Bergen International Film Festival
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Location | Bergen, Norway |
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Founded | 2000 |
Language | Norwegian & English |
Website | http://www.biff.no/ |
The Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF) is a film festival held annually in October in Bergen, Norway since 2000, and is the largest film festival in the nation in number of films. The festival celebrated its 20th edition in 2019, featuring more than 150 films in the program. The festival leader is Tor Fosse, and BIFF is owned by Bergen Cinema.
The festival´s main venue is Bergen Cinema's Magnus Barefoot Cinema Centre, with additional screenings taking place at the local art film theatre Cinemateket at Georgernes Verft and at the student cinema at Kvarteret.
History
In 2000, Bergen was a European Capital of Culture. Due to the occasion, Bergen Cinema arranged Bergen International Film Festival, with the most important films from the festival circuit of the year and many sneak previews of movies already picked up for Norwegian distribution. BIFF was one of the most successful events to take place during the celebration of the Cultural City, and was arranged again the year after.
Over the years the festival has grown to become the biggest film festival in Norway, with more than 150 films and 60,000 admissions in 2019.
Programmes
Bergen International Film Festival is organised in various sections:
- Cinema Extraordinaire, the main international competition program of fiction films.
- Documentaire Extraordinaire, the main international competition program of documentary films.
- Checkpoints, a competition program consisting of documentaries focusing on human rights, in collaboration with the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights. Since 2010, a jury has selected a winner, where the prize is awarded to the organization or cause depicted in the film.
- The Golden Owl, a competition program consisting of documentaries focusing on the dissemination of science and research, in collaboration with the University of Bergen.
- Norwegian Documentary Program, with competition programs for best Norwegian documentary and best Norwegian short documentary.
- Norwegian Short Film Competition, a competition program of best Norwegian short fiction film.
- Norwegian Music Video Competition, a competition program of best Norwegian music video.
BIFF and education
Bergen International Film Festival has an extensive program for high school and junior high school students in Bergen. BIFFs offers schools in the area to participate in two different programs:
BIFF for Schools
The festival offers free showing of documentaries that covers important subjects in history, democracy and human rights. BIFF also tries to bring filmmakers and even the characters the films portray to the screenings, making it possible for the students to converse with the talent afterwards. In 2010, former mayors of Bogotá, Antanas Mockus and Enrique Peñalosa held strong appeals to students of the power of local democracy after the showings of Bogota Change.
The School Film Festival
BIFF also offers a crash course film school for junior high schools, with professional filmmakers holding seminars. The festival then make camera and editing stations available for the students, and award one school each year for best student film.
Audience Numbers
Year | Admissions |
---|---|
2000 | 9.000 |
2001 | 23.000 |
2002 | 25.000 |
2003 | 30.500 |
2004 | 33.800 |
2005 | 33.500 |
2006 | 37.400 |
2007 | 39.780 |
2008 | 43.700 |
2009 | 44.059 |
2010 | 44.582 |
2011 | 50.788 |
2012 | 50.385 |
2013 | 53.333 |
2014 | 56.302 |
2015 | 57.292 |
2016 | 64.246 |
2017 | 63.840 |
2018 | 68.500 |
2019 | 61.073 |
2020 | 31.014 |
2021 | 48.455 |
Awards at Bergen International Film Festival
Cinema Extraordinare (discontinued in 2011, re-established in 2016)
The former main award at Bergen International Film Festival, awarded to the best feature film 2000–2011. The prize has had its present name since 2007. 2000–2005 it was called The Jury's Award, and 2006–2007 it was named The Norwegian Film Institute's Import Award, with the prize being Norwegian distribution.
- 2000: Luna Papa, directed by Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov
Tajikistan
- 2001: Lagaan, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker
India
- 2002: Dog Days, directed by Ulrich Seidl
Austria
- 2003: Blind Shaft, directed by Li Yang
China
- 2004: Mysterious Skin, directed by Gregg Araki
United States
- 2005: Frozen Land, directed by Aku Louhimies
Finland
- 2006: The Minder, directed by Rodrigo Moreno
Argentina
- 2007: Silent Light, directed by Carlos Reygadas
Mexico
- 2008: The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner, directed by Stefan Komandarev
Bulgaria
- 2009: No One's Son, directed by Arsen Anton Ostojić
Croatia
- 2010: Le Quattro Volte, directed by Michelangelo Frammatino
Italy
- 2016: House of others, directed by Rusudan Glurjidze
Georgia
Croatia
Russia
Spain
- 2017: A Ciambra, directed by Jonas Carpignano
Italy [2]
- 2018: Ayka, directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy
Germany
Chile
Russia
Kazakhstan
Poland [3]
- 2019: House of Hummingbird, directed by Bora Kim
South Korea and La Llorona, directed by Jayro Bustamante
Guatemala
France [4]
- 2020: The Trouble With Being Born, directed by Sandra Wollner
Austria
Germany [5]
- 2021: Sundown, directed by Michel Franco
Mexico
Sweden
France [6]
Best International Documentary/Documentaire Extraordinaire
Awarded since 2004, after BIFF started to shift its focus more over to documentaries. The prize is 50,000 NOK, since 2013 awarded by NRK.
- 2004: The Master and His Pupil, directed by Sonia Herman Dolz
Netherlands
- 2005: The Boys of Baraka, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
United States
- 2006: God Grew Tired of Us, directed by Christopher Dillon Quinn
United States
- 2007: Forever, directed by Heddy Honigmann
Netherlands
- 2008: War Child, directed by Christian Karim Chrobog
United States
- 2009: Afghan Star, directed by Havana Marking
United Kingdom
- 2010: The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu, directed by Andrei Ujică
Romania
- 2011: Buck, directed by Cindy Meehl
United States
- 2012:
- 2013: The Unknown Known, directed by Errol Morris
United States
- 2014: Waiting for August, directed by Teodora Ana Mihai
Belgium
Romania
- 2015: Pervert Park, directed by Frida Barkfors and Lasse Barkfors
Denmark
Sweden
United States
- 2016: Brothers of the Night, directed by Patric Chiha
Austria
- 2017: Makala, directed by Emmanuel Gras
France [2]
- 2018: Minding the Gap, directed by Bing Liu
United States [3]
- 2019: Midnight Family, directed by Luke Lorentzen
United States
Mexico [4]
- 2020: The Wall of Shadows, directed by Eliza Kubarska
Germany
Switzerland
Poland [5]
- 2021: Ascension, directed by Jessica Kingdon
United States
China [6]
Best Norwegian Documentary
Awarded since 2011. The prize is 40,000 NOK, since 2013 awarded by NRK.
- 2011: Folk ved fjorden, directed by Øyvind Sandberg
- 2012: De andre, directed by Margreth Olin
- 2013: Banaz A Love Story, directed by Deeyah Khan
- 2014: Drone, directed by Tonje Hessen Schei
- 2015: Voldtatt, directed by Linda Steinhoff
- 2016: Barneraneren, directed by Jon Haukeland
- 2017: Nowhere to Hide, directed by Zaradasht Ahmed [2]
- 2018: For vi er gutta, directed by Petter Sommer, Jo Vemund Svendsen [3]
- 2019: Descent into the Maelstrom, directed by Jan Vardøen [4]
- 2020: Odelsgut og Fantefølge, directed by Merethe Offerdal Tveit [5]
- 2021: Sommerbarna, directed by Linn Helene Løken [6]
Checkpoints
Awarded since 2010 and one of the main prizes at BIFF, selected by a jury from a competition program consisting of films focusing on human rights.
- 2010: Budrus, directed by Julia Bacha
Israel
- 2011: The Last Mountain, directed by Bill Haney
United States
- 2012: Sons of the Clouds: The Last Colony, directed by Alvaro Longoria
Spain [7]
- 2013: The Act of Killing, directed by J. Oppenheimer
Indonesia
- 2014: Drone (2014 film), directed by Tonje Hessen Schei
Norway
- 2015: The Hunting Ground, directed by Kirby Dick
United States
- 2016: The War Show, directed by Obaidah Zytoon and Andreas M. Dalsgaard
United States
- 2017: Radio Kobani, directed by Reber Dosky
Netherlands [2]
- 2018: Laila at the Bridge, directed by Elizabeth and Gulistan Mirzaei
Canada
Afghanistan [3]
- 2019: For Sama, directed by Waad Al-Khateab and Edward Watts
United Kingdom
Syria [4]
- 2020: Welcome to Chechnya, directed by David France
United States [5]
- 2021: Writing With Fire, directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Gosh
India [6]
The Golden Owl
Awarded by the University of Bergen since 2014 to the best science documentary. The prize is 25,000 NOK.
- 2014: How I Came to Hate Math, directed by Olivier Peyon
France
- 2015: Ice and the Sky, directed by Luc Jacquet
France
- 2016: Monster in the mind, directed by Jean Carper
United States
- 2017: Let There Be Light, directed by Mila Aung-Thwin, Van Royko
Canada [2]
- 2018: The Serengeti Rules, directed by Nicholas Brown
United States [3]
- 2019: Jim Allison: Breakthrough, directed by Bill Haney
United States [4]
- 2020: Lost in Face, directed by Valentin Riedl
Germany [5]
- 2021: The Hunt for Planet B, directed by Nathaniel Kahn
United States [6]
Best Norwegian Short Film
Awarded since 2004.
- 2003: Fear Less, directed by Therese Jacobsen
- 2004: The Bible, directed by Bjørn Amundlien
- 2005: Drømme kan du gjøre senere, directed by Thomas A. Østbye
- 2006: Drømmehuset, directed by Øystein Mamen
- 2007: Bo jo cie kochom (Fordi jeg elsker deg), directed by Gine Therese Grønner
- 2008: Ekornet, directed by Stian Einar Forgaard
- 2009: Skylappjenta, directed by Iram Haq
- 2010: Jenny, directed by Ingvild Søderlind
- 2011: Asyl, directed by Jørn Utkilen
- 2012: Å vokte fjellet, directed by Izer Aliu
- 2013: Money Back Please, directed by Even Hafnor
- 2014: Ja vi elsker, directed by Hallvar Witzø
- 2015: Small Talk, directed by Even Hafnor
- 2016: The Committee, directed by Gunnhild Enger
- 2017: No Man is an Island, directed by Ali Parandian [2]
- 2018: Kulturen, directed by Ernst De Geer [3]
- 2019: Fun Factory, directed by Even Hafnor, Lisa Brooke Hansen [4]
- 2020: Papapa, directed by Kerren Lumer-Klabbers [5]
- 2021: Stikk, directed by Tobias Klemeyer Smith [6]
Best Norwegian Short Documentary
Awarded since 2011. The prize is 10,000 NOK, since 2013 awarded by NRK.
- 2011: Selger 327, directed by Kari Anne Moe
- 2012: Havets sølv, directed by Are Pilskog
- 2013: Du velger selv, directed by Kajsa Næss
- 2014: Dette er Kabul, directed by Sadaf Fetrat, Sahar Fetrat, Nargis Azaryun, Anders Sømme Hammer and Christoffer Næss
- 2015: Asylbarna: Farida, directed by Ragnhild Sørheim og Christer Fasmer
- 2016: Boys, directed by Sunniva Sundby
- 2017: I det fri, directed by Edvard Karijord, Bendik Mondal [2]
- 2018: The Future of Iraq, directed by Thee Yezen Al-Obaide, Mats Muri [3]
- 2019: Filmen om Farmor, directed by Anine Wiesner Barg [4]
- 2020: Greetings From Myanmar, directed by Sunniva Sundby, Andreas J. Riiser [5]
- 2021: Skolen ved Havet, directed by Solveig Melkeraaen [6]
Best Norwegian Music Video
Awarded 2017-2020. Replaced Best Scandinavian Music Video.
- 2017: Daniel Kvammen feat. Lars Vaular - "Som om Himmelen Revna", directed by Eivind Landsvik
- 2018: Hanne Hukkelberg feat. Emilie Nicolas - "Embroidery", directed by Alam Ali
- 2019: Teddy and the Love Gang - "Nozomi", directed by Håvard Glad
- 2020: The Musical Slave - "They can´t stop you", directed by Kristin Vollset
- 2021: Ane Brun - "Crumbs", directed by Stian Andersen
- 2022: Gundelach - "Golden", directed by Fredrik Harper
The Audience Award
- 2000: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, directed by Ang Lee
China
- 2001: Das Experiment, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel
Germany
- 2002: Bowling for Columbine, directed by Michael Moore
United States
- 2003: Kill Bill Vol. 1, directed by Quentin Tarantino
United States
- 2004: Oldboy, directed by Park Chan-wook
South Korea
- 2005: Sirkel, directed by Aleksander Nordaas
Norway
- 2006: The Queen, directed by Stephen Frears
United Kingdom
- 2007: Fashion Victims, directed by Ingo Rasper
Germany
- 2008: Young@Heart, directed by Stephen Walker
United Kingdom
- 2009: Bring Children from Streets, directed by Espen Faugstad and Eivind Nilsen
Norway
- 2010: World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements, directed by Chris Farina
United States
- 2011: Bully, directed by Lee Hirsch
United States
- 2012: Beasts of the Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zeitlin
United States
- 2013: Siblings are forever, directed by Frode Fimland
Norway
- 2014: Good Girl, directed by Solveig Melkeraaen
Norway
- 2015: Raped, directed by Linda Steinhoff
Norway
- 2016: The Handmaiden, directed by Park Chan-wook
South Korea
- 2017: Call Me By Your Name, directed by Luca Guadagnino
Italy [2]
- 2018: En affære, directed by Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken
Norway [3]
- 2019: Woman, directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Anastasia Mikova
France [4]
Youth Jury's Documentary Award
A prize awarded since 2004 by a jury consisting of high school students that choose from the films that is a part of the BIFF for Schools program.
- 2004: Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, directed by Robert Greenwald
United States
- 2005: Lost Children, directed by Oliver Stoltz
Germany
- 2006: A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash, directed by Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack
Switzerland
- 2007: Sharkwater, directed by Rob Stewart
Canada
- 2008: Yodok Stories, directed by Andrzej Fidyk
Norway
- 2009: The Cove, directed by Louie Psihoyos
United States
- 2010: Bogota Change, directed by Andreas Møl Dalsgaard
Denmark
- 2011: Bully, directed by Lee Hirsch
United States
- 2012: 5 Broken Cameras, directed by Emad Burnat & Guy Davidi
Palestine
- 2013: The Human Scale, directed by Andreas Dalsgaard
Denmark
- 2014: We Are the Giant, directed by Greg Barker
United States
- 2015: The Mask You Live In, directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom
United States
- 2016: The Crossing, directed by George Kurian
Norway
- 2017: Plastic China, directed by Jiuliang Wang
Chile [2]
- 2018: Silvana film), directed by Mika Gustafson, Olivia Kastebring, Christina Tsiobanelis
Sweden [3]
- 2019: Drag Kids, directed by Megan Wennberg
Canada [4]
- 2020: Vinden Snur, directed by Kieran Kolle
Norway [5]
- 2021: Faceless, directed by Jennifer Ngo
United States
Canada [6]
Young Talent Award
A cash prize awarded from Vestnorsk Filmsenter since 2005.
- 2005: Aleksander Nordaas
- 2006: Morvary Samaré and Astrid Schau-Larsen
- 2007: Tor Kristian Liseth
- 2008: Olav Øyehaug
- 2009: Espen Faugstad and Eivind Nilsen
- 2010: Kedy Hassani
- 2011: Frida Eggum Michaelsen
- 2012: Are Pilskog
- 2013: Mads Andersen
- 2014: Kjell Mathiesen
- 2015: Hildegunn Wærness
- 2016: David Alræk
- 2017: Arne Daniel Storevold Haldorsen [2]
- 2018: Thorvald Nilsen [3]
- 2019: Unknown [4]
- 2020: Selim Mutic [5]
- 2021: Benjamin Garcia Langeland [6]
Best Scandinavian Music Video (discontinued)
Awarded 2010-2013.
- 2010: Torgny - "The Only Game", directed by Emil Trier
Norway
- 2011: Who Made Who - "Every Minute Alone", directed by William Stahl
Denmark
- 2012: Todd Terje - "Inspector Norse", directed by Kristoffer Borgli
Norway
- 2013: The Knife - a Tooth for an Eye,
Sweden
The Critic's Award (discontinued)
Only awarded once, by the film journalists attending the festival in 2003.
- 2003: A Good Lawyer's Wife, directed by Im Sang-soo
South Korea
The Festival by year
- 2003 Bergen International Film Festival
- 2009 Bergen International Film Festival
- 2010 Bergen International Film Festival
References
- ^ "Besøkstall og Historie".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j https://www.biff.no/arkiv/2017/article1336243.ece [dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "BIFF 2020". www.biff.no. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "BIFF 2020". www.biff.no. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "BIFF 2020". www.biff.no. Archived from the original on 2020-10-26.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Årets prisvinnere 2021". BIFF 2021 (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ "Årets vinnere er kåret! - BIFF". Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
60°23′29.4″N 5°19′6.9″E / 60.391500°N 5.318583°E / 60.391500; 5.318583
External links
- Official site
- Bergen International Film Festival at IMDb