official media partners, we are publishing daily guides to the program, with links to our reviews, where available. You can bookmark our Neuchatel 2026 page for all our updates this year. The festival will run from 3-11 July.