͏ ͏ ͏ 03.07 - 11.07.2026 ͏ ͏
NIFFF (Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival) launches its 25th edition with style. After an opening night that sold out completely, a string of sold-out screenings, and the presence of prestigious guests, the festival confirms the public's enthusiasm: packed theaters, a sold-out Open Air, and a full house at OFFF!
From the screening rooms to encounters with filmmakers, via the Open Air, the Villa La Petite Rochette, or the OFFF area, festivalgoers have fully embraced the festival's various venues. This turnout once again confirms the public's attachment to NIFFF and the excitement generated by this 25th edition.
The celebration is far from over. Among the highlights still to come is the cine-concert dedicated to the cult film DONNIE DARKO, presented in collaboration with 2300 Plan 9: Les Étranges Nuits du Cinéma.
Starting Monday, July 6, the interdisciplinary program NIFFF Extended will take over, bringing cinema into dialogue with science, literature, digital creation, and new technologies. Until July 11, screenings, encounters, and events will continue to explore every facet of genre cinema. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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FILMMAKERS MEET THE PUBLIC
One of NIFFF's great strengths remains the closeness it offers between works and their creators. Throughout the week, the public will be able to meet numerous filmmakers who have come to present their films.
Japanese director Eisuke Naitō will be present with two starkly contrasting works: BLOOD ON SNOW, in the International Competition, and HIGUMA!! THE KILLER BEAR, a genre-cinema onslaught featured in the Ultra section. The International Competition will also welcome South African filmmaker Niko Scheepers, presenting the magnificent and deeply chilling HEN, as well as Paolo Strippoli, one of the most exciting figures in the renewal of Italian fantastic cinema, with LA VALLE DEI SORRISI.
Audiences will also be able to discover or rediscover THE BIRTHDAY in the presence of its director Eugenio Mira, a member of the International Jury, as part of the Happy Birthday! retrospective. Action fans may leave with exclusive goodies at the screening of THE FURIOUS, promising to be a thrilling session. Finally, NIFFF will host the world premiere of LES ÂMES EN PEINE, in the presence of its director Quarxx, a NIFFF regular.
Artist KT Gorique will also be present for her Carte Blanche celebrating cinema's "bad girls" through three films: REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, and READY PLAYER ONE.
Switzerland will take center stage with the BEYOND HEIDI section, bringing together three genre works filmed in Switzerland that show how foreign filmmakers reinvent the Swiss landscape.
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REIMAGINED VENUES, A PUBLIC WHO SHOWED UP
This 25th edition is also an opportunity to rediscover several of the festival's iconic venues, reinvested and reimagined to offer new experiences to the public.
At the heart of Place des Halles, the Open Air confirms its status as a beloved gathering spot with a free program under the stars featuring MULHOLLAND DRIVE by David Lynch, SHREK, SHAOLIN SOCCER, GOAL OF THE DEAD, THE HUNGER, and FROM DUSK TILL DAWN.
At the Jardin Anglais, the OFFF Festival has already established itself as the go-to meeting point between screenings, blending freshness, conviviality, and discovery.
Overlooking the city, the Villa La Petite Rochette hosts art installations bringing architectural heritage into dialogue with distinctive creative worlds. The enthusiasm generated by these venues reflects the public's interest in bold and innovative programming.
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NIFFF EXTENDED: IMAGINING THE WORLD OF TOMORROW
A true idea lab, NIFFF Extended brings together talks, masterclasses, and panel discussions open to all. The Imaging the Future symposium opens Monday with a panel devoted to artificial intelligence.
A key figure in the visual adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's world, John Howe will reunite with Laurens Ehrmann, creative director of The Yard VFX, to reveal the worldbuilding secrets behind The Rings of Power. Laurens Ehrmann will also present a visual effects breakdown of Predator: Badlands, the latest installment in the celebrated franchise.
Animation will also be in the spotlight with John Coven, storyboard artist and head of the animated film department at Gobelins, and Ron Dyens, an Oscar-winning producer, who will together look back at the making of the film FLOW. Video game fans can celebrate forty years of Castlevania, a major dark fantasy franchise, at a talk devoted to its aesthetic and cultural legacy.
Finally, the literary forum New Worlds of Fantasy opens with a panel organized in collaboration with the Écotopiales festival, exploring the mythology of water, our imaginaries, and our responsibility toward ecological challenges. The day continues with an encounter devoted to Frederik Peeters, whose work is currently on display at the Maison d'Ailleurs.
The countdown now runs until Saturday, July 11, when NIFFF will reveal the winners of its 25th edition at the closing ceremony. To close this week of celebration in style, audiences will discover COLONY, the new event film by South Korean director Yeon Sang-ho, one last invitation to journey through the territories of the fantastic.
NIFFF is also partnering with the Laténium to bring archaeology and fantastic cinema into dialogue as part of a thematic focus, with screenings of TOMB RAIDER, TUMBBAD, and ANNIHILATION. A talk led by Mehdi Derfoufi — lecturer and researcher at Université Paris 8 and member of the Observatoire des Mondes Numériques en Sciences Humaines — and Géraldine Delley, deputy director of the Laténium, rounds out this thematic focus.
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During the festival’s opening ceremony, three Narcisse Viteos Special 25th Anniversary Awards were presented to the festival’s three special guests. The NIFFF extends its warmest thanks to Viteos for its support and congratulates the winners.
S.S. RAJAMOULI, awarded of a Narcisse Viteos Special 25th Anniversary Award for an epic and revolutionary work.
BERTRAND MANDICO, awarded of a Narcisse Viteos Special 25th Anniversary Award for an ever-evolving and unconventional work.
SAMANTHA SHANNON, awarded of a Special 25th Anniversary Narcisse Viteos Award for a visionary and masterful literary work.
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A PHOTO RECAP OF THE FIRST THREE DAYS OF CELEBRATIONS
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