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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Lucile Hadžihalilović
ficha de la película] by Lucile Hadžihalilović, which sees Marion Cotillard playing a majestic yet deceitful character; Reflection in a Dead Diamond [+lee también:
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entrevista: Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forz…
ficha de la película] by the incredible directorial duo Bruno Cattet and Hélène Forzani; and Her Will Be Done [+lee también:
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entrevista: Julia Kowalski
ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by the UK’s Dylan Southern, which speaks of the agony of parenthood; Mother’s Baby [+lee también:
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entrevista: Johanna Moder
ficha de la película], a courageous story of postpartum psychosis by Austrian helmer Johanna Moder; The Ugly Stepsister [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Norway’s Emilie Blichfeldt, a queer and unhinged reinterpretation of the parable of Cinderella; the Ukrainian space opera U Are the Universe [+lee también:
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entrevista: Pavlo Ostrikov
ficha de la película] by Pavlo Ostrikov; the surprising and trippy Alpha [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Julia Ducournau; the Kazakh work Sasyq by Yerden Telemissov; and The Home [+lee también:
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entrevista: Mattias J. Skoglund
ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Louise Hémon
ficha de la película] by Louise Hémon and Call of Water [+lee también:
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entrevista: Élise Otzenberger y Cécile…
ficha de la película] by Élise Otzenberger, Ireland’s Bring Them Down [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Chris Andrews, La città proibita [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Italy’s Gabriele Mainetti, Sirât [+lee también:
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entrevista: Óliver Laxe
ficha de la película] by French-Spanish helmer Óliver Laxe, Eddington, a US-Finnish co-production by Ari Aster and Hallow Road [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Abel Ferry
ficha de la película] by Abel Ferry and the co-pro Monster Island by Mike Wiluan. The new feature by Yann Gozlan, Dalloway [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], has been chosen as the opening film.