NIFFF 2016 – Guests and jury members!

It’s D-7 before the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival kicks off. Now that we’ve unveiled the complete line-up as well as the guests for our two special programmes – Amazing Switzerland and El Dorado – the time has come to reveal who our other guests will be, and who will be part of the jury that will reward the best genre films shown in Neuchâtel.

Prominent figures of the official 2016 selection
 
Let’s start off with our prestigious international competition, as renowned British filmmaker Christopher Smith, who has already made NIFFF history in 2010 with Black Death (winner of the RTS audience award), will be back this year to present Detour (UK, South Africa, 2016) along with his producer Julie Baines. Among the other directors who will honour us with their presence are: Christian Tafdrup, an actor on the Borgen TV series, who will present his very Scandinavian directorial debut entitled Parents (Denmark, 2016); Babak Anvari, who will be here to introduce the feminist shocker Under The Shadow (Iran, Jordan, Qatar, UK, 2016); Gabriele Mainetti, who will talk about his gangster-cum-superhero Italian film Lo Chiamavano Jeeg Robot (Italy, 2015); Mexican filmmaker Isaac Ezban, who will present Los Parecidos (Mexico, 2015); New Yorker Benjamin Dickinson, who will introduce his latest movie Creative Control (USA, 2015);
Swiss Actress Ella Rumpf will present Julie Ducourneau’s Grave (Raw) (France, Belgique, 2016). Last but not least, Anurag Kashyap, a very popular filmmaker from the independent Indian new wave, who will come all this way to show his film Psycho Raman (India, 2016) as part of the most awaited New Cinema from Asia competition.
As far as the Films of the Third Kind are concerned, Cosimo Alemà, a major figure of the next generation of genre Italian filmmakers, will present the international premiere of Zeta (Italy, 2016).

If you want to delve into the Histoires du genre category, legendary French director and critic Yves Montmayeur will introduce three of his documentaries, namely Dragon Girls! (France, 2016), The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin (France, USA, 2015), and Viva La Muerte! (France, 2009), along with his producer Thierry Tripod (The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Maddin & Dragon Girls!). British director and critic Charlie Lyne will be coming with his documentary Fear Itself (UK, 2015), while Mexican filmmaker Luis Ospina will present Todo comenzó por el fin (Colombia, 2015). Finally, Alexandre Poncet will introduce his documentary Le Complexe de Frankenstein (France, 2015).

Three more surprise VIP guests!
 
The NIFFF is proud to announce that three prestigious professionals have joined our long list of guests. Jean-Baptiste Thoret, master historian, essayist and film critic will be here to introduce some of John Carpenter’s films. On July 8^th, famous Swiss actor Jean-Luc Bideau will accompany director Michael Terraz to the presentation of his fantasy short film Le Goût des choux de Bruxelles (2016), in which he plays a septuagenarian that goes through an existential crisis. In addition, as part of the second day of the Imaging the Future symposium (July 5^th), senior animation supervisor Andy Jones, who was awarded with an Oscar for his splendid work on Avatar (James Cameron, USA, 2009), will be discussing his career, and more specifically The Jungle Book (Jon Favreau, USA, 2016).

Members of the International Jury
 
Director and producer Anurag Kashyap (Psycho Raman, NIFFF 2016), Martin Scorsese’s protégé who has become the leading voice of independent Indian cinema, will be part of the International Jury. Other members include Charlie Lyne (Fear Itself, NIFFF 2016), Luis Ospina (Todo comenzó por el fin, Pura Sangre, La Mansión de Araucaima, NIFFF 2016) – a major figure of Colombian film history and co-founder of the legendary Caliwood group –, Lebanese filmmaker Joyce A. Nashawati, whose first film Blind Sun (France, Greece, 2015) is part of the Films of the Third Kind category, and last but not least, Consuelo Holtzer, deputy director of the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Fest.
Together, they will be tasked with deciding between 14 feature films coming from 14 different countries.

Méliès Jury
 
The Méliès Jury comprises people such as Swiss comic book artist Frederik Peeters, Mexican producer Andrea Quiroz, and Brigitte Häring, who is a cultural reporter and writer for the SRF radio. Together, they will grant the Silver Méliès award to the best European fantastic film. The latter will then be nominated for the Golden Méliès, awarded each year by the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation (melies.org).

International critics Jury
 
For the third time, a jury composed of five international critics and journalists will reward the best film of the competition. This year’s members are Pierce Conran (Screen Anarchy, Canada), Andrea Monili (Nocturno, Italy), Cédric Delelée (Mad Movies, France), Nando Rohner (Deadline, Germany), and Luis Rosales (Scifiworld, Spain).

Imaging the Future Jury
 
Like every year, the Imaging the Future symposium welcomes prominent guests, as well as a three-member jury. This year, we have Swiss filmmaker Michael Krummenacher (Sybille, NIFFF 2016), Argentinian producer Laura Sanchez Acosta (Daemonium: Soldier of the Underworld, NIFFF 2016), and director and journalist Alexandre Poncet (Le Complexe de Frankenstein, NIFFF 2016). They will grant the Imaging the Future award to the film with the best production design in the competition.