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Neuchatel Fantastic Film Festival Finds Deeper Truths in Fantasy
The Swiss fantasy festival welcomes diverse voices and a new generation of talent as the genre market continues to mature.
Indeed, the NIFFF director tells Variety that feminist and environmentally minded narratives predominate in this year’s selection, informing competition entries like Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s “The Devil’s Bath,” Camila Beltrán’s “Mi Bestia” and Shalini Ushadev’s “Ennennum.” Meanwhile, the festival’s Third Kind spotlight – a section dedicated to films that straddle the lines between genres and codes – features titles like Rose Glass’ “Love Lies Bleeding,” Caroline Lindy’s “Your Monster” and Sarah Gyllenstierna’s “Jakt” – a film that deftly weaves both themes as it follows a pack of macho hunters left to their own devices after the animals they chase disappear. That so many of this year’s NIFFF-primed titles scored earlier festival runs out speaks to a wider ecosystem finally catching up to the values that have long animated the Swiss showcase. To wit, when Walder took the reins in 2022, he marked the occasion with a retrospective dedicated to queer representation and then followed that with a focus on female Scream Queen archetypes for his sophomore outing.
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