The Geneva International Film Festival has unveiled the program for its 30th edition which takes place from November 1 to 10. A pioneer in 1995, the event has diversified over time, today exploring new formats.
This year, 93 works will be screened during the festival in different locations around Plainpalais. Launched in 1995, the event has, since the beginning, mixed television and cinema productions. It has diversified over time, today exploring formats such as interactive cinema and augmented reality.
The 30th anniversary edition is placed under the sign of fundamentals. The director of GIFF for four years, Anaïs Emery, recalls how the Bout du Lac festival was a pioneer in its field, with its ambition to offer a global vision of audiovisual production. “What is important for you is to show the diversity of the audiovisual world. It’s the center of our festival,” analyzes the director of GIFF.
Le Geneva International Film Festival thus accompanied the rise of the phenomenon of television series. For this 30th edition, the festival is introducing a prize dedicated to the narrative virtuosity of Swiss series. This prize is in addition to that devoted to tomorrow’s series, where ten international titles are in competition.
In most cases, the festival will only broadcast the first episodes of the series in theaters. The rest of the seasons will be available online for festival-goers through personalized viewing links.
Two exceptional guests
This year, the GIFF also welcomes two prestigious guests. American filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who does not often travel outside the United States according to Anaïs Emery, will be in the spotlight with the screening of several of her films including “Middle of Nowhere”, which won the prize for best production at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012.
The other distinguished guest is Professor Sarah Kenderdine, who directs the experimental museology laboratory at EPFL. She conducts cutting-edge research into immersive experiences for galleries, libraries, archives and museums. The professor will participate in a conference on the cinema of the future and will present a series of works linked to her research.
This year, the GIFF will also offer a dive into the history of Swiss digital creation as part of the “Swissphoria” program. This will be an opportunity in particular for the public to discover or rediscover “Impression de la Suisse”, a 360° film made in 1984 by Ernst Heiniger. It was shown continuously at the Lucerne Transport Museum until 2002.
Monumental fresco
Festival-goers will also be able to admire the Panorama of the Battle of Murten. The 1000 m monumental fresco2 by the German artist Louis Braun was scanned, notes Anaïs Emery. It will be possible for the public to zoom in on certain details of the work.
The original painting was presented during Expo.02, inside the monolith that emerged from Lake Murten. The Panorama of the Battle of Murten has undergone restoration since its presentation at the national exhibition. The work is kept in an army park.
Finally, the festival will pay tribute to the recently deceased Genevan Claude Torracinta and to the master of Swiss cinema Pierre Koralnik, known for his portraits of artists, his variety shows and his fiction films. Many artists from the 60s passed in front of his lens: Françoise Hardy, Serge Gainsbourg, James Baldwin and Paco Rabanne.
In 2023, the GIFF was attended by 36,000 festival-goers. The 30th edition of the event features 54 Swiss premieres, one European premiere and 11 world premieres.
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