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.

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. 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.

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.

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 🇹🇯
 * 2001: Lagaan, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker 🇮🇳
 * 2002: Dog Days, directed by Ulrich Seidl 🇦🇹
 * 2003: Blind Shaft, directed by Li Yang 🇨🇳
 * 2004: Mysterious Skin, directed by Gregg Araki 🇺🇸
 * 2005: Frozen Land, 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, 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  🇮🇹
 * 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 and Rachel Grady 🇺🇸
 * 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, 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, 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, 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, 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), directed by Tonje Hessen Schei 🇳🇴
 * 2015: The Hunting Ground, directed by Kirby Dick 🇺🇸
 * 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 🇨🇦 🇦🇫 Afghanistan
 * 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 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 🇫🇷
 * 2015: Ice and the Sky, directed by Luc Jacquet 🇫🇷
 * 2016: Monster in the mind, directed by Jean Carper 🇺🇸
 * 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 🇨🇳
 * 2001: Das Experiment, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel 🇩🇪
 * 2002: Bowling for Columbine, directed by Michael Moore 🇺🇸
 * 2003: Kill Bill Vol. 1, directed by Quentin Tarantino 🇺🇸
 * 2004: Oldboy, directed by Park Chan-wook 🇰🇷 South Korea
 * 2005: Sirkel, directed by Aleksander Nordaas 🇳🇴
 * 2006: The Queen, directed by Stephen Frears
 * 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, directed by Benh Zeitlin 🇺🇸
 * 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, 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, directed by Rob Stewart 🇨🇦
 * 2008: Yodok Stories, directed by Andrzej Fidyk 🇳🇴
 * 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, directed by Emad Burnat & Guy Davidi 🇵🇸
 * 2013: The Human Scale, directed by Andreas Dalsgaard
 * 2014: We Are the Giant, directed by Greg Barker 🇺🇸
 * 2015: The Mask You Live In, directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom 🇺🇸
 * 2016: The Crossing, directed by George Kurian 🇳🇴
 * 2017: Plastic China, directed by Jiuliang Wang
 * 2018: Silvana film), directed by Mika Gustafson, Olivia Kastebring, Christina Tsiobanelis 🇸🇪
 * 2019: Drag Kids, 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 🇰🇷 South Korea

The Festival by year

 * 2003 Bergen International Film Festival
 * 2009 Bergen International Film Festival
 * 2010 Bergen International Film Festival