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 + 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 The main award at the Bergen International Film Festival is presented to the best feature film. It was awarded from 2000 to 2010 and again since 2016. The award has had its current name since 2007. From 2000 to 2005 it was called The Jury's Award, and in 2006 to 2007 it was named The Norwegian Film Institute's Import Award, which included Norwegian distribution as part of the prize.
2000: Luna Papa, directed by Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov 2001: Lagaan, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker 2002: Dog Days, directed by Ulrich Seidl 2003: Blind Shaft, directed by Li Yang 2004: Mysterious Skin, directed by Gregg Araki 2005: Frozen Land, directed by Aku Louhimies 2006: The Minder, directed by Rodrigo Moreno 2007: Silent Light, directed by Carlos Reygadas 2008: The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner, directed by Stefan Komandarev 2009: No One's Son, directed by Arsen Anton Ostojić 2010: Le Quattro Volte, directed by Michelangelo Frammatino 2016: House of others, directed by Rusudan Glurjidze 2017: A Ciambra, directed by Jonas Carpignano https://www.biff.no/arkiv/2017/article1336243.ece 2018: Ayka, directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy 2019: House of Hummingbird, directed by Bora Kim and La Llorona, directed by Jayro Bustamante 2020: The Trouble With Being Born, directed by Sandra Wollner 2021: Sundown, directed by Michel Franco 2022: The Five Devils, directed by Léa Mysius 2023: All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, directed by Raven Jackson 2024: On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, directed by Rungano Nyoni
Best International Documentary/Documentaire Extraordinaire Awarded since 2004. The prize is 30,000 NOK, since 2013 awarded by NRK.
2004: The Master and His Pupil, directed by Sonia Herman Dolz 2005: The Boys of Baraka, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady 2006: God Grew Tired of Us, directed by Christopher Dillon Quinn 2007: Forever, directed by Heddy Honigmann 2008: War Child, directed by Christian Karim Chrobog 2009: Afghan Star, directed by Havana Marking 2010: The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu, directed by Andrei Ujică 2011: Buck, directed by Cindy Meehl 2012: 2013: The Unknown Known, directed by Errol Morris 2014: Waiting for August, directed by Teodora Ana Mihai 2015: Pervert Park, directed by Frida Barkfors and Lasse Barkfors 2016: Brothers of the Night, directed by Patric Chiha 2017: Makala, directed by Emmanuel Gras 2018: Minding the Gap, directed by Bing Liu 2019: Midnight Family, directed by Luke Lorentzen 2020: The Wall of Shadows, directed by Eliza Kubarska 2021: Ascension, directed by Jessica Kingdon 2022: Crows Are White, directed by Ahseen Nadeem 2023: The Mother of All Lies, directed by Asmae El Moudir 2024: Soundtrack to a Coup D'Etat, directed by Johan Grimonprez
Best Norwegian Documentary Awarded since 2011. The prize is 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 2018: For vi er gutta, directed by Petter Sommer, Jo Vemund Svendsen 2019: Descent into the Maelstrom, directed by Jan Vardøen 2020: Odelsgut og Fantefølge, directed by Merethe Offerdal Tveit 2021: Sommerbarna, directed by Linn Helene Løken 2022: Hidden Letters, directed by Violet Du Feng & Zhao Qing 2023: Mammaen i Meg, directed by Hilde Merete Haug 2024: Pet Farm, directed by Finn & Martin Walther
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 2011: The Last Mountain, directed by Bill Haney 2012: Sons of the Clouds: The Last Colony, directed by Alvaro Longoria 2013: The Act of Killing, directed by J. Oppenheimer 2014: Drone (2014 film), directed by Tonje Hessen Schei 2015: The Hunting Ground, directed by Kirby Dick 2016: The War Show, directed by Obaidah Zytoon and Andreas M. Dalsgaard 2017: Radio Kobani, directed by Reber Dosky 2018: Laila at the Bridge, directed by Elizabeth and Gulistan Mirzaei 2019: For Sama, directed by Waad Al-Khateab and Edward Watts 2020: Welcome to Chechnya, directed by David France 2021: Writing With Fire, directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Gosh 2022: The Killing of a Journalist, directed by Matt Sarnecki 2023: Name Me Lawand, directed by Edward Lovelace 2024: The Sky Above Zenica, directed by Nanna Frank Møller and Zlatko Pranjic
The Golden Owl Awarded by the University of Bergen since 2014 to the best science documentary, selected by a jury.
2014: How I Came to Hate Math, directed by Olivier Peyon 2015: Ice and the Sky, directed by Luc Jacquet 2016: Monster in the mind, directed by Jean Carper 2017: Let There Be Light, directed by Mila Aung-Thwin, Van Royko 2018: The Serengeti Rules, directed by Nicholas Brown 2019: Jim Allison: Breakthrough, directed by Bill Haney 2020: Lost in Face, directed by Valentin Riedl 2021: The Hunt for Planet B, directed by Nathaniel Kahn 2022: Framing Agnes, directed by Chase Joynt 2023: El Equipo, directed by Bernardo Ruiz 2024: Archive of the Future, directed by Joerg Burger
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 2018: Kulturen, directed by Ernst De Geer 2019: Fun Factory, directed by Even Hafnor, Lisa Brooke Hansen 2020: Papapa, directed by Kerren Lumer-Klabbers 2021: Stikk, directed by Tobias Klemeyer Smith 2022: Portør, directed by Lisa Enes 2023: Grill, directed by Jade Hærem Aksnes 2024: Velkommen Hjem, directed by Amanda Nalbant Nordpoll
Best Norwegian Short Documentary Awarded since 2011. Awarded by VGTV.
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 2018: The Future of Iraq, directed by Thee Yezen Al-Obaide, Mats Muri 2019: Filmen om Farmor, directed by Anine Wiesner Barg 2020: Greetings From Myanmar, directed by Sunniva Sundby, Andreas J. Riiser 2021: Skolen ved Havet, directed by Solveig Melkeraaen 2022: Wherever I Look, directed by Emilie Adelina Monies 2023: Siste Kapittel, directed by Frøydis Fossli Moe 2024: Behind the Mask, directed by Håvard Bustnes
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 2023: Rick Grove - "Blur", directed by Elliot Houwing-Endresen 2024: Honningbarna- "Avanti", directed by Sander Dahl
The Audience Award
2000: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, directed by Ang Lee 2001: Das Experiment, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel 2002: Bowling for Columbine, directed by Michael Moore 2003: Kill Bill Vol. 1, directed by Quentin Tarantino 2004: Oldboy, directed by Park Chan-wook 2005: Sirkel, directed by Aleksander Nordaas