FIFF news

FIFF 2014

The 28th Edition of Fribourg International Film Festival will take place from March 29 to April 5, 2014.

FIFF in Swiss cinemas

Coming soon: Three films of the 27th festival edition will be screened in Swiss cinemas.

 

 

 

FIFF in Geneva

Tonight, the FIFF will be in Geneva. Thierry Jobin presents two films of the 27th Festival edition at Cinémas du Grütli:

19:15 | Final Cut - Ladies and Gentlemen (Hungary, 2012, 84') by György Palfi, at FIFF 2013  in the section "Out of Competition"
21:00 | Kalpana (India, 1948, 164') by Uday Shankar, at FIFF 2013 in the Parallel Section "Hommage à World Cinema Foundation"

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Delay Screening Time Audience Award

The screening of Wadjda - Audience Award 2013 - by Haifaa Al-Mansour will take place today at 4.15 pm at Rex 1.

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Award Winners 2013

At 17:00 tonight, this year’s International Competition prizes were awarded at  Fribourg International Film Festival. The documentary film Three Sisters from the Chinese director Wang Bing won the “Regard d’or”, which is endowed with 30,000 CHF, as well as three additional prizes. The highly endowed prizes Talent Tape Award and the Special Jury Prize went to It's a Dream by Iranian filmmaker Mahmoud Ghaffari and Los Salvajes by Argentinian filmmaker Alejandro Fadel respectively. The audience have also voted for their favourite: Wadjda from Saudi director Haifaa Al-Mansour received the Audience Award. In total, prize money valued at around 65,000CHF was awarded. With more than 36,000 audience members, FIFF 2013 broke a record for the number of attendees, outdoing the record-holding anniversary year in 2011 by far.

The 153-minute documentary film Three Sisters (France, Hong Kong 2012) from Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing is a sensitive and moving portrait of people who commonly remain invisible. Wang Bing captures the daily life of a family in a small mountain village in the centre of China. Through haunting images, he shows poverty, misery, and the challenges that even children must face. The international jury describes Wang Bing’s work as absolutely singular and awards the big prize with great respect and admiration: “The ultimate goal of any art form is to awaken the viewer or its audience in some way. The most miraculous thing about this film is the way in which it avoids prescribing and articulating sentiments and messages for the viewer but awakens an individual awareness within each viewer. This is the highest goal of any artwork and the highest accomplishment.”

Wang Bing was present at Fribourg and personally accepted a total of four prizes – including the Regard d’or, which is endowed with 30,000CHF. At the same time, he also received the Don Quijote Award from the International Federation of Film Societies (FICC/IFFS), the E-Changer Award from the Youth Jury as well as the Ecumenical Jury Award.

The Special Jury Prize with 10,000CHF was awarded to the debut feature Los Salvajes (Argentina, Netherlands 2012) by the Argentinian director Alejandro Fadel. The film employs an unusually creative, cinematic vocabulary to narrate an impressionistic fable that traverses the borders of humanity to visit places where love no longer exists.

The Talent Tape Award valued at 9,000CHF was given to the producers of It's a Dream (Iran 2012), directed by the Iranian filmmaker Mahmoud Ghaffari. With an accomplished mise-en-scène, the film takes us through a country whose culture is generally closed to us.

The Audience Award, valued at 5,000CHF, was given to Wadjda (Saudi Arabia, Germany 2012) by Haifaa Al-Mansour, the first female director to film in Saudi Arabia. Wadjda will be debuting in Romandie cinemas on April 3^rd, 2013 and in German-speaking Switzerland on April 11^th, 2013.

The FIPRESCI Jury (International Federation of the Cinematic Press) selected the 270-minute thriller Penance (Japan 2012) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

The film Watchtower (Turkey 2012) by Pelin Esmer received two laudatory mentions from the Ecumenical Jury as well as the FICC Jury (International Federation of Film Societies).

Following the award ceremony on Saturday, March 23^rd 2013, the Swiss premiere of Wong Kar-wai’s newest masterwork The Grandmaster (Hong Kong, China, France 2013) will be screened. 

An audience record at FIFF 2013

The 27^th Fribourg International Film Festival set a new audience record with more than 36,000 attendees. This year’s crowd exceeds even the best numbers from the anniversary year 2011. All parts of the programme – international competition, short film programme, as well as the parallel sections – were well attended. At the same time, more than 40 international guests honoured the festival with their visit. They once again treasured the great atmosphere of the festival centre in Ancienne Gare; even international giants like Charles Aznavour and Eric Cantona felt themselves in good hands.

With an audience of more than 10,000 students, the school presentations in Fribourg, Bull and Payerne have never been so well attended.

The 28th edition of the Fribourg International Film Festival takes place from March 29 to April 4, 2014.

The palmarès of the 27th edition
Reprise of the awarded films

 

Rencontre with the International Jury

 

Júlia Murat, the director of Histórias Que Só Existem Quando Lembradas, winner of four awards at FIFF 2012, will meet the audience alongside with her co-members of the International Jury (Kamara Kamalova, Braden King, Júlia Murat, Carlos Sorin). What impressed them most during a one wek stay in Fribourg and after viewing twelve films form the International Competition?

 

14:00 Histórias Que Só Existem Quando Lembradas
15:35 Rencontre with the International Jury
Cap'Ciné 6
Free entry

 

Closing ceremony

The last competition screening is taking place this afternoon, the International Jury will award the Regard d'or of the 27th edition in the early evening! A special screening of The Grandmaster (Hong Kong, China, France 2013) by Wong Kar-wai will accompany the award ceremony as Closing Film.

This year’s competition comprises 12 Films from Asia, Latin America and Europe, which include 3 contributions from women: Wadjda by Haifa Al-Mansour, the debut feature film of the Saudi director, tells the story of an 11-year old girl’s dream to ride a bike; Fill the Void by Rama Burshtein, the first film by a woman from the Hasidic community and Watchtower by Pelin Esmer, an insightful film about two people who try to forget their pasts. Also impressive is Three Sisters by Wang Bing, the only documentary film in this year’s competition, which presents a moving portrait of three abandoned children in rural China.

Korean cinema, currently experiencing far-reaching success, was also represented by Sleepless Night by Jang Kun-jae and Your Time is Up by Kim Sung-hyun in this year’s International Competition. These two works reflect new independent filmmaking in Korea. Other films take on social issues such as gender and societal discrimination, such as in It's a Dream by Mahmoud Ghaffari. For the love story In the Name of Love, director Luu Huynh skilfully mixes elements of Greek comedy with the thriller aesthetic, and in the Argentinian/Netherlands co-production Los Salvajes by Alejandor Fadel five violent youth manage to escape a youth centre.

Also the thriller genre is represented with the 270-minute series Penance by Kiyoshi Kurosawa about a child murder. In the Filipino comedy Bawkaw by Jun Robles Lana, the famous Filipino actor Eddie Garcia plays the 70-year old Rene who has just come out as homosexual, yet doesn’t actually expect anything more from life – until his dog gets sick. In addition, Adrián Saba paints a picture of a cantankerous loner and forensic crime scene cleaner, who encounters an orphaned boy while at work, leading him to open himself up for the first time in his life in El Limpiador.

Tonight at 17:00, the secret of the 2013 Regard d’Or will be out!

Focus day: Genre Cinema

This Friday is dedicated to the Parallel Section Genre Cinema: Escape to Victory!. The day is launched with the FIFF-Forum 2013: Laurent Guido, associate professor at the "Section d’histoire et esthétique du cinéma" at the University of Lausanne, will give a lecture at the conference The sports film, an “ideological” genre?. He will talk about the athletic body in its cinematic context. The conference will be held after the screening of As One: 14:20 | Rex 3.

At noon, the historic football film Heleno will be shown in lunch cinema. Afterwards, the programme continues with One More, a true story about an ice hockey team in Ladakh and the American
baseball film Moneyball. The evening programme includes 9.79*, a documentary film about one of the most hotly discussed sport incidents of the 20^th century: a captivating portrait about the doping scandal around Ben Johnson’s world record at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul. The evening continues with Escape to Victory, a spectacular film with real football stars from the 1960s and 1970s, and closes with the midnight screening of The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus, a documentary film about the football results that Paul, an octopus, forecast.

To the programme
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Les rebelles du foot at Fribourg

As part of its parallel section Genre Cinema: Escape to Victory!, Eric Cantona will be attending the festival to present several documentary features, which he conceived and produced: Les Rebelles du Foot (France 2012), a tribute to football stars fighting for justice and freedom in their countries. Another of his projects, Looking For... (France 2012) is a documentary series for which Eric Cantona visited cities and their football clubs in order to study team rivalries. Two episodes will be shown at FIFF, Looking for Istanbul and Looking for Buenos Aires.

After the screening of Les Rebelles du Foot (Frankreich 2012), Eric Cantona will answer the public's questions in a Q&A session. He will also participate in the parallel section’s panel discussion on sport films at 17:45 at Cap’Ciné 5. He will be accompagnied by Gilles Perez and Gilles Rof (Co-producers of Les Rebelles du Foot).

Programme
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Bonjour Charles Aznavour!

This Thursday is dedicated to Armenia: The Canadian-Armenian director Atom Egoyan presents in the parallel section Diaspora: Atom Egoyan and Armenia films he and his native Armenian community enjoy watching to remember where they came from and connect with their origins. The audience will rediscover amongst others the stunning Russian masterpiece Sayat Nova from 1969 as well as Calendar and Ararat by Atom Egoyan with Charles Aznaovur in the role of an ageing author and film producer. Charles Aznavour himself will introduce the film and will take part after the screening in a debate on Armenian Cinema.

Programme
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The Films of the International Competition

After the screening of the following films, a Q&A in presence of the filmmakers will be held:

Wadjda by Haifa Al-Mansour (Saudi Arabia, Germany 2012), 12:30 | Rex 1
Los Salvajes by Alejandro Fadel (Argentina, The Netherlands 2012), 12:30 | Cap'Ciné 1
Bwakaw by Jun Robles Lana (Philippines 2012), 21:00 | Rex 1

Programme

 

FIFF Parties

Let's Celebrate!

FIFF-Night at Spirale
DJ Rumba Stereo
21.03. | 21:00 | La Spirale

FIFF-Soirée at Ancienne Gare
Le Fameux Blaise
22.03. | 23:00 | Ancienne Gare

Closing Party
The Good, The Bad and no Ugly feat. Sporting Guests
23.03. | 23:00 | Ancienne Gare 

Free entry
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Masterclass Im Sang-soo

Today, Anaïs Emery, artistic director of Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF), meets South Korean filmmaker Im Sang-soo for a Masterclass within the parallel section Carte Blanche offered to a Swiss Festival. A discussion about Im Sang-soo’s professional achievements, major influences and bonds between cinema and South Korean society will be held. The Masterclass will take place after the screening of The Housemaid (South Korea 2012) by Im Sang-soo.

Im Sang-soo will present as well at the today's screening of The Taste of Money (South Korea, 2012). 19:30 | Cap'Ciné 5

Further Information
FIFF-Forum 2013
Film programme

 

A Pioneer from Saudi Arabia in the International Competition

This year, several films are screened in the International Competition that have been directed by female directors who are pioneers in their countries: Wadjda (Saudi Arabia 2012) by Haifa Al-Mansour, the first film ever directed by a woman in Saudi Arabia or Watchtower by Pelin Esmer (Turkey 2012).

Wadjda
20.03. | 21:15 | Cap'Ciné 5
21.03. | 12:30 | Rex 1
22.03. | 17:15 | Cap'Ciné 1
Screenings in presence of the director

Watchtower
20:03. | 20:30 | Rex 1
22:03. | 12:30 | Rex 1 

 

Bouli Lanners

FIFF has offered Belgian actor and film author Bouli Lanners a Carte Blanche to programme the parallel section Sur la carte de... and show films on a subject he holds near and dear: the relationship between man and nature. There are notable films on the programme, such as Dersu Uzala by Akira Kurosawa, Jeremiah Johnson by Sydney Polllack und Into the Wild  by Sean Penn.

Programme
Tickets 

 

 

Short film programme

Today, FIFF screens three short film programmes with films of young and rising talents from all around the world. Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya, director of Film Kbir and Min Bahadu Bham, director of Bansulli will be present at the screening of programme 2.

Programme 2 | 12:30 | Cap'Ciné 5
Programme 1 | 18:00 | Rex 2
Programme 3 | 21:00 | Rex 2 

Decryption

Today, the festival puts the parallel section Decryption: Youth at the Edge in the limelight. A debate on the subject follows the screening of Chronique d'une cour de récré by Brahim Fritah (France 2012).The directors Brahim Fritah, Maja Miloš, Manjeet Singh and Daniel Stoecklin from University Institute Kurt Boesch in Sion discuss the meaning of these films for the situation of children in the world today. The debate will be moderated by Christian Georges, Secretary General of the Intercantonal Education Conference, a film critic and editor for the educational dossiersof FIFF's school programme Planète Cinéma.

 

Programme
Tickets 

The Story of Film: An Odyssey

Directed and narrated as a private diary by Mark Cousins, The Story of Film is a remarkable voyage through the history of film. Described as "the cinematic event of the year" by The Telegraph in 2011, this brilliant work constitutes an entertaining defence of independent cinema.

Every day from 09:00-24:00 | Cap'ciné 3
The public can enter and exit at any time by purchasing a single ticket for the entire week.

Histórias Que Só Existem Quando Lembradas

Histórias Que Só Existem Quando Lembradas (Brazil, Argentina, France 2011) by Júlia Murat was awarded four prizes at FIFF in 2012. Unfortunately, the director could not be present at the award ceremony, but she honouring FIFF as a member of this year’s International Jury. As part of the Jury Screenings , she will be presenting her debut feature personally – the last chance for all who have not yet seen this wonderful film!

18.03. | 20:00 | Cap'Ciné 6
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FIFF par excellence

Camera Work, the FIFF-Forum 2013, focuses on decoupage. Guest filmmakers and Swiss film professionals discuss different approaches to conceive, shoot and edit film scenes.

More information on FIFF-Forum 2013