Bergen International Film Festival
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. 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. 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. 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: = 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. = 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. = 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 2018: Ayka, directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy Germany Chile Russia Kazakhstan Poland 2019: House of Hummingbird, directed by Bora Kim South Korea and La Llorona, directed by Jayro Bustamante Guatemala France 2020: The Trouble With Being Born, directed by Sandra Wollner Austria Germany 2021: Sundown, directed by Michel Franco Mexico Sweden France = 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 2018: Minding the Gap, directed by Bing Liu United States 2019: Midnight Family, directed by Luke Lorentzen United States Mexico 2020: The Wall of Shadows, directed by Eliza Kubarska Germany Switzerland Poland 2021: Ascension, directed by Jessica Kingdon United States China = 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 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 = 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 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 2018: Laila at the Bridge, directed by Elizabeth and Gulistan Mirzaei Canada Afghanistan 2019: For Sama, directed by Waad Al-Khateab and Edward Watts United Kingdom Syria 2020: Welcome to Chechnya, directed by David France United States 2021: Writing With Fire, directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Gosh India = 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 2018: The Serengeti Rules, directed by Nicholas Brown United States 2019: Jim Allison: Breakthrough, directed by Bill Haney United States 2020: Lost in Face, directed by Valentin Riedl Germany 2021: The Hunt for Planet B, directed by Nathaniel Kahn United States = 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 = 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 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 = 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 = 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 2018: En affære, directed by Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken Norway 2019: Woman, directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Anastasia Mikova France = 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 2018: Silvana film), directed by Mika Gustafson, Olivia Kastebring, Christina Tsiobanelis Sweden 2019: Drag Kids, directed by Megan Wennberg Canada 2020: Vinden Snur, directed by Kieran Kolle Norway 2021: Faceless, directed by Jennifer Ngo United States Canada = 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 2018: Thorvald Nilsen 2019: Unknown 2020: Selim Mutic 2021: Benjamin Garcia Langeland = 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 = 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 2003 Bergen International Film Festival 2009 Bergen International Film Festival 2010 Bergen International Film Festival Official site Bergen International Film Festival at IMDb