From Wednesday 26.04 to Sunday 29/04, the friendly “Welcome Maniacs” appeared 49 times on the screens of Cinema Excelsior and Cinema Odeon. 43 international films were shown in accordance with the motto Fantastic Horror and Beyond shown at the third BRUGGGORE film festival in Brugg. The two Swiss exclusive presentation of Evil Dead Rise brought the Excelsior to capacity limits. The Saturday show was completely sold out.
Michel Frutig, festival director: “We are overtired and overwhelmed. The festival is growing and thriving at an astonishing rate. Many loyal fans from last year were there again. Many new ones have been added. The varied program is also attracting more and more cineasts who have little contact with horror films.”
From the five films in the Official Competition, the audience has the Norwegian film Good Boy selected by director Viljar Bøe. In a head-to-head race, he beat the four international competition films with a score of 7.2 out of 10 points and won the “Eye of the Beholder” award and CHF 5,000 prize money. In the film Good Boy, student Sigrid falls in love with the charming millionaire heir Christian. The romance seems perfect until it's revealed that Christian has a roommate. Frank, a grown man who dresses up and acts like a dog.
23 films were shown as Swiss premieres. In addition to the newly released films, the retrospective was also expanded. The silent movie classic Nosferatu was shown as a special performance and set to music live by virtuoso accordionist Goran Kovačević. In collaboration with the Brugger Documentary Film Days, the quirky documentary was A Life On The Farm presented. The Bernese KULTMOVIEGANG has the cult film The Barbarians (1987) and created a great atmosphere on site.
Sales figures for individual tickets have risen from 1,100 units in 2022 to 2,310 tickets this year. The BRUGGGORE Film Festival was thus able to more than double its audience figures. The flagging in the city of Brugg and information columns around the station also generated attention. On Saturday afternoon, cosplay fans dressed up as zombies and monsters crossed Neumarktplatz and made for astonished and amused faces. The strong ties with the region are very important to the festival committee. For example, an elaborate film was produced in Brugg, which was shown as an intro during the festival and is immediately available on YouTube. The production company Maybaum Film from Baden is responsible for the production.
The fourth edition of the BRUGGGORE Film Festival will take place from April 24 to 27, 2024.
