The 50th celebration of Rotterdam Film Festival (IFFR) will take place in two parts, kicking off in the first week of February followed a physical event from June 2-6, 2021,
A light-hearted comedy opener seems fitting for this special edition: Anders Thomas Jensen’s Riders of Justice stars Mads Mikkelsen and Nicolaj Lie Kaas. The first week of the festival is dedicated to The Tiger Competition this year feature 16 titles (a larger competition line-up for the future) , Big Screen Competition and its Ammodo Tiger Shorts and Limelight sections which will see 60 titles taking part. Other talent in competition includes Benoît Jacquot, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Mosese, Dea Kulumbegashvili and Nicolás Jaar.
The Tiger Competition winner will be announced on 7 February by a (virtual) jury headed this year by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese joining IDFA’s artistic director Orwa Nyrabia, visual artist and filmmaker Hala Elkoussy, critic Helena van der Meulen and film producer Ilse Hughan.
Taking over from IFFR’s artistic director Beyro Beyer, Vanja Kaludjercic has faced a challenging year where filmmakers “have gone above and beyond to complete works in challenging circumstances, and there has been no shortage of great films looking for a home at IFFR”.
Once again the selection aims to ‘encapsulate IFFR’s spirit as a platform for the discovery of visions that pique our curiosity and capture our imagination. The sheer determination of these striking new voices is exhilarating, and I’m proud that we can bring an outstanding selection to our film-loving audiences in new ways that captivate the collective spirit.”
This is reflected in the one-off festival re-design in response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which is expected to keep much of Europe under full or partial lockdown in the early months of 2021. In a very welcome move, IFFR has awarded US director First Cow director Kelly Reichardt the festival’s honorary Robby Müller Award named after the late Dutch cinematographer and granted to a filmmaker who has ”created authentic, credible and emotionally striking visual language throughout their work”. The festival has been a platform for her features Old Joy, Meek’s Cutoff and Wendy And Lucy.
TIGER COMPETITION | 1-7 FEBRUARY 2021
Agate Mousse (Lebanon) world premiere
Dir. Selim Mourad
Bebia, à mon seul désir (Georgia, UK) world premiere
Dir. Juja Dobrachkous
Bipolar (China) world premiere
Dir. Queena Li
Black Medusa (Tunisia) world premire
Dir. ismaël, Youssef Chebbi
A Corsican Summer (France) world premiere
Dir. Pascal Tagnat
The Edge of Daybreak (Thailand/Switzerland) world premiere
Dir. Taiki Sakpisit
Feast (Netherlands) world premiere
Dir. Tim Leyendekker
Friends and Strangers (Australia) world premiere
Dir. James Vaughan
Gritt (Norway) international premiere
Dir, Itonje Søimer Guttormsen
Landscapes of Resistance (Serbia/Germany/France) world premiere
Dir. Marta Popivoda
Liborio (Dominican Republic/Puerto Rico/Qatar) world premiere
Dir. Nino Martínez Sosa
Looking for Venera ( Kosovo/Macedonia) world premiere
Dir. Norika Sefa, 2021
Madalena
Dir. Madiano Marcheti
Mayday (US) international premiere
Dir, Karen Cinorre
Mighty Flash (Spain) world premiere
Dir. Ainhoa Rodríguez
BIG SCREEN Competition
Archipel (Canada) world premiere
Dir. Félix Dufour-Laperrière
Aristocrats (Japan) international premiere
Dir. Sode Yukiko
As We Like It (Taiwan) world premiere
Dir. Chen Hung-i & Muni Wei.
Aurora (Costa Rica, Mexico) world premiere
Dir. Paz Fábrega
Carro Rei (Brazil) world premiere
Dir. Renata Pinheiro
The Cemil Show (Turkey) world premiere
Dir. Bariş Sarhan
Drifting (Hong Kong) world premiere
Dir. Li Jun
The Harbour (India), world premiere
Dir. Rajeev Ravi
The Last Farmer (India) world premiere
Dir. M. Manikandan
Lone Wolf (Australia) world premiere
Dir. Jonathan Ogilvie
The North Wind (Russia) world premiere
Dir. Renata Litvinova
El perro que no calla (Argentina) European premiere
Dir. Ana Katz
Sexual Drive (Japan) world premiere
Dir. Yoshida Kota
Les Sorcières de l’Orient (France) world premiere
Dir. Julien Faraut
The Year Before the War (Latvia) world premiere
Dir. Dāvis Sīmanis
Limelight (World Premieres)
Dead & Beautiful (Netherlands, Taiwan) world premiere
Dir. David Verbeek
Mitra (Netherlands) world premiere
Dir. Kaweh Modiri
IFFR | 1-7 FEBRUARY | 2-6 JUNE 2021