Fribourg Film Festival

About

The Fribourg International Film Festival (FIFF) is one of the European pioneers in discovering African, Latin American and Asian cinematographies. Every year in March the Festival becomes an important rendezvous for film buffs of all cultures and origins, for amateurs of classics and novelties, for auteur cinema as well as for contemporary popular productions. The FIFF pursues the objective to contribute to the cinematographic and cultural diversity in Switzerland and in Europe. The Festival is open to all horizons, but its official selection (International Competition for feature length films and Short Films Programs) excludes works of the Russia, European Union, the United States, Canada and Switzerland. To promote the distribution of the selected films, producers, distributors, cinema programmers and film critics are invited to attend the Festival.

The Festival organises non-competitive sections (long, middle and short) focusing on films that have rarely or never been shown in Switzerland.

• Out of Competition: contemporary films out of competition;
• Opening film/Closing film;
• Jury screenings: films directed, produced or starred by the Jury members of the International Jury; 
• Genre cinema: genre films and its declination in Africa, South America and Asia;
• Diaspora: emblematic films for an exiled community, chosen by a special guest;
• Decryption: films dealing with historical, social or religious questions;
• Midnight screenings : films for an adult audience (from the age of 16 up);
• Carte Blanche: one film chosen by a film festival invited at FIFF;
• Hommage: films chosen by a special guest who has contributed to the construction of bridges between different avenues of film production;
• Terra Incognita: films from countries whose cinema market is not well-known in the Occident;
• Passeport Suisse: films by Swiss directors that were directed abroad as well as international films directed in Switzerland;
• Sur la carte de: films chosen by a guest film director that have influenced his/her work;
• The Festival offers also a programme for schools and universities (Planète Cinéma). Encounters and debates are organised between filmmakers, the audience, journalists and industry professionals.

Awards

• Talent Tape Award, sponsored by EgliFilm and Fujifilm. This prize amounting to CHF 19,000 is sponsored mutually by EgliFilm AG and Fujifilm SA. The International Jury awards this prize to a producer for the quality of the awarded film. The prize consists of a tape-to-film-transfer of 90 minutes running time. The transfer from video to Fuji film in cinematic standard will be effected by EgliFilm AG in Zurich. This prize can be converted into CHF 9'000 worth post-production services;
• Special Jury Award. This prize consisting of CHF 10,000 is awarded by the Swiss Authors Society (SAS) and Suissimage. It is bestowed on the director of the film chosen by the International Jury for the inventiveness of the screenplay and the direction; the rejuvenation of the cinematographic language or the thematic and formal audacity shown;
• The Audience Award. This prize, consisting of CHF 5,000, is supported by the daily La Liberté and awarded to the producer of the film selected by the audience;
• The Ecumenical Jury Award. This award of CHF 5,000 is conferred jointly by two organisations of development, «Fastenopfer» and «Bread for all», to the director whose film best reflects the values upon which these two organisations are basing their work. The Ecumenical Jury is composed of representatives of the two agencies of the Churches for development, and representatives of SIGNIS (World Catholic Association for Communication) and INTERFILM (International Interchurch Film Organisation);
• The FIPRESCI Jury Award. Awarded by a Jury of members of the International Federation of the Cinematographic Press, this prize aims to promote the cinema as an art and encourage new and emerging films;
• The EX-CHANGE Award. Conferred by EX-CHANGE and amounting to CHF 5,000, this prize is awarded by the Youth Jury. It aims to give the young people a say in the Festival, but also to favour a film that takes into account the problems faced by youngsters in today’s world.

The Don Quijote Award of the International Federation of the Film Societies

Participation diploma. Each director whose film is shown during the Festival receives a diploma certifying his or her participation.

Rules

• Films that have not been released in Switzerland (for the competition, priority will be given to World or European premieres).
• Fiction, documentary or animation films
• Films produced from all around the world; African, Asian, Latin American, Near and Middle East and Eastern European (outside of the EU) works.

Directors or producers are requested to provide the Festival with the following selection material:

• Screener DVD or online screening access (to be given on the registration form),
• Photographs of the film,
• Film director’s filmography,
• Photograph of the film director.

The Festival covers the transport expenses of selected work.

Transport and insurance expenses of the material are at the sender’s charge.

Subtitles language:  English, French or German

Premiere Requirements

National premiere required.

Jury and Organizers

Director — Edouard Waintrop