Originally called Underground Nights, the festival 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 the Swiss Film Archive, for the first official edition of the Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival, drawing 4,000 spectators. By 2013, the festival has drawn around 8000 spectators. By programming an international short and feature films competition while still paying homage to great names of the underground like Nick Zedd, John Waters, Lloyd Kaufman, Ian Kerkhof, Kenneth Anger, Jai Love 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, the LUFF programming now stretches beyond the Swiss borders.

2023: The Twenty-Second Edition^[3] edit

Took place from October 18 to 22, 2023, in Lausanne.

Film Awards 2023 edit

• Best Feature FIlm : Hello Dankness, Soda Jerk, Australia, 2023
• Best Short Experimental Films : Birth Proof, Alex Beriault, Germany, 2022 - ex-aequo with Terrifying Holes Compilation, Katherina Aae, Germany, 2021
• Best Short Fiction Film : Dva, Alexandra Karelina, Russia, 2023
• Best Short Animation Film : Tony’s Dilemma, Nathan Sonenfeld, U.S.A., 2023
• Best Short Documentary Film : The Lighting, Chihying Musquiqui, Taiwan, 2021
• Special Mention Short Documentary Film : Speed Date, Jan Soldat, Austria, 2023

2022: The Twenty-First Edition^[4] edit

Took place from October 19 to 23, 2022, in Lausanne.

Film Awards 2022 edit

• Best Feature Film : Jethica, Pete Ohs, U.S.A., 2022

• Special Mention Feature Film: Beathing Happy, Shane Brady, U.S.A., 2022
• Best Short Experimental Film: SileSilence, Jacques Perconte et Julien Desprez, France, 2022
• Special Mention Short Experimental Film: Enthusiasm, OJOBOCA, Germany, 2022
• Best Short Fiction Film : White Devil, Mariama Diallo, Benjamin Dickinson, U.S.A., 2021
• Best Short Animation Film : Mui, Weng Chon Wong, Macao, 2021
• Best Short Documentary Film : People enjoy my company, Frank Sweeney, Ireland, 2021

2021: The Twentieth Edition^[5] edit

Took place from October 20 to 24, 2021, in Lausanne.

Film Awards 2021 edit

• Best Feature Film : Sister Tempest, Joe Badon, U.S.A., 2020
• Best Short Experimental Film : Axis of Aion, Takashi Makino & Manuel Knapp, Japan/Austria, 2019
• Best Short Fiction Film : Bad Hair, Oskar Lehemaa, Estonia, 2019
• Special Mention Short Fiction Film : Stuffed, Theo Rhys, United Kingdom, 2021
• Best Short Animation Film : Ghost Dogs, Victoria Vincent, U.S.A., 2019
• Best Short Documentary Film : Just A Guy, Shoko Hars, Germany, 2020

2020: The Nineteenth Edition^[6] edit

Took place from October 14 to 18, 2020, in Lausanne.

Film Awards 2020 edit

• Best Feature Film : Playdurizm, Gem Deger, Czech Republic, 2020
• Best Short Experimental Film : Hitting My Head on the World, Anna Vasof, Austria, 2019
• Best Short Fiction Film : Museum of Fleeting Wonders, Tomás Gómez Bustillo, U.S.A., 2020
• Best Short Animation Film : Deep Love, Mykyta Lyskov, Ukraine, 2019
• Best Short Documentary Film : Isle of Tears, Boudai12, Hong Kong, 2019

2016: The Fifteenth Edition edit

Took place from October 19 to 23, 2016, in Lausanne.

2015: The Fourteenth Edition edit

Held from October 14 to 18 2015, it has attracted around 13'000 spectators during the five days of film screenings and four concert nights. Among the retrospective programs one dedicated to filmmaker Jeff Perkins presented his Movies for the Blind, a series of intensive recordings of interviews with passengers in his yellow cab from 1995 to 2002.^[7]

Film Awards 2015 edit

• 2015 - Best Feature Film: Felt by de Jason Banker
• 2015 - Best Short Fiction Film: Notre dame des hormones by Bertrand Mandico
• 2015 - Best Experimental Short Film: Rearranged by Ewa Górzna
• 2015 - Best Short Animation: Pandemonio by Valerio Spinelli
• 2015 - Best Short Documentary: Then Then Then by Daniel Shioler

Music line-up 2015 edit

Wednesday edit

• Ecoute la merde
• Jacob Kirkegaard plays Else Marie Pade,
• Anti-Ensemble: Imperial Dissolution
• Liturgy
• Jim Haynes

Thursday edit

• Nicolas Collins
• C. Spencer Yeh
• Marcus Schmickler
• Pedestrian Deposit
• Mei Zhiyong
• Denis Rollet

Friday edit

• Neutral
• Katsura Mouri
• Menace Ruine
• Sissy Spacek
• Lumisokea

Saturday edit

• e:ch feat. JinniL
• Sin:Ned feat. Laurent Valdès
• Maria Chavez
• Headwar
• Extreme Precautions
• Sly & The Family Drone

2014: The Thirteenth Edition edit

Was held from 15 to 19 October 2015.

Film Awards 2014 edit

• 2014 – Best Feature Film: Buzzard by Joel Potrykus, 2014, USA
• 2014 – Best Short Fiction Film (ex aequo): The Voice Thief by Adan Jodorowski, 2013, CHI, FRA, USA.
• 2014 – Best Short Fiction Film (ex aequo): Straight to Video by Elizabeth Vazquez, 2013, USA
• 2014 – Best Experimental Short Film: Kudryavka Little Ball of Fur by Pikku Kippura, 2013, FIN
• 2014 – Best Short Animation: Wawd Ahp, Stephen Girard, 2013, USA

Music line-up 2014 edit

Wednesday edit

• Morton Subotnick
• Gordon Monahan: "Speaker Swinging"
• Keith Fullerton Whitman & Mark Fell
• Cédric Dambrain

Thursday edit

• Bryan Lewis Saunders & John Duncan
• Tetsuo Furudate
• Aaron Dilloway
• Robert Curgenven
• Les Belles Noiseuses

Friday edit

• Dalglish
• Winter Family
• Mohammad
• Cadaver Eyes
• G*Park

Saturday edit

• Mario de Vega
• Cobra
• Dustbreeders & Junko
• Black Zenith
• Kuro Pipe

2013: The Twelfth Edition edit

The twelfth edition of the festival (October 16 to 20 2013) featured a total of 98 films. Retrospective programs featured works by Japanese surrealist filmmaker Katsu Kanai, French actor-filmmaker Pierre Clémenti, French punk author, musician and filmmaker F. J. Ossang [fr], Russian independent filmmaker Andrey Iskanov [ru], Polish filmmaker Walerian Borowczyk and Belgian filmmaker Marcel Broodthaers as well as a carte blanche program to Jello Biafra. The international film competition included five feature films and 18 short films.^[8] The music part included 24 concerts for the total of four concert nights. The program presented sets by artists such as Emptyset, Endon, The Haxan Cloak, Vomir, Kracoon, Sugar Craft, Sajjanu, Jello Biafra, Fen (Far East Network: Otomo Yoshihide, Ryu Hankil, Yuen Chee Wal, Yan Jun), Nate Young, Blackphone666, Aluk Todolo, Jason Lescalleet, JG Thirwell, Bryan Lewis Saunders, Leif Elggren, Jean-François Laporte, Evil Moisture, Smegma, Nicolas Bernier & Martin Messier, Kiko C. Esseiva and DJ Nozinja.^[9] A total of 58 artists (musicians and filmmakers) were present during the five days of the festival to present their works.

The twelfth edition of the Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival also proposed a range of workshops, aiming to introduce spectators to new or little known artistic techniques. The five workshops were held by artists such as the South-African group Shangaan Dance, Japanese decoupage artist Kosuke Kawamura, Canadian experimental musician Jean-François Laporte, Japanese noise musician Endon and French musician and artist Andy Bolus.

The program of the festival also included an off part featuring the festival's own radio station (LUFF.FM), expositions and various artistic performances all through the five days of the festival.

Film Awards 2013 edit

• 2013 – Best Feature Film: Worm by Andrew Bowser
• 2013 – Best Short Fiction Film: Fist of Jesus by David Munoz
• 2013 – Best Experimental Short Film: Autoportrait: Presto con Amore by Martin Messier

Music line-up 2013 edit

Wednesday edit

• Nozinja
• Jean-François Laporte "Rust"
• Kiko C. Esseiva
• Nicolas Bernier & Martin Messier "la chambre des machines"
• Smegma & Kosuke Kawamura
• Evil Moisture
• Jean-François Laporte "Mantra"

Thursday edit

• Leif Elggren
• Bryan Lewis Saunders
• JG Thirlwell (Foetus):"Cholera Nocebo"
• Jason Lescalleet
• Aluk Todolo
• Blackphone666

Friday edit

• Nate Young
• FEN
• Jello Biafra & Ravi Shardja & Anton Mobin
• Sajjanu
• Sugarcraft

Saturday edit

• Vomir
• The Haxan Cloak
• ENDON
• Emptyset

2012: The Eleventh Edition edit

For the eleventh edition of the festival (October 17–21, 2012) John Waters was invited to present his one Man show "This Filthy World", a vaudeville act that celebrates his film career and obsessional tastes, and to present a retrospective of four of his early films as well as a selection of four of his favorite films. Other retrospectives included works by Austrian filmmaker and writer Christoph Schlingensief, Richard Stanley and Dutch provocateur Edwin Brienen. The international competition included five feature films and 28 short films. 21 musical performances were held during the four concert nights, featuring artists such as Pain Jerk, Brutal Truth, Fat32, rm, Blectum From Blechdom, Kim Gordon, Bill Nace, Maja S. K. Ratkje, Ikue Mori, Greg Pope, Gilles Aubry, Radian, Cellule d'Intervention Metamkine, Kevin Drumm, Thomas Ankersmit, Michael Esposito, Mattin, Zeni Geva, Arcangel Constantini, Yan Jun.^[10]

Film Awards 2012 edit

• 2012 – Best Feature Film: Toad Road by Jason Banker
• 2012 – Best Short Fiction Film: Boro in the Box by Bertrand Mandico
• 2012 – Best Short Animation: Bobby Yeah by Robert Morgan
• 2012 – Best Short Experimental: Six Hundred and Forty-one Slates by Don Swaynos

Music line-up 2012 edit

Wednesday edit

• Yan Jun
• Arcangel Constantini
• Zeni Geva
• MATTIN
• Michael Esposito

Thursday edit

• Thomas Ankersmit
• Kevin Drumm
• Cellule d'intervention Metamkine
• Radian, Marzouk & Barrier & Degouts
• Gilles Aubry

Friday edit

• Greg Pope: "light trap"
• Maja S. K. Ratkje & Ikue Mori
• Body/Head: Kim Gordon & Bill Nace
• Blectum From Blechdom
• rm

Saturday edit

• FAT32
• Oi Polloi (censored by the authorities of the city of Lausanne)
• Brutal Truth plays Robert Pietrowicz
• Pain Jerk

2012: LUFF does TOKYO / FEEDBACK TOKYO edit

At the occasion of the tenth edition, the festival held a special anniversary edition in Tokyo, Japan through an exchange program line-up between the festival, the livehouse Super-Deluxe (Tokyo) and the team of dEnOISE events, Uplink Factory and Image Forum Festival. This one time only exchange was held from April 27 to May 4, 2012 and featured movies from Peter Liechti, Emmanuelle de Riedmatten, Stephan E. Hauser among many others. A website in Japanese, English and French was made for the occasion : http://tokyo.luff.ch.

Music line-up edit

27 April 2012 @ UPLINK edit

• CINE-NOISE
• Sachiko M plays on the movie The Magic of Decay... Decay of the Magic by Stefan E. Hauser

28 April 2012 @ Super-Deluxe (dEnOISE 4) edit

• [sic]
• Schimpfluch-Gruppe
• OFFSEASON & Yudayajazz
• Takashi Nemoto VS Kosuke Kawamura
• Kleptomaniac + Atsuhiro Ito
• Kuruucrew feat. Hair Stylistics
• Pain Jerk feat. Taichi Nagura
• Zbigniew Karkowski feat. Daniel Buess

29 April 2012 @ Super-Deluxe (dEnOISE 5) edit

• Jim O'Rourke feat. Norber Möslang
• ASTRO & Dave Phillips
• Francisco Meirino
• d'Incise
• CARRE feat. Strotter Inst.
• Kiko C. Esseiva
• Hijokaidan feat. HIKO
• MARUOSA vs Syndrome WPW
• DJ Marc Robert

2011: The Tenth Edition edit

The tenth edition of the festival was held from October 19 to 23 2011.^[11]

Film Awards 2011 edit

• 2011 - Best Short Feature Length Film: The Oregonian by Calvin Reeder
• 2011 - Best Short Animation: Miss Candace Hilligoss’ Flickering Halo by Fabio Scacchioli & Vincenzo Core
• 2011 - Best Short Experimental: Slick Horsing by Kiron Hussain

Music line-up 2011 edit

Spécial opening @ Les DOCKS edit

• Diamanda Galas (organized with Les DOCKS as opening night the week-end before the festival.)

Wednesday edit

• David Dunn
• Nurse With Wound
• Z'ev
• ART ERROR IST

Thursday edit

• Dragos Tara – PIXEL
• Insub Meta Orchestra & Kasper T. Toeplitz – _INSUB_
• Chop Shop – OXIDE
• Rudolf Eb.er
• Hair Stylistics
• Kasper T. Toeplitz

Friday edit

• Diversion I: Gudrun Gut, Jou, Pierre Audétat, Bacalao
• Thiaz Itch
• Kuruucrew
• Maruosa

Saturday edit

• Pivixki + Marco Fusinato
• Alva Noto
• Byetone
• Broken Note

2010: The Ninth Edition edit

The tenth edition of the festival was held from October 20 to 24 2010.

Film Awards 2010 edit

• 2010 - Best Short Fiction Film: You're the Stranger Here by Tom Geens
• 2010 - Best Short Animation: Oranus by Jelena Girlin and Mari-Liis Bassovskaja
• 2010 - Best Short Experimental: M by Felix Dufour-Laperriere

Music line-up 2010 edit

Wednesday edit

• Michael Gendreau
• Valerio Tricoli
• The sons of god
• Carl-Michael von Hausswolff
• Robert Piotrowicz

Thursday edit

• Monster War
• Gerritt Wittmer
• Ramleh
• Hijokaidan
• Evol
• Tujiko Noriko + Lawrence English + John Chantler (@ Le Bourg)

Friday edit

• Gu Guai Xing Qiu
• Discharge
• Incapacitants
• Les Trucs
• GTUK

Saturday edit

• Fennesz
• Oneohtrix Point Never
• Starkey
• Enduser + Nicolas Chevreux
• Cindy Talk, Bruce Gilbert (@ Le Bourg)
• rm (@ Le Bourg)

2009: The Eighth Edition edit

This edition was held from October 14 to 18 2009

Music line-up 2009 edit

Wednesday edit

• Chikanari Shukuka
• The Haters
• Damion Romero
• Michael Gendreau
• rm

Thursday edit

• Oren Ambarchi & Robbie Avenaim
• Tony Conrad & Keiji Haino
• Sister Iodine
• Norbert Möslang
• rm

Friday edit

• Kania Tieffer
• Ben Et Béné
• Planningtorock
• OFFSEASON
• Jankenpopp
• Unas

Saturday edit

• Solid Black Night
• Sunn O
• Scorn
• Jamie Vex'd
• King Cannibal

2008: The Seventh Edition edit

Held from October 15 to 19 2008.

Music line-up 2008 edit

Wednesday edit

• Zeek Sheck
• MoHa !
• Joe Colley
• Skullflower
• Deathroes
• Tralphaz

Thursday edit

• Ilios
• Sum or R
• Haswell & Hecker
• Corrupted with Tsurisaki Kiyotaka
• Dave Phillips

Friday edit

• Daniel Buess & Zbigniew Karkowksi
• Charlemagne Palestine
• Karl Lemieux Project
• Jackie O'Motherfucker
• DJ Elephant Power

Saturday edit

• Opérateur Fotokopieur
• Jean-Jacques Perrey & David Chazam
• Radioactive Man
• Tara Delong
• DJ Scotch Egg (canceled)
• Eat Rabbit

2007: The Sixth Edition edit

Held from October 10 to 14 in Swiss Film Archive, Arsenic and Zinéma.

Music line-up 2007 edit

Wednesday edit

• Dorit Chrysler & Gibby Haynes
• Borbetomagus
• Lydia Luch & Les Aus
• No Bra

Thursday edit

• Jazkamer
• Astro + Reiko A. + PHROQ
• The Skull Defekts
• Antimatter & Zbigniew Karkowksi

Friday edit

• Fuckhead
• Skindrone
• Gert-Jan Prins
• Kap Bambino
• Sang Bleu

Saturday edit

• Ghislain Poirier
• Sixtoo
• Milanese
• Cursor Miner
• [sic]

2006: The Fifth Edition edit

The fifth edition of LUFF (October 11–15, 2006) featured a look at Viennese Actionism, a retrospective on Jonas Mekas, a program titled sXprmntl selected by Roland Lethem with films by Thierry Zéno, Philippe Caufriez, Patrice Bauduinet, and Patrick Hella, as well as a series by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Musical events included Genesis P-Orridge, Lydia Lunch, John Duncan, The Haters, Gabi Delgado, Kid 606, Spectre, and more.

Film Awards 2006 edit

• 2006 - Best Feature: Threat by Matt Pizzolo and Katie Nisa
• 2006 - Best Short Film: Memory Lapse by Scott Amos
• 2006 - Best Experimental Film: Emerge (film) by Stephane Broc

Music line-up 2006 edit

Wednesday edit

• Thee Majety
• Neue Weltumfassende Resistance
• Lydia Lunch: real pornography
• Antoine Chessex

Thursday edit

• The Haters
• John Duncan
• S.S.S. with Atau Tanaka
• Randy H.Y. Yau
• Scott Arford
• Infrasound
• Column One
• The MERJ Experience presents MATIERE

Friday edit

• Felix Kubin and Pia Burnette
• Superalisa
• Quintron & Miss Pussycat
• Kissogram
• Egotronic
• Live video by la SUPERMAFIA

Saturday edit

• KID 606
• DJ Rupture + Filastine
• Shadow Huntaz
• Sensational + Kouheikoyxen + Spectre
• Hidden_K

2005: The Fourth Edition edit

October 12 to 16 2005

Film Awards 2005 edit

• 2005 - Best Feature: Die You Zombie bastards ! by Caleb Emerson
• 2005 - Best Short Film: Clean by Geoffrey Engelbrecht
• 2005 - Best Experimental Film: Grau by Robert Seidl and Fiddler's Green by Jean-Claude Campell and Marco Bowald

Music line-up 2005 edit

Wednesday edit

• Masonna
• Zbigniew Karkowski + Atsuko Nojiri
• Daniel Menche
• Dear Daniel & Michael...
• Dave Phillips
• Sudden Infant
• Justice Yeldham & the Dynamic Ribbon Device
• G*Park

Thursday edit

• Francisco Meirino
• Francisco Lopez
• Pita & Jade
• Vladislav Delay
• Mystery Frequency

Friday edit

• The Licks
• Etant Donnés
• Alan Vega
• Melt-Banana
• James d'O

Saturday edit

• Jo la Noize
• Syndrome WPW
• Special Event: A*Class (Gina V. D'Orio vs Patric Catani, ex EC8OR)
• DAT Politics
• Candie Hank aka Patric Catani
• Deknoid

2004: The Third Edition edit

October 13 to 17 2004

Music line-up 2004 edit

Wednesday edit

• Dolores Dewberry
• Jean-Louis Costes Show
• Tujiko Noriko
• Whitehouse
• PHROQ

Thursday edit

• Les poissons autistes
• Pan Sonic
• Merzbow
• Hecate

Friday edit

• Disco Doom
• Rhys Chatham project
• Tempsion
• DJ's ZOB + ESC

Saturday edit

• Surprise Tricycle Evolutif: Wild Guy
• Mignon
• Jacqui & Flow
• Chicks on Speed

2003 : The Second Edition edit

October 8 to 12 2003

Music line-up 2003 edit

Wednesday edit

• Reverse Engineering
• Techno Animal
• Asifuoxyd
• DJ ZOB + ESC

Thursday edit

• Kunst
• Fatal: Hanin Elias+C.H.I.F.F.R.E.+Philipp Virus
• DJ Lincé

Friday edit

• Performance cinématographique
• Monno
• Dermehr Gauner

Saturday edit

• Digitaline
• Mouse on Mars
• DJ Sonja Moonear

2002: The First Edition edit

The first edition of the festival was held from June 5 to 9 2002.

Music line-up 2002 edit

Wednesday edit

• Jimi Tenor

Thursday edit

• "Plug me in" music by Add N To (x)
• Nimby
• Hexstatic
• Lektrogirl
• DJ Jobot

Friday edit

• Otaslogi.c
• Scanner
• Kippu

Saturday edit

• The Never Evers
• One Dimensional Man
• DJ Lars

• New York Underground Film Festival
• (in French) Category:Festival de cinéma en Suisse
• (in French) Category:Cinéma expérimental
• (in French) Category:Film underground
• (in French) Category:Lausanne

• Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival, official site