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Fantastic cinema in all states!

From the 3rd to the 9th of July 2006, Neuchatel will turn into the capital of fantastic cinema. With four competitions, famous guests, a retrospective, an homage to the great George Romero, a symposium, public debates and an ephemeral location NIFFF will, for the 6th time, prove that fantastic cinema is far from being a one dimensional genre and that it comes in many different surprising forms ! For all those that are curious, informed movie lovers or fans of this cinematographic genre the rendezvous is from now on taken.

To get the summer started there’s nothing like a huge cocktail of intense feelings and chills! This is what is promised with the eclectic program of the 6th Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival. In fact, from the 3rd to the 9th of July, more than 40 films will compete in the International Competition, the Asian Competition, as well as the two Swiss and European contests for short films. Once again, the program offers a subtle balance between different genres that encompasses the fantastic such as: science-fiction with First On The Moon (the Russians : first to go to the moon ?) and Storm (intrigue, high speed chases and serious fireworks), comedy with Adam’s Apple (the redemption of a neo Nazi), Frostbite (a somber vampire story..), Yaji et Kita – The Midnight Pilgrims (the events of two gay samurais) and The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai (the wildest we’ve seen in a very long time « pinku »), horror with The Echo (the ghosts are back ), The Hills Have Eyes (remake of Wes Craven’s classic) and The Red Shoes (a fairy tale of evil shoes), fantasy with The Great Yokai War (a child with a head like an army of smart monsters), action with Chai Lai (a funny drama Thailand style), SPL Lang by Wilson Yip (action made in Hong Kong), Duelist (romance and martial arts ) and Vampire Cop Ricky (action and humor), dramatic comedy with The Innocent Seven (a suspicious summer camp), thriller with The Bothersome Man (a city so perfect no one can escape), Ils (a couple preying on weird invaders) and Loft (a writer plays host to a mummy), animation (used for many of the short films) and even opera with Johanna ( a modern Joan of Arc). And to open up the festival, Tideland, Terry Gilliam’s new movie will be projected in a sneak preview and for the closing of this 6th edition, it’s the Swiss Marc Foster who will be on the bill with Stay.

But the NIFFF would not be the same with out its famous honored guests and the other members of the jury ! This summer, they will be lead by the master of zombies, George A. Romero, who will officiate as the president of the international jury. A very special homage will be reserved for him with the projection of his famous trilogy: Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. By his side, Christopher Priest, a passionate English sci-fi writer, whose work The Prestige is in the process of being cinematographically adapted by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Insomnia, Memento) and even John Landis, American director-actor-producer, who in the course of his career exploded musical comedy (The Blues Brothers, 1980), shattered horror (An American Werewolf in London, 1981) and atomized music videos (Thriller). The quartet is completed with Michael Sauter, a young Swiss screen writer with surely the biggest current success of Helvetic cinema (Achtung fertig, Charlie !, Strähl, Meine Name ist Eugen, Grounding).


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Parallel to the competitions, the aficionados of super powers will be able to enjoy a retrospective and a conference dedicated to superheroes. Far from the Hollywood style productions, here is a world tour dedicated to discovering the most surprising and original characters: How Super Bunny Won The War (a series of short animated product propaganda films during both World Wars), Abar (the first afro-American Superman), Captain Marvel (the most loved superhero in the 1940’s ), Darna (Wonder Woman made in Manila), Deathless Devil (sex and adventure kebab-style), Judex (a masked avenger, precursor to Batman), Maciste all’Inferno (The heroes that brought Fellini to cinema), Rat Pfink And Boo Boo (imitation of Batman and Robin Hawaiian rock’n’roll style), Santo vs Las Mujeres Vampiro (the masked Mexican wrestler) and Super Inframan (a Hong-Kongian response to the Japanese characters).

For the first time in Switzerland and on the big screen, three episodes of the first season of Masters of Horror will be present : Deer Woman by John Landis, Homecoming by Joe Dante and Cigarette Burns by John Carpenter.

On the theme of man who has been augmented or modified, the NIFFF organizes Imaging The Future, a symposium supported by « la Promotion Economique du Canton de Neuchâtel », and destined to create a bridge between the festival, the domaine of digital imagery, art and science. This symposium will take place the 5th and 6th of July, in co-production with “La Maison d’Ailleurs” (MDA), « le musée de la science-fiction », « l’utopie et des voyages extraordinaires » and « Musée d’ethnographie de Neuchâtel » (MEN). The complete program at : www.imagingthefuture.ch

This symposium will not be the only occasion to think of the future. In fact, the future of Swiss cinema will also be approached in an afternoon of meetings that will take place Friday the 7th of July, at 15:30, under the festival tent. These meetings will reunite those that do and will do films in Switzerland (institutional like Nicolas Bideau, directors like Michael Steiner, special effects creator like Thomas Krempke from Swiss Effects…) around a question that is purposely naive : will fantastic cinema have a future in Swiss cinema?

The complete program, as well as all relative information about the festival and ticket : www.nifff.ch