Fribourg film festival opens on feminine note

FIFF artistic director Thierry Jobin Keystone

Now in its 30^th year, the Fribourg International Film Festival (FIFF) is underway in the Swiss city by the same name. This edition is dedicated to women in cinema. 

The feature film jury is exclusively female, and 75 of the 127 films being presented this week were written by women. In an opening address on Friday evening, Swiss Interior Minister Alain Berset remarked upon the Charlie Chaplin film The Kid, which “in itself could almost be a feminist manifesto: ‘woman – whose only sin is motherhood’”. 

Along with more than 200 screenings – many of them Swiss or even world premieres – the week-long festival will feature numerous panel discussions, masterclasses and other encounters. On Saturday and Sunday, there will be a special focus on African culture. Also on Sunday, the FIFF Forum debate will try to answer the question: “So: must we really continue talking about women in film?” 

There are 13 feature films from 11 countries competing for the Regard d’or award, which comes with a cash prize of CHF30,000 ($30,525). There is also a short film competition. Nearly 40,000 people attended last year’s edition. The Fribourg International Film FestivalExternal link runs through March 19, 2016.

Other major Swiss film festivals take place in Locarno (since 1946), Solothurn (since 1966) and Zurich (since 2005).