20/06/2025 - The Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival, set to unspool from 4-12 July, presents a tantalising, challenging and exhilarating selection, with a total of 127 films hailing from 42 countries

For its 24th edition, the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) offers an extremely tantalising and socially engaged line-up, a simultaneously relevant and bewitching distillation of the very best of fantastical cinema. The programme of the festival, which will unspool from 4-12 July, and which showcases 127 works hailing from 42 countries on five continents, cements itself as a “thrilling overview of global creation in the field of fantastical imagination”, as stated in the press release. The festival will allow audiences to discover the work of young auteurs, including Julia Kowalski, Emilie Blichfeldt and Louise Hémon, as well as the latest gems by seasoned talents who have previously frequented the storied gathering, such as Lucile Hadžihalilović, Julia Ducournau, duo Bruno Cattet and Hélène Forzani, and Gabriele Mainetti.

As the press release stresses, “In the different programmes, the films at the 2025 edition hinge on contemporary sociopolitical concerns, such as parenthood, age and mental health.” In particular, important subjects are broached in the Take Care! and Forever Young special focuses, which will allow the public to reflect on the world around them, and on the contrasts, absurdities and diktats that abound in our society. That said, the NIFFF programme never neglects to “celebrate hope”, make our hair stand on end or amuse audiences in its always-welcoming and inclusive atmosphere.

There will be a host of European productions and co-productions duking it out for the prestigious HR Giger Narcisse Award in the International Competition (which comprises 14 films). Among them are the French titles The Ice Tower [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lucile Hadžihalilović
film profile] by Lucile Hadžihalilović, which sees Marion Cotillard playing a majestic yet deceitful character; Reflection in a Dead Diamond [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani
film profile] by the incredible directorial duo Bruno Cattet and Hélène Forzani; and Her Will Be Done [+see also:
film review
interview: Julia Kowalski
film profile] by Julia Kowalski, a film that’s both radical and joyous, which portrays a patriarchy that’s (finally) on its death bed. Alongside the aforementioned movies are the intimate The Thing with Feathers [+see also:
film review
film profile] by the UK’s Dylan Southern, which speaks of the agony of parenthood; Mother’s Baby [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Johanna Moder
film profile], a courageous story of postpartum psychosis by Austrian helmer Johanna Moder; The Ugly Stepsister [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Norway’s Emilie Blichfeldt, a queer and unhinged reinterpretation of the parable of Cinderella; the Ukrainian space opera U Are the Universe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pavlo Ostrikov
film profile] by Pavlo Ostrikov; the surprising and trippy Alpha [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Julia Ducournau; the Kazakh work Sasyq by Yerden Telemissov; and The Home [+see also:
film review
interview: Mattias J Skoglund
film profile] by Sweden’s Mattias J Skoglund.

Alongside the competition sections, Third Kind, which toys with the boundaries of genre, will also present myriad European productions and co-productions, among which are France’s The Girl in the Snow [+see also:
film review
interview: Louise Hémon
film profile] by Louise Hémon and Call of Water [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Élise Otzenberger, Cécile d…
film profile] by Élise Otzenberger, Ireland’s Bring Them Down [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Chris Andrews, La città proibita [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Italy’s Gabriele Mainetti, Sirât [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Óliver Laxe
film profile] by French-Spanish helmer Óliver Laxe, Eddington, a US-Finnish co-production by Ari Aster and Hallow Road by British-Iranian filmmaker Babak Anvari.

Still on the topic of European flicks, the Ultra Movies section, dedicated to the most extreme aspects of genre film, will host France’s Squealers by Abel Ferry and the co-pro Monster Island by Mike Wiluan. The new feature by Yann Gozlan, Dalloway [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], has been chosen as the opening film.

(Translated from French)