Festival Data:

• Established: 2002
• Genre: Experimental - New Media (click to see)
• Attendance: 8200

• Competitive
• Has Panels

Festival Website:

Festival Description:

Organized at the Swiss Film Archives in Lausanne, Switzerland annually, The Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival, or LUFF, is a film and music festival devoted to underground culture and to promoting innovative films and music that does not have the benefits of wide distribution. LUFF is a not-for-profit organization with an artistic mission firmly rooted in supporting and presenting experimental films and that do not have mainstream exposure. Films are screened during the day and evening, followed by live events featuring underground musicians at night

The film program selection is comprised of three international competitions: Short Narrative Films, Short Experimental Films and Feature Films. Three prizes (for a total amount of 8000 Swiss francs in 2006) are awarded by the festival, in order to support the filmmakers in creating their art. The festival program is rounded out with parallel programs that include Animated Short Films and Documentaries.

The Lausanne Underground Film Festival  began with the formation of the LUFF Association For The Promotion of Independent Cinema. The festival was originally called Underground Nights, which 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 (French) Cinémathèque suisse, for the first official edition of the Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival, drawing 4,000 spectators. The festival grew and in 2005,  8,000 spectators enjoyed the LUFF events.

LUFF continues to be a platform for emerging international artists, filmmakers and musician, while paying homage to great names of the underground like Nick Zedd, John Waters, Lloyd Kaufman, Ian Kerkhof, Kenneth Anger and the Kuchar brothers; and by organizing musical events featuring such artists as Jimi Tenor, Hanin Elias, Techno Animal, Chicks on Speed, Rhys Chatam, Pansonic and Alan Vega.