Neufchatel NIFFF achieves record attendance (17 000)

With 17,000 spectators, the 7th edition of the NIFFF achieves unprecedented success After six days and nights of intense cinematographic emotions shared by 17,000 spectators—4000 more than in 2006—the 7th Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival is about to award its eight prizes as it comes to a close tonight.

Presided by French director Lucile Hadzihalilovic and composed of Mo Hayder, Franziska Weisz, Douglas Buck and Jaume Balaguero, the International Jury has chosen to reward Roy Andersson for You, the Living (Sweden) with the H.R. Giger Award “Narcisse” for best movie. The International Jury also gave a special mention to Konstantin Lopushansky for The Ugly Swans (Russian Federation).

The Méliès Jury, made of Benedikt Eppenberger, Clemens Klopfenstein, Dominique Willemin and Gilles Tschudi, awarded the Méliès d’argent for the best full length European feature film to Konstantin Lopushansky for The Ugly Swans (Russian Federation). His film is automatically nominated for the Méliès d’Or, whose awards ceremony will take place at the Fantastik Film Festival in Lund, Finland, in September 2007.

As for the short film contest, Silence is Golden by Chris Shepherd (UK) is nominated for the Méliès d’or for the best short European film, and the Jury SSA/Suissimage—made of Chahnaz Sibaï, Zoltan Horvath and David Rihs—awarded the H.R. Giger Award “Narcisse” for the best Swiss short film to City Wasp by Stephan Wicki and Steven Tod.
In the Asian Competition, Don by Farhan Akthar (India) received the Mad Movies Award, while the TSR audience choice award went to Black Sheep by Jonathan King (New Zealand) and the Young people Award to La Antena by Esteban Sapir (Argentina). Introduced this year, the Titra Award goes to You, the Living by Roy Andersson (Sweden).
OPEN AIR: A POPULAR NEW VENUE
This year, the NIFFF also inaugurated an open-air theater downtown: with its privileged location by the lakeshore on the “Esplanade du Quai Ostervald”, this new venue proved both effective and popular despite a spell of unseasonal weather.
With its more than 80 Swiss premieres and eclectic programming, its retrospective dedicated to Korean genre cinema from the past 4 decades, and its 3D special program, the 2007 edition of the NIFFF is undoubtedly a huge success: the 17,000 spectators who attended the 94 screenings over 6 days are the living proof of this!
The conferences given by the guests of honour marked the successful culmination of the exchanges between the audience and the special guests: South-Korean directors Park Chan-wook and Ryoo Seung-wan presented their last movies, while American director and producer Mick Garris introduced four episodes of the Masters of Horror series.

See you next year from July 1 to 6, 2008 for the 8th edition!