Immediately after the Easter weekend, from Tuesday to Saturday, April 22 to 26, 2025, “Welcome Maniacs” will once again be shown on the screens of Cinema Odeon and Cinemas Excelsior in Brugg. For the fifth time, Brugg will be transformed into a German-speaking Swiss paradise of fantastic cinema and will welcome guests from all over Switzerland and neighboring countries. The additional festival day offers the opportunity to watch even more international films in the area of “fantastic horror and beyond”, including a variety of Swiss premieres and a season special that deals thematically with people and their often questionable treatment of the environment.
Cleared, bred, contaminated or genetically modified: Humanity has always intervened in nature as it sees fit, regardless of short, medium or long-term effects. Not a day goes by when we don't read about minor and major natural disasters. Achieving internationally agreed climate goals seems increasingly utopian in the face of wars, populist political trends and the return to protectionism. Even worse: A surprisingly large proportion of humanity still does not accept that there is a global (climate) problem at all. On the other hand, it is accepted that rainforests are being cleared to plant fodder for the meat industry, that further nuclear power plants are being built to ensure a supposedly independent energy supply, or that the genetics of seeds and organisms are being interfered with in order to optimize them and make them more resistant to diseases, pests and climate changes.
But what happens when nature has had enough and can no longer? When the “tipping point” is reached? In the history of cinema, this question has been addressed in the genre of eco-horror (also known as “environmental horror”). In the season special “Nature's Tipping Point”, we are showing a selection of five thematically appropriate films. We give nature a stage on which it can fight back loudly, brutally and visually — to the suffering of the characters who are overwhelmed by the forces of nature.
A film festival with only five annual rings is still considered a young tree. Nevertheless, this is a reason for the volunteer foresters to celebrate. Tireless efforts and a pinch of megalomania have allowed the BRUGGGORE Film Festival to flourish quickly. Far beyond the national border, there is no horror event with a comparably dense program. The festival is constantly evolving and also offers non-horror fans a varied program and retrospectives away from the mainstream.
On the occasion of the anniversary, the festival will have a fifth day of events in 2025. 50 international feature films will be shown, five of them as part of the “Official Competition”. As always, the audience will choose the winning film from this. 5,000 francs in prize money and the “Eye of the Beholder” award will be presented to the director of the winning film as a highlight at the end of the festival at the award ceremony.
