24/05/2018 - The programme, a symposium on major issues related to genre cinema, is due to welcome some prestigious guests, including David Cronenberg and producer Jan Harlan

Always packed full of relevant content, the entirely free NIFFF EXTENDED programme, which takes place alongside Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) (6 - 14 July), once again sets out on a mission to build a bridge between the fantasy genre and new visual technology.

Welcoming the challenge is an attractive group of guests, to say the least, who will be hosting a variety of talks as part of the different programmes that make up the symposium. Perhaps the most anticipated guest this year is the brilliant Canadian director David Cronenberg (who will also be acting as the president of the international jury - read the news here), who will be participating in New Worlds of Fantasy, a literary forum dedicated to contemporary fantasy literature. The multidisciplinary artist will be talking about the film adaptations that underlie many of his films, and his journey as a writer. Jan Harlan – producer and Stanley Kubrick's right-hand man, often behind the scenes of emblematic films such as: The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut – will also be taking part in the same forum. Among the numerous other guests in attendance this year are the Romanian director, producer and screenwriter Timur Bekmambetov, his colleague and compatriot Olga Kharina, the French Youtuber Le Fossoyeur de Films and the company that creates visual effects for the blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War by Anthony and Joe Russo.

In addition to the New Worlds of Fantasy symposium, NIFFF EXTENDED will also include GSGS'18/Gamification & Serious Games, which focuses on the connection between industry needs and original responses by using playful perspectives in order tackle more academic themes such as training techniques, ecology and communication management, Imagine the future/digital creation & new technologies, which will be welcoming the creators of the ambitious fantasy web series Le 5e Cavalier, made in Switzerland, produced by Titan Films and co-produced by RTS (presented in world premiere as the festival’s opening film in the presence of the film's entire crew). The programme is also due to include Storyworlds, which will welcome Timur Bekmambetov and Olga Kharina, creators of a new style of cinematic storytelling called "high concept" as part of the same symposium, Future Storyworlds will also be taking place for the second time, a competition organised in partnership with CineGlobe and THE Port at Cern. 

Finally, among the 12 titles selected for the festival's international competition are the Italian film Love and Bullets [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marco and Antonio Manetti
film profile] by Marco and Antonio Manetti, the Franco-Belgian co-production Carnivores [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jérémie and Yannick Renier
film profile] by Jérémie and Yannick Renier, the US-Belgian co-production Mandy [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Panos Cosmatos starring Nicolas Cage, and the Iranian film Pig by Mani Haghighi.

(Translated from Italian)