Celebrating its 54th Anniversary, the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) takes place from 30th January until 9th of February 2025 with thirteen premieres competing for the top prize in THE TIGER COMPETITION.
Wondrous is the Silence of My Master (2025)
Dir: Ivan Salatic | Montenegro | 131’
Ivan Salatić’s striking and cerebral drama finds the leader of a small group of 19th-century Montenegrin rebels forced to retreat to warmer climes in southern Italy in order to cure himself of tuberculosis. But in doing so, he longs for his homeland.
Wind, Talk to Me (2025)
Dir: Stefan Djordjevic | Serbia | 100’
Stefan Djordjevic originally planned to make a film about his ailing mother, but following her death he shifted focus to encompass his whole family with this profoundly moving first feature, which sees him return home to the warm embrace of his loved ones.
Vivital
Noëlle Bastin | Baptiste Bogaert | Belgium | 109’
Noëlle Bastin and Baptiste Bogaert’s gloriously dry comedy, which finds two cops attempting to calm local villager’s concerns over an increasing number of suicides in their otherwise peaceful community, is also a disarming and frequently charming portrait of country life.
Tears in Kuala Lumpur (2025)
Dir: Ridhwan Saidi | Malaysia | 100’
Inspired by the iconic Malaysian singer and actor P. Ramlee, Ridhwan Saidi’s contemplative paean to Kuala Lumpur surveys a relationship that has ended through ruminative recollections that exist somewhere between a memory and a dream, while the city remains in a constant state of architectural and cultural change.
First Person Plural (2025)
Dir: Sandro Aguilar | Portugal | 119’
Mateus and Irene plan to celebrate their wedding anniversary at a tropical retreat, but are separated on the eve of their departure, and forced to question their relationship and how they relate to their troubled son, in this enigmatic and strikingly beautiful third feature from Sandro Aguilar.
Perla (2025)
Dir: Alexandra Markarov | Austria |
Perla, a gifted painter with an equally talented musician daughter, is living comfortably in early-1980s Vienna when she receives a call that rejuvenates ghosts from her past in communist Czechoslovakia, and she must risk everything in order to move on with her life.
In My Parents House (2025)
Dir: Tim Ellrich | Germany | 95’
A therapist whose interests lie in alternative ways to help the sick and infirm is forced to balance the demands of her professional life with those of her ageing parents and older brother, in Tim Ellrich’s sensitive but uncompromising drama.
Guo Ran (2025)
Dir: Li Dongmei | China | 90’
In Li Dongmei’s chamber drama, a young couple live in a small apartment in the city. He earns little and she’s pregnant. Through their brief exchanges and moments of solitude, it becomes clear that their relationship has, without realising, edged towards crisis point.
The Great History of Western Philosophy (2025)
Dir: Aria Covamonas | Mexico | 73’
In Aria Covamonas’ scabrously funny satire, combining animation styles that blend pop and political imagery with a fantastical, painterly aesthetic, societal foundations are rocked to the core as a cosmic animator is forced, under Chairman Mao’s watchful gaze, to make a film about Western philosophy.
Fiume o Morte! (2025)
Dir: Igor Bezinović | Croatia |
Through dramatic reconstruction and documentary asides, Igor Bezinović captures the spirit of Italian poet, playwright, journalist, aristocrat and army officer Gabriele D’Annunzio, and the nascent fascism in his attempts to forge a new state in the aftermath of the First World War.
Blind Love (2025)
Dir: Julian Chu | Taiwan | 145’
An unexpected kiss unburies memories and longing for Shu-yi, a mother quietly holding her family together despite her unhappiness. As her rebelling son Han grows drawn to the enigmatic Xue-jin, Shu-yi rekindles her past connection with the same woman in this tenderly crafted exploration of family dynamics, identity and desire.
Bad Girl (2025)
Dir: Varsha Barath | India | 115’
From her journey through high school and college, then out into the wider world, Ramya’s dream of finding the perfect guy is obstructed by societal mores, strict parents, unrequited love and the untrammelled chaos of her own mind, in Varsha Bharath’s naughty and affecting comedy.
The Tree of Authenticity (2025)
Dir: Sammy Baloji | Democratic Republic of Congo | 75’
Photographer and visual artist Sammy Baloji’s fascinating film essay explores the Democratic Republic of Congo’s colonial history and its ecological significance. Drawing on research from the 1930s, the film highlights the Congo Basin’s vital role in consuming carbon dioxide and shaping global environmental balance over a century.
IFFR FROM 30 JANUARY UNTIL 9 FEBRUARY 2025 | featuringTHE TIGER, BIG SCREEN AND TIGER SHORTS COMPETITIONS