The Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF) 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 ...

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 An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

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 The Rafto Foundation for Human Rights was established in 1986 in memory of Thorolf Rafto, a professor of economic history at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) and a human rights activist. The main objective of the Rafto Foundation is the promo ...

. 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 The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 194 ...

. * 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

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 Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov (Russian language, Russian/ tg, Бахтиёр Худойназаров, fa, بختیار خدای‌نظرف) (May 29, 1965 – April 21, 2015) was a film director, film producer, producer and screenwriter from Tajikistan. ...

* 2001:

Lagaan ''Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India'' () is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language sports drama film written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. The film was produced by Aamir Khan, who stars alongside debutant Gracy Singh and British actors Rachel Sh ...

, directed by

Ashutosh Gowariker Ashutosh Gowariker (born 15 February 1964) is an Indian film director, actor, screenwriter and producer who works in Hindi cinema. He is known for directing films "set on a huge canvas while boasting of an opulent treatment". His is particular ...

* 2002: Dog Days, directed by Ulrich Seidl * 2003:

Blind Shaft ''Blind Shaft'' () is a 2003 in film, 2003 film about a pair of brutal con artists operating in the illegal coal mines of present-day North China, northern China. The film was written and Film director, directed by Li Yang (director), Li Yang (� ...

, directed by Li Yang * 2004: Mysterious Skin, directed by Gregg Araki * 2005:

Frozen Land ''Frozen Land'' ( fi, Paha maa) is a 2005 Finnish drama film directed and written by Aku Louhimies starring Jasper Pääkkönen, Mikko Leppilampi and Pamela Tola. The film's plot is based on Leo Tolstoy's 1911 posthumously published story "The F ...

, 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 ''The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner'' is a 2008 Bulgarian drama-road film, co-produced with Slovenia, Germany and Hungary. Its original Bulgarian title is ''Светът е голям и спасение дебне отвся� ...

, 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

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 * 2005: The Boys of Baraka, directed by

Heidi Ewing Heidi Ewing is an American documentary filmmaker and the co-director of ''Jesus Camp'', '' The Boys of Baraka'', '' 12th & Delaware'', ''DETROPIA'', ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'' (Sundance Film Festival), '' One of Us'' (Toronto ...

and

Rachel Grady Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

* 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 ''Afghan Star'' is a reality television show competition that searches for the most talented singers across Afghanistan. The program broadcasts on the TOLO channel. ''Afghan Star'' premiered in 2005, four years after the fall of the Taliban, w ...

, 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 ''Pervert Park'' is a 2014 documentary film directed by Swedish-Danish filmmaking couple Frida and Lasse Barkfors. The film's focus is Palace Mobile Park in St. Petersburg, Florida, nicknamed "Pervert Park", which houses over 100 convicted sex ...

, 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 ''Minding the Gap'' is a 2018 documentary film directed by Bing Liu. It was produced by Liu and Diane Moy Quon through Kartemquin Films. It chronicles the lives and friendships of three young men growing up in Rockford, Illinois, united by th ...

, 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

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 ''Banaz: A Love Story'' is a 2012 documentary film directed and produced by Deeyah Khan. The film chronicles the life and death of Banaz Mahmod, a young British-Iraqi woman of Kurdish origin killed in 2006 in South London on the orders of her ...

, 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

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) ''Drone'' is a 2014 English-language documentary film directed by Norwegian director Tonje Hessen Schei. The film explores the use of Unmanned combat aerial vehicle, drones in warfare. ''Drone'' aired on the TV network Arte on , 2014. The document ...

, directed by

Tonje Hessen Schei Tonje Hessen Schei is a Norwegian film director, producer and screenwriter. She has directed the documentary film ''DRONE'' and ''Play Again'', and has directed and produced the films ''Independent Intervention'' and ''iHuman''. She produced ''P ...

* 2015:

The Hunting Ground ''The Hunting Ground'' is a 2015 American documentary film about the incidence of sexual assault on college campuses in the United States and the reported failure of college administrations to deal with it adequately. Written and directed by K ...

, directed by

Kirby Dick Kirby Bryan Dick (born August 23, 1952) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best known for directing documentary films. He received Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary Feature for directing ''Twist of Fait ...

* 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

The Golden Owl

Awarded by the

since 2014 to the best science documentary. The prize is 25,000 NOK. * 2014: How I Came to Hate Math, directed by

Olivier Peyon Olivier Peyon is a French screenwriter and film director, born in L'Haÿ-les-Roses, France, on January 23, 1969. Olivier Peyon grew up in the suburbs of Paris. He went to college in Nantes to study Economics then returned to Paris where he began ...

* 2015: Ice and the Sky, directed by

Luc Jacquet Luc Jacquet (born 5 December 1967) is a French film director and screenwriter. He wrote and directed the film ''March of the Penguins'', which won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2005 and received a nomination for the Writers Guild of ...

* 2016: Monster in the mind, directed by

Jean Carper Jean Carper (born 1932) is a ''New York Times'' best-selling author, an American medical journalist, contributing editor to ''USA Weekend'', and author of 24 books. Early life and education Jean Elinor Carper was born January 3, 1932, the daugh ...

* 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

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

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 * 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

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 Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. Born in Pingtung County of southern Taiwan, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. During his filmmaking career, he has received international critical and popula ...

* 2001: Das Experiment, directed by

Oliver Hirschbiegel Oliver Hirschbiegel (born 29 December 1957) is a German film director. His works include ''Das Experiment'' and the Oscar-nominated '' Downfall''. Life and career Hirschbiegel was born in Hamburg, Germany. A Waldorf graduate, Hirschbiegel stu ...

* 2002:

Bowling for Columbine ''Bowling for Columbine'' is a 2002 documentary film written, produced, directed, and narrated by Michael Moore. The film explores what Moore suggests are the primary causes for the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 and other acts of gun ...

, directed by Michael Moore * 2003: Kill Bill Vol. 1, directed by

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...

* 2004: Oldboy, directed by

Park Chan-wook Park Chan-wook ( ; born 23 August 1963) is a South Korean film director, screenwriter, producer, and former film critic. He is considered as one of the most prominent filmmakers of South Korean cinema as well as world cinema in 21st century. ...

* 2005: Sirkel, directed by Aleksander Nordaas * 2006:

The Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

, directed by

Stephen Frears Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...

* 2007: Fashion Victims, directed by Ingo Rasper * 2008: Young@Heart, directed by Stephen Walker * 2009: Bring Children from Streets, directed by Espen Faugstad and Eivind Nilsen * 2010: World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements, directed by Chris Farina * 2011: Bully, directed by Lee Hirsch * 2012:

Beasts of the Southern Wild ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'' is a 2012 American fantasy-drama film directed, co-written, and co-scored by Benh Zeitlin. It was adapted by Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar from Alibar's one-act play ''Juicy and Delicious''. The film stars Quvenzhané ...

, directed by

Benh Zeitlin Benjamin Harold Zeitlin (; born October 14, 1982) is an American filmmaker, best known for writing and directing the 2012 film '' Beasts of the Southern Wild'', for which he received two Academy Award nominations. Early life Zeitlin was born in ...

* 2013: Siblings are forever, directed by Frode Fimland * 2014: Good Girl, directed by Solveig Melkeraaen * 2015: Raped, directed by Linda Steinhoff * 2016: The Handmaiden, directed by Park Chan-wook * 2017: Call Me By Your Name, directed by Luca Guadagnino * 2018: En affære, directed by Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken * 2019:

Woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

, directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Anastasia Mikova

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 * 2005: Lost Children, directed by Oliver Stoltz * 2006: A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash, directed by Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack * 2007:

Sharkwater ''Sharkwater'' is a 2006 Canadian documentary film written and directed by Rob Stewart. Helping to protect sharks, changing government policy, and inspiring the creation of shark conservation groups, ''Sharkwater'' is considered one of conservati ...

, directed by Rob Stewart * 2008: Yodok Stories, directed by

Andrzej Fidyk Andrzej Fidyk (born in 1953, Warsaw) is a Polish documentary filmmaker, producer, and professor of the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Katowice. He is best known for work his 1989 documentary '' Defilada'' (''The Parade''), which depicts th ...

* 2009: The Cove, directed by Louie Psihoyos * 2010: Bogota Change, directed by Andreas Møl Dalsgaard * 2011: Bully, directed by Lee Hirsch * 2012:

5 Broken Cameras ''5 Broken Cameras'' ( ar, خمس كاميرات محطمة ''Khamas Kamīrāt Muḥaṭṭamah''; he, חמש מצלמות שבורות ''Hamesh Matslemot Shvurot'') is a 94-minute documentary film co-directed by Palestinian Emad Burnat and Israel ...

, directed by Emad Burnat & Guy Davidi * 2013: The Human Scale, directed by Andreas Dalsgaard * 2014: We Are the Giant, directed by

Greg Barker Greg Barker is an American filmmaker and producer. In 2011, ''The New York Times'' described Barker as “a filmmaker of artistic and political consequence.” Previous films include '' Sergio'' (short-listed in 2010 for the Academy Award for B ...

* 2015: The Mask You Live In, directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom * 2016: The Crossing, directed by George Kurian * 2017:

Plastic China ''Plastic China'' () is a 2016 Chinese documentary film depicting the lives of two families who make their living recycling plastic waste imported from developed countries. The film premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam ...

, directed by Jiuliang Wang * 2018: Silvana film), directed by Mika Gustafson, Olivia Kastebring, Christina Tsiobanelis * 2019:

Drag Kids ''Drag Kids'' is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Megan Wennberg and released in 2019. The film centres on Queen Lactatia, Laddy GaGa, Suzan Bee Anthony and Bracken Hanke, four young children from Canada, the United States and Europe who p ...

, directed by Megan Wennberg * 2020: Vinden Snur, directed by Kieran Kolle * 2021: Faceless, directed by Jennifer Ngo

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 * 2018: Thorvald Nilsen * 2019: ''Unknown'' * 2020: Selim Mutic * 2021: Benjamin Garcia Langeland

Best Scandinavian Music Video (discontinued)

Awarded 2010-2013. * 2010: Torgny - "The Only Game", directed by Emil Trier * 2011: Who Made Who - "Every Minute Alone", directed by William Stahl * 2012: Todd Terje - "Inspector Norse", directed by Kristoffer Borgli * 2013: The Knife - a Tooth for an Eye,

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

The Festival by year

* 2003 Bergen International Film Festival * 2009 Bergen International Film Festival *

2010 Bergen International Film Festival The 2010 Bergen International Film Festival was arranged in Bergen, Norway 20th-27 October 2010, and was the 11th edition of the festival. It featured over 150 feature films and documentaries, and had an attendance over 45,000, both numbers a new re ...

References

External links

Official site
{{Bergen International Film Festival Film festivals in Norway 2000 establishments in Norway Festivals in Bergen Film festivals established in 2000 Autumn events in Norway