Rotterdam Film Festival: 10 World Premieres Announced
The 56th edition of IFFR will screen ten new features in January and February, including a Nepalese adaptation of Dostoevsky.
By Chloe Zhao ·
International Film Festival Rotterdam announced its first batch of ten world premieres on Wednesday. The festival's 56th edition takes place from Jan. 28 to Feb. 7. The selected titles will appear in the Bright Future and Harbour sections of the program.
The Harbour section focuses on established and emerging voices. Kiluanji Kia Henda returns with the Angolan film “Karl Marx, Luanda.” His previous work, “Resetting Birds’ Memories,” screened at the festival in 2021. Kyros Papavassiliou is also back with “Yiannis.” His 2015 film “Impressions of a Drowned Man” competed for the Tiger Award.
Rita Hui Nga Shu returns with “The Lapse.” Her film “Decameron” premiered in 2021. The Harbour selection also includes “Ali and Ben’s Spicy Meats,” a Malaysian horror-comedy directed by siblings Iskander and Feisal Azizuddin. Omer Shamir directs the documentary “Waiting Room,” a portrait of a Palestinian photojournalist and his family in exile in Egypt.
The Bright Future section presents five feature-length debuts. The festival describes these films as offering markedly different approaches to storytelling. The subjects range from fairy tales to political dramas. Parbat Chapagai adapts Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” into “Portrait of a Young Criminal.” The film is set in small-town Nepal and features a destitute tutor and a teenage sex worker.
Ben Hicks directs “Kids Go Free,” a story told over 15 years across three countries. Lucila Las Heras presents “The Muglur,” a dark fairy tale involving a Faustian pact. Mohamed El Zayat directs “In the Name of Galeela,” an Egyptian ensemble drama about a community protecting a blind grandmother’s hope for pilgrimage. Ali Bakhtiari directs “Tehran the Obscure Atelier of Desire,” a documentary about artists in Tehran.
Vanja Kaludjercic, the festival director, commented on the selection in a statement. “Cinema is at its most exciting when it challenges our expectations, when filmmakers find new ways to express experiences, contradictions and realities that resist easy answers,” Kaludjercic said. “These first 10 films already offer a glimpse of that incredible range, from the playful and provocative to the intimate and politically urgent.”
The full program for the 56th edition will be released on Dec. 16. The festival has not yet announced additional titles outside this initial wave of ten. The selection includes films from Mexico, Argentina, Egypt, the U.S., Taiwan, Japan, Nepal, Angola, Portugal, Malaysia, France, the U.K., Iran, Cyprus, and Greece.
Filmmakers in the Bright Future section are introducing new narratives to the international stage. The Harbour section balances returning directors with first-time features from new voices. The mix includes satire, documentary, and literary adaptation. The festival aims to showcase work that resists easy categorization.
Source: Variety
