Alongside its worldwide competitors, the fortieth version of the Fribourg Intl. Movie Competition unfolds throughout a variety of parallel packages that develop the pageant’s focus past premieres to retrospectives, thematic sections, and audience-curated screenings.
Set for March 20–29 within the Swiss metropolis of Fribourg, this yr’s version revisits the occasion’s origins whereas highlighting rising filmmaking scenes and style traditions from around the globe.
Revisiting the Competition’s OriginsA key strand, Deciphering: The first Version of FIFF seems to be again to the pageant’s inaugural version in 1980, when the occasion was launched beneath the title Competition of Third World Movie. That first lineup launched audiences within the Swiss college city to works from areas that have been hardly ever represented in European theatrical circuits on the time.
The Deciphering program revisits 5 of the seven movies screened throughout that inaugural yr, giving audiences a uncommon probability to expertise a few of the pageant’s earliest highlights. The lineup contains “Yawar Mallku” (“Blood of the Condor,” 1969) by Bolivian director Jorge Sanjinés, the harrowing story of an indigenous neighborhood secretly sterilized by a Peace Corps-like group; “Muna Moto” (1975) from Cameroonian director Jean-Pierre Dikongue-Pipa, the nation’s first extensively distributed movie, inspecting the social pressures of the dowry system; and “Solar of the Hyenas” (1977) by Tunisian filmmaker Ridha Behi, a strong exploration of the lingering devastation of colonialism.
The retrospective can be accompanied by a roundtable bringing collectively figures linked to the pageant’s early historical past, inspecting how the circulation of world cinema has developed because the early Eighties.
A Farewell to Visions Sud EstAnother retrospective strand honors the legacy of one in every of Europe’s most vital improvement initiatives for filmmakers from the World South. The Bye Bye Visions Sud Est part pays tribute to the Swiss-backed fund Visions Sud Est that supported dozens of tasks from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Japanese Europe, earlier than ceasing operations this yr.
This system pairs brief movies proven at previous editions of FIFF with feature-length tasks those self same filmmakers went on to make later of their careers. Among the many 5 pairings are Indian director Payal Kapadia’s early brief “And What Is the Summer season Saying?” alongside her Cannes Grand Prix-winning characteristic “All We Think about Is Mild,” Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi’s FIFF-winning brief “La Falaise” with “Demise for Sale,” his characteristic movie awarded within the Panorama part in Berlin in 2012, and “White Noise,” the 2017 brief from worldwide jury member Ahmad Ghossein of Lebanon and his debut characteristic “All This Victory,” which took dwelling the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at Venice.
Throughout these pairings, the retrospective illustrates how early pageant publicity and improvement assist helped propel rising filmmakers onto the worldwide stage.
Colombia within the SpotlightThis yr’s New Territory highlight turns to Colombia, the primary Latin American nation to be featured within the part, with a curated collection of movies from the previous decade showcasing the range of its rising cinema scene. The strand will provide filmgoers the possibility to see 10 feature-length movies and 6 shorts.
This system, chosen with help from Swiss-Colombian filmmaker Jorge Cadena (”El Cuento de Antonia”) gathers works from Colombian administrators whose movies have circulated extensively on the worldwide pageant circuit, reflecting the rising visibility of the nation’s cinematic output. The part affords audiences a snapshot of a nationwide cinema formed by various genres and storytelling traditions, from social drama to crime narratives.
Titles embody Simón Mesa Soto’s “Un poeta,” winner of the jury prize in Cannes’ Un Sure Regard part in 2025, and 2022 Venice nominee “Anhell 69” from Theo Montoya.
Moms on the Middle of Style CinemaFIFF’s Cinéma de Style sidebar this yr explores portrayals of motherhood throughout worldwide style filmmaking.
This system entitled Thank You, Mother! locations maternal figures on the middle of tales spanning melodrama, horror and psychological thrillers.
The part additionally pays tribute to Magda Bossy, FIFF’s founding director, celebrating her position in bringing the pageant to life and shaping its 40-year legacy.
Viewers-Curated ScreeningsThe Viewers Alternative part continues FIFF’s experiment in participatory programming, inviting festivalgoers to assist form the lineup. 300 votes have been solid throughout 50 movies, with 5 titles in the end chosen, mixing well-known classics with sudden rediscoveries, echoing the theme of motherhood.
Featured movies embody Pedro Almodóvar’s darkly comedian “Volver,” which explores a mother-daughter relationship by household drama and supernatural parts, and Jane Campion’s Oscar-winning “The Piano,” the story of a mute mom navigating love and freedom after an organized marriage.
Highlight on Kaouther Ben HaniaTunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania will obtain the inaugural Fribourg Cinema Award, a joint prize with the College of Fribourg that features an honorary diploma. Nominated for the Oscar for finest worldwide movie this yr for “The Voice of Hind Rajab” (2025), Ben Hania isn’t any stranger to FIFF having served on the worldwide jury in 2018. A pageant sidebar Fribourg Cinema Award options 5 movies curated by Ben Hania, together with “A World Not Ours” from Danish-Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel and “Underneath the Fig Bushes” a Tunisian coming-of-age drama from director Erige Sehiri. A public dialog with the director can be held forward of the awards ceremony.
Concentrate on Native TalentWhile the pageant’s lineup is essentially worldwide, FIFF maintains area for Swiss cinema by the Passeport Suisse program, highlighting movies linked to the nation’s filmmaking neighborhood.
The anniversary version additionally features a short-film competitors open to residents of the canton of Fribourg, welcoming members from college students to first-time filmmakers. This yr’s competitors focuses on ice hockey, one of many area’s hottest sports activities, with chosen movies screened in the course of the pageant.
Different sections embody Make It Household Time, that includes movies for younger viewers members and Midnight Screenings, a lineup steeped in horror and motion.
