The Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival (LUFF) is a

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

and music festival devoted to

underground film An underground film is a film that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre or financing. Notable examples include: John Waters' ''Pink Flamingos'', David Lynch's ''Eraserhead'', Andy Warhol's '' Blue Movie'', Rosa von Praunheim's '' ...

and

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

. It is held each year in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

, Switzerland. The festival is organized by a non-profit organization (APCI – Association pour la Promotion de la Culture Indépendante). The organization's goals are to promote independent artistic projects and creations and to make those projects accessible to a large public. The primary goal of the Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival is to present films and music that largely exist outside the mainstream and profit driven production and distribution circuits. The cinematic section presents mainly films with an experimental character and/or films that challenge the spectator's viewing habits. Films are screened during the day and evening, followed by live music events featuring underground artists at night. Money prizes are awarded by the festival for the films selected in the international competition, in order to support the

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

s in creating their art. The musical program of the festival proposes sonar experimentations of all kind. During the four concert nights of the festival week, an average of twenty international and Swiss musicians and groups play in the Salle des Fêtes of the

Casino de Montbenon The Esplanade of Montbenon (French: ''Esplanade de Montbenon'') is an area of the city of Lausanne ( Switzerland). It is located in the centre of the city, to the south of Flon. Casino de Montbenon The Casino de Montbenon was built in 1908. ...

, the neuralgic center of the festival. In 2012 the festival has considerably enlarged its "off" program (a wide artistic offer free of charge, evolving in parallel to the official program) which continues to grow ever since and participates largely to the festive and open character of the event.
During the five days of the festival, its activities also expand to local venues such as the rock clu
Le Romandie
the independent movie theate
Le Zinéma
the cultural venu
La Datcha
the auditorium of the local music schoo
EJMA
as well as the book store and art gallery La Librairie Humus, the art galler
Standard Deluxe
the associative photo&cine laboratory "on fait du l'art !", the independent movie theater Bellevaux and use to work with the café-théâtre le Bourg and the center for contemporary art Arsenic.
The annual budget of the festival is of total value about 300.000 Swiss francs (270,000 euros).

History of the festival

Originally called ''Underground Nights'', the festival drew its inspiration from the New York Underground Film Festival. Through its initial, formative years, though, the LUFF developed its own unique program. Starting in its first year with a small screening room that could seat only 30 people, the festival managed to gather more than 1,000 spectators in 2000. In 2002, after a one-year hiatus, the festival moved to Lausanne with the support of the Swiss Film Archive, for the first official edition of the ''Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival'', drawing 4,000 spectators. By 2013, the festival has drawn around 8000 spectators. By programming an international short and feature films competition while still paying homage to great names of the underground like

Nick Zedd Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealing * Short for nickname Place ...

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

Lloyd Kaufman Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their featur ...

Ian Kerkhof Aryan Kaganof (born 1964 as Ian Kerkhof) is a South African film maker, novelist, poet and fine artist. In 1999 he changed his name to Aryan Kaganof. Partial filmography * 1992: '' Kyodai Makes the Big Time'' (91min, Netherlands), drama featur ...

Kenneth Anger Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927) is an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and author. Working exclusively in short films, he has produced almost 40 works since 1937, nine of which have been grouped ...

and the Kuchar brothers; and by organizing musical events featuring such artists as

Jimi Tenor Jimi Tenor (born Lassi O. T. Lehto, 1965) is a Finnish musician. His artist name is a combination of the first name of his youth idol Jimmy Osmond and the tenor saxophone. His band Jimi Tenor & His Shamans released its first album in 1988, whilst ...

, Hanin Elias,

Techno Animal Techno Animal is an electronic duo formed in 1990 in London, England by British musicians Justin Broadrick (of the band Godflesh) and Kevin Martin (aka the Bug, of the band God). The duo released six LPs beginning with their 1991 debut '' Gho ...

, Chicks on Speed, Rhys Chatam, Pansonic and Alan Vega, the LUFF programming now stretches beyond the Swiss borders.

Festival Editions

2016: The Fifteenth Edition

Will be held from October 19 to 23 2016 in Lausanne.

2015: The Fourteenth Edition

Held from October 14 to 18 2015, it has attracted around 13'000 spectators during the five days of film screenings and four concert nights. Among the retrospective programs one dedicated to filmmaker Jeff Perkins presented his ''Movies for the Blind'', a series of intensive recordings of interviews with passengers in his yellow cab from 1995 to 2002.

Film Awards 2015

* 2015 - Best Feature Film: Felt by de Jason Banker * 2015 - Best Short Fiction Film: Notre dame des hormones by Bertrand Mandico * 2015 - Best Experimental Short Film: Rearranged by Ewa Górzna * 2015 - Best Short Animation: Pandemonio by Valerio Spinelli * 2015 - Best Short Documentary: Then Then Then by Daniel Shioler

Music line-up 2015

= Wednesday

= * Ecoute la merde * Jacob Kirkegaard plays Else Marie Pade, * Anti-Ensemble: Imperial Dissolution * Liturgy * Jim Haynes

= Thursday

= * Nicolas Collins * C. Spencer Yeh * Marcus Schmickler * Pedestrian Deposit * Mei Zhiyong * Denis Rollet

= Friday

= * Neutral * Katsura Mouri * Menace Ruine * Sissy Spacek * Lumisokea

= Saturday

= * e:ch feat. JinniL * Sin:Ned feat. Laurent Valdès * Maria Chavez * Headwar * Extreme Precautions * Sly & The Family Drone

2014: The Thirteenth Edition

Was held from 15 to 19 October 2015.

Film Awards 2014

* 2014 – Best Feature Film: Buzzard by Joel Potrykus, 2014, USA * 2014 – Best Short Fiction Film (ex aequo): The Voice Thief by Adan Jodorowski, 2013, CHI, FRA, USA. * 2014 – Best Short Fiction Film (ex aequo): Straight to Video by Elizabeth Vazquez, 2013, USA * 2014 – Best Experimental Short Film: Kudryavka Little Ball of Fur by Pikku Kippura, 2013, FIN * 2014 – Best Short Animation: Wawd Ahp, Stephen Girard, 2013, USA

Music line-up 2014

= Wednesday

= * Morton Subotnick * Gordon Monahan: "Speaker Swinging" * Keith Fullerton Whitman & Mark Fell * Cédric Dambrain

= Thursday

= * Bryan Lewis Saunders & John Duncan * Tetsuo Furudate * Aaron Dilloway * Robert Curgenven * Les Belles Noiseuses

= Friday

= * Dalglish * Winter Family * Mohammad * Cadaver Eyes * G*Park

= Saturday

= * Mario de Vega * Cobra * Dustbreeders & Junko * Black Zenith * Kuro Pipe

2013: The Twelfth Edition

The twelfth edition of the festival (October 16 to 20 2013) featured a total of 98 films. Retrospective programs featured works by Japanese surrealist filmmaker Katsu Kanai, French actor-filmmaker

Pierre Clémenti Pierre André Clémenti (28 September 1942 – 27 December 1999) was a French actor. Life and career Born in Paris to an unknown father and Rose Clémenti, a Corsican concierge whose surname he took, Clémenti had a difficult childhood and took ...

, French punk author, musician and filmmaker , Russian independent filmmaker , Polish filmmaker

Walerian Borowczyk Walerian Borowczyk (21 October 1923 – 3 February 2006) was an internationally known Polish film director described by film critics as a 'genius who also happened to be a pornographer'. He directed 40 films between 1946 and 1988. Borowczyk set ...

and Belgian filmmaker Marcel Broodthaers as well as a

carte blanche A blank cheque in the literal sense is a cheque that has no monetary value written in, but is already signed. In the figurative sense, it is used to describe a situation in which an agreement has been made that is open-ended or vague, and therefo ...

program to

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and politician. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Initially ac ...

. The international film competition included five feature films and 18 short films. The music part included 24 concerts for the total of four concert nights. The program presented sets by artists such as Emptyset, Endon,

The Haxan Cloak Bobby Krlic (born 20 December 1985), known by his stage name The Haxan Cloak, is a British composer, artist, music producer and musician. The Haxan Cloak has released two full-length albums (2011's ''The Haxan Cloak'' and 2013's ''Excavation'' ...

, Vomir, Kracoon, Sugar Craft, Sajjanu,

, Fen (Far East Network:

Otomo Yoshihide is a Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist. He mainly plays guitar, turntables, and electronics. He first came to international prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the experimental rock group Ground Zero, and has since worked i ...

, Ryu Hankil, Yuen Chee Wal, Yan Jun), Nate Young, Blackphone666, Aluk Todolo, Jason Lescalleet, JG Thirwell,

Bryan Lewis Saunders Bryan Lewis Saunders (born 1969, in Washington, D.C.) is an endurance artist, a performance artist, videographer, performance poet, and self-portrait painter known for his disturbing spoken word rants, tragic art performances and stand-up trag ...

, Leif Elggren, Jean-François Laporte, Evil Moisture, Smegma, Nicolas Bernier & Martin Messier, Kiko C. Esseiva and DJ Nozinja. A total of 58 artists (musicians and filmmakers) were present during the five days of the festival to present their works. The twelfth edition of the Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival also proposed a range of workshops, aiming to introduce spectators to new or little known artistic techniques. The five workshops were held by artists such as the South-African group Shangaan Dance, Japanese decoupage artist Kosuke Kawamura, Canadian experimental musician Jean-François Laporte, Japanese noise musician Endon and French musician and artist Andy Bolus. The program of the festival also included an off part featuring the festival's own radio station (LUFF.FM), expositions and various artistic performances all through the five days of the festival.

Film Awards 2013

* 2013 – Best Feature Film
Worm
by Andrew Bowser * 2013 – Best Short Fiction Film: Fist of Jesus by David Munoz * 2013 – Best Experimental Short Film
Autoportrait: Presto con Amore
by Martin Messier

Music line-up 2013

= Wednesday

= * Nozinja * Jean-François Laporte "Rust" * Kiko C. Esseiva * Nicolas Bernier & Martin Messier "la chambre des machines" * Smegma & Kosuke Kawamura * Evil Moisture * Jean-François Laporte "Mantra"

= Thursday

= * Leif Elggren * Bryan Lewis Saunders * JG Thirlwell (Foetus):"Cholera Nocebo" * Jason Lescalleet * Aluk Todolo * Blackphone666

= Friday

= * Nate Young * FEN * Jello Biafra & Ravi Shardja & Anton Mobin * Sajjanu * Sugarcraft

= Saturday

= * Vomir * The Haxan Cloak * ENDON * Emptyset

2012: The Eleventh Edition

For the eleventh edition of the festival (October 17–21, 2012)

was invited to present his one Man show "

This Filthy World ''This Filthy World'' is a one-man show/documentary film by John Waters concerning his origins in the trash genre and his successful career navigating Hollywood. It was filmed at the Harry DeJour Playhouse in New York City in 2006. Synopsis Jeff G ...

", a vaudeville act that celebrates his film career and obsessional tastes, and to present a retrospective of four of his early films as well as a selection of four of his favorite films. Other retrospectives included works by Austrian filmmaker and writer

Christoph Schlingensief Christoph Maria Schlingensief (24 October 1960 – 21 August 2010) was a German theatre director, performance artist, and filmmaker. Starting as an independent underground filmmaker, Schlingensief later staged productions for theatres and festivals ...

, Richard Stanley and Dutch provocateur Edwin Brienen. The international competition included five feature films and 28 short films. 21 musical performances were held during the four concert nights, featuring artists such as Pain Jerk,

Brutal Truth Brutal Truth was an American grindcore band from New York City, formed by ex-Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, and Stormtroopers of Death bass guitarist Dan Lilker in 1990. The group disbanded in 1999, but reformed in 2006 and continued to release musi ...

, Fat32, rm, Blectum From Blechdom,

Kim Gordon Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...

Bill Nace Bill Nace is an American experimental guitarist from New Jersey. Nace has collaborated with Joe McPhee, Steve Gunn, Thurston Moore, Yoko Ono, Okkyung Lee, and Kim Gordon. With Gordon, Nace is part of the experimental electric guitar duo Body/H ...

, Maja S. K. Ratkje,

Ikue Mori (born 17 December 1953), also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, electronic musician, composer, and graphic designer. Mori was awarded a "Genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 2022. Biography Ikue Mori was born and raised in Japan. She ...

, Greg Pope, Gilles Aubry, Radian, Cellule d'Intervention Metamkine, Kevin Drumm, Thomas Ankersmit, Michael Esposito, Mattin,

Zeni Geva Zeni may refer to: * Zeni (letter), a letter of the Georgian alphabet * Zeni, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province, Iran * Zeni Husmani (born 1990), Macedonian footballer * Zeni (surname), surname See also * Zenigata Heiji , usual ...

, Arcangel Constantini, Yan Jun.

Film Awards 2012

* 2012 - Best Feature Film: Toad Road by Jason Banker * 2012 - Best Short Fiction Film: Boro in the Box by Bertrand Mandico * 2012 - Best Short Animation: Bobby Yeah by Robert Morgan * 2012 - Best Short Experimental: Six Hundred and Forty-one Slates by Don Swaynos

Music line-up 2012

= Wednesday

= * Yan Jun * Arcangel Constantini * Zeni Geva * MATTIN * Michael Esposito

= Thursday

= * Thomas Ankersmit * Kevin Drumm * Cellule d'intervention Metamkine * Radian, Marzouk & Barrier & Degouts * Gilles Aubry

= Friday

= * Greg Pope: "light trap" * Maja S. K. Ratkje & Ikue Mori * Body/Head: Kim Gordon & Bill Nace * Blectum From Blechdom * rm

= Saturday

= * FAT32 * Oi Polloi (censored by the authorities of the city of Lausanne) * Brutal Truth plays Robert Pietrowicz * Pain Jerk

2012: LUFF does TOKYO / FEEDBACK TOKYO

At the occasion of the tenth edition, the festival held a special anniversary edition in Tokyo, Japan through an exchange program line-up between the festival, the livehouse Super-Deluxe (Tokyo) and the team of dEnOISE events, Uplink Factory and Image Forum Festival. This one time only exchange was held from April 27 to May 4, 2012 and featured movies from Peter Liechti, Emmanuelle de Riedmatten, Stephan E. Hauser among many others. A website in Japanese, English and French was made for the occasion : http://tokyo.luff.ch.

Music line-up

= 27 April 2012 @ UPLINK

= * CINE-NOISE * Sachiko M plays on the movie The Magic of Decay... Decay of the Magic by Stefan E. Hauser

= 28 April 2012 @ Super-Deluxe (dEnOISE 4)

= * ic* Schimpfluch-Gruppe * OFFSEASON & Yudayajazz * Takashi Nemoto VS Kosuke Kawamura * Kleptomaniac + Atsuhiro Ito * Kuruucrew feat. Hair Stylistics * Pain Jerk feat. Taichi Nagura * Zbigniew Karkowski feat. Daniel Buess

= 29 April 2012 @ Super-Deluxe (dEnOISE 5)

= * Jim O'Rourke feat. Norber Möslang * ASTRO & Dave Phillips * Francisco Meirino * d'Incise * CARRE feat. Strotter Inst. * Kiko C. Esseiva * Hijokaidan feat. HIKO * MARUOSA vs Syndrome WPW * DJ Marc Robert

2011: The Tenth Edition

The tenth edition of the festival was held from October 19 to 23 2011.

Film Awards 2011

* 2011 - Best Short Feature Length Film: ''The Oregonian'' by Calvin Reeder * 2011 - Best Short Animation: ''Miss Candace Hilligoss’ Flickering Halo'' by Fabio Scacchioli & Vincenzo Core * 2011 - Best Short Experimental: ''Slick Horsing'' by Kiron Hussain

Music line-up 2011

= Spécial opening @ Les DOCKS

= * Diamanda Galas (organized with Les DOCKS as opening night the week-end before the festival.)

= Wednesday

= * David Dunn * Nurse With Wound * Z'ev * ART ERROR IST

= Thursday

= * Dragos Tara – PIXEL * Insub Meta Orchestra & Kasper T. Toeplitz – _INSUB_ * Chop Shop – OXIDE * Rudolf Eb.er * Hair Stylistics * Kasper T. Toeplitz

= Wednesday

= * Dorit Chrysler & Gibby Haynes * Borbetomagus * Lydia Luch & Les Aus * No Bra

= Thursday

= * Jazkamer * Astro + Reiko A. + PHROQ * The Skull Defekts * Antimatter & Zbigniew Karkowksi

= Friday

= * Fuckhead * Skindrone * Gert-Jan Prins * Kap Bambino * Sang Bleu

= Saturday

= * Ghislain Poirier * Sixtoo * Milanese * Cursor Miner * ic

2006: The Fifth Edition

The fifth edition of LUFF (October 11–15, 2006) featured a look at

Viennese Actionism Viennese Actionism was a short-lived art movement in the late 20th-century that spanned the 1960s into the 1970s. It is regarded as part of the independent efforts made during the 1960s to develop the issues of performance art, Fluxus, happening ...

, a retrospective on

Jonas Mekas Jonas Mekas (; December 24, 1922 – January 23, 2019) was a Lithuanian-American filmmaker, poet, and artist who has been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema". Mekas' work has been exhibited in museums and at festivals worldwi ...

, a program titled ''sXprmntl'' selected by Roland Lethem with films by Thierry Zéno, Philippe Caufriez, Patrice Bauduinet, and Patrick Hella, as well as a series by

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

. Musical events included Genesis P-Orridge,

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

John Duncan John Duncan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Duncan (painter) (1866–1945), Scottish painter * John Duncan (artist) (born 1953), American artist and musician * Big John Duncan (born 1958), Scottish punk musician * John Duncan (harpist) ...

, The Haters, Gabi Delgado, Kid 606, Spectre, and more.

Film Awards 2006

* 2006 - Best Feature: Threat by Matt Pizzolo and Katie Nisa * 2006 - Best Short Film: Memory Lapse by Scott Amos * 2006 - Best Experimental Film: Emerge (film) by Stephane Broc

Music line-up 2006

= Wednesday

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lausanne Underground Film And Music Festival Experimental film festivals Film festivals in Switzerland Underground film festivals Music festivals in Switzerland Film festivals established in 2002 Autumn events in Switzerland