The Fribourg International Film Festival has unveiled the sections and theme forming the 32nd edition of the programme, which will be centred around extraordinary life trajectories. FIFF will open with one of the year’s most striking films, Makala, a poignant documentary which follows the Homeric journey of a young Congolese man. The film will have its Swiss Premiere with director, Emmanuel Gras, in attendance. The Cuban comedy Sergio & Sergei will close the 2018 edition, transporting the audience back to the Mir space station in 1991. In between these two highlights, Genre Cinema will be dedicated to biopics, Decryption will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Brazilian town Nova Friburgo, while New Territory will explore Mongolian cinema. FIFF’s highly anticipated Carte Blanche sections will return with Ken Loach (Sur la carte de...), Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate of the Festival de Cannes (Hommage à Cannes Classics) and Beki Probst, founder of the Berlinale European Film Market (Diaspora: Beki Probst and Turkey). The President of the Swiss Confederation, Alain Berset, will kick off the opening ceremony on the 16th March.
International competitions for feature and short films
With around 12 features and 3 programmes of short films, FIFF's International Competitions will continue to highlight some of the year’s best work, including productions from Africa, Latin America and Asia that will have their Swiss, European and even World Premieres with their directors in attendance.
Life trajectories and fearless characters: Genre Cinema: Biopics
Barbara, Dalida, Van Gogh, Churchill... Biopics have taken over our screens all year. Are life stories as popular outside the West and/or its industry, and how have they developed? The Genre Cinema section will explore this incredibly popular genre through 15 or so films. Queen Christina (1993) by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Greta Garbo, is one of the titles to be explored by Raphaëlle Moine, Professor at University Sorbonne, as the archetype of this genre. Invited as part of continued training for teachers, she will deliver an analysis of the film from a gender studies perspective in view of a global industry which devotes only a third of biopics to female characters.
Cinematic discoveries from across the world: from Brazil to Mongolia
FIFF celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Brazilian town Nova Friburgo by presenting a handful of films from new Brazilian cinema in the Decryption section. Keen to contribute to the next generation of Swiss cinema while promoting cultural exchanges, FIFF will show films from aspiring filmmakers who have filmed this town alongside Brazilian filmmakers who have come to film Fribourg. Their short films will have their World Premiere!
After having already unveiled a few gems and spurred on by public acclaim, FIFF will set out to discover a New Territory: Mongolian cinema. Several filmmakers will be invited to Fribourg to present their films.
Hommage and Carte Blanche: a look at world cinema
Ken Loach, impressed by the commitment and passion shown by FIFF, will do the festival the immense honour of choosing five masterpieces from the history of cinema. Whether he is to attend FIFF is yet to be confirmed, but his chosen titles will be revealed at the press conference on 1st March.
As the preservation of films has become a real collective issue, FIFF is working to pay tribute to institutions which are committed to protecting the world’s film heritage. This year, FIFF will highlight the work of General Delegate of the Festival de Cannes Thierry Frémaux and his team with a selection of Cannes Classics presented for the first time beyond Cannes.
The grand dame of world cinema, Beki Probst, the Swiss-Turkish founder of Berlin Film Festival's European Film Market, will open her heart for Diaspora to share her roots through five of her favourite Turkish films.
Additional events
In addition to Special Screenings, which will take place at midnight and treat audiences to offbeat commercial cinema, FIFF will also pursue its commitment to synergy by working with other cultural entities in Fribourg to put on exhibitions and concerts.
SAVE THE DATES
1st March, 10:15 am: Press conference: presentation of official programme
Cinéma Rex, Fribourg
9th March, 9 pm: Fri-Son fait son cinema
A Page of Madness, Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926
12th March, 7:30 pm: Premiere in Bern, CineMovie
What Will People Say, Iram Haq, 2017