IFFR UNVEILS FIRST SELECTIONS FOR 2025 EDITION’S FILM PROGRAMME

The 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has unveiled the first wave programming selections for its upcoming event, taking place from 30 January – 9 February, 2025. These 13 titles span the Bright Future and Harbour programming strands and will each have their world premiere at IFFR.

Vanja Kaludjercic, IFFR Festival Director (pictured, below), said: “One of the biggest joys of curating IFFR is working with our team of programmers to create a line-up that showcases the breadth of cinematic experiences and a multitude of perspectives – and our first selection of titles demonstrates our commitment to this ambition.”

IFFR’s Bright Future selection of feature-length debuts is characterised by original subject matter and an individual style, representing the cutting edge of contemporary filmmaking: The 2025 Bright Future selected titles are:

1 GIRL INFINITE - Dir: Lilly Hu (United States, Latvia, Singapore) Two teenage girls, Yin Jia and Tong Tong, live together in this colour-drenched vision of Changsha, China. When Tong Tong drifts away and falls in with a drug dealer, Yin Jia’s love for her means she’ll risk everything to keep Tong Tong by her side.

CAMP D'ÉTÉ - Dir: Mateo Ybarra (Switzerland, France) In Switzerland, the Scout Movement is not a nostalgic fantasy but a vibrant social reality. This bubbly documentary captures the communal cycle of activities during a 14-day camp for youth. No reality TV-style contrived scenes here, this is a moving, joyful glimpse into life-changing experiences.

LATER IN THE CLEARING - Dir: Márton Tarkövi (Hungary, Spain; pictured, left) In a small Hungarian town painter Péter Molnár leads filmmaker Márton Tarkövi on a journey through meadows, clearings and Molnár’s drawings. The viewer joins them, as they discuss art, time and life itself. 

INVISIBLE FLAME - Dir: Oskar Weimar (Kenya) When fish begin to vanish, community members are quick to blame Dani, the elderly woman rumoured to be a witch. Daisy, a fisherman’s daughter, must decide whether to stand by her friend or heed the warnings of those around her.

YOUR TOUCH MAKES OTHERS INVISIBLE - Dir: Rajee Samarasinghe (Sri Lanka, United States) As many as 100,000 people, predominantly members of the minority Tamil community, are estimated to have disappeared during the 26-year-long Sri Lankan Civil War. Through a unique synthesis of interviews, news clips and re-enactments this docufiction feature reflects on this harrowing history as families search for loved ones that disappeared without a trace.

Echoing Rotterdam’s port city identity, Harbour offers a safe haven to the full range of contemporary cinema that the festival champions. The Harbour strand’s first wave of selected titles digs into themes of self-discovery, societal norms and the human condition:

AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW - Dir: Pelin Esmer (Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania; pictured, left) Dreamy housekeeper Aliye spends her days between hotel rooms, escaping into the lives of the guests. But after a brief encounter with a famous filmmaker, Aliye decides that she has a story to tell, which leads to an entanglement of lives and fictions. 

DEAD DOG - Dir: Sarah Francis (Lebanon) Walid and Aida, husband and wife, are reunited after Walid’s many years spent living abroad. Answers to long-hidden secrets are sought in Sarah Francis’ dissection of an estranged marriage.

FINDING RAMLEE - Dir: Megat Sharizal (Malaysia) An endearing retro dramedy set in swinging seventies Kuala Lumpur. Destitute and deep in debt, Zakaria is offered a lifeline by his loan shark: impersonate the Malaysian screen icon P. Ramlee in order to entertain his homebound, time-warped sister.

NO DEJES A LOS NIÑOS SOLOS - Dir: Emilio Portes (Mexico) A mother moves into a new house with her two children. One night she must leave the siblings home alone. What begins as a blast of carefree play soon turns into a claustrophobic horror story. 

PRIMITIVE DIVERSITY - Dir: Alexander Kluge (Germany; pictured right) Filmmaker Alexander Kluge loves to use the expression ‘primitive diversity’ in relation to the origins of his art: the first films that were made, their genres, motives and moods. With the development of AI, Kluge asks, what could its primitive diversity look like?

THANK YOU SATAN - Dir: Hicham Lasri (Morocco, France) In this dark comedy set in the early 1990s, all Serge wants to do is write his Fucking Best Seller! When his publisher nags him to shake things up and bring out his ‘mainstream potential’, he gives it all he has and, with a killer edge.

THE NIGHT IS DARK AND BRIGHTER THAN THE DAY - Dir: Christina Friedrich (Germany) Filmmaker Christina Friedrich asks 33 primary school children about their fears, taking us on a long night-journey through a magic world of their creation. What can the ‘real world’ learn from the games and rituals of children? 

UN GRAN CASINO - Dir: Daniel Hoesl (Austria; pictured, left) The largest casino in Europe but is it just a big mess? Daniel Hoesl presents Un gran casino as an angry musing on a building, an Italian village and all that is done in the name of the unfettered creation of wealth. 

The complete programme for IFFR’s 54th edition will be launched on the 17th December 2024.

HEAD SOUTH BOUND FOR ROTTERDAM AS IFFR 2024 OPENER

Jonathan Ogilvie’s spirited post-punk coming-of-age comedy Head South will open the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) on Thursday 25 January 2024, with the festival running until Sunday 4 February.

“With Head South, Jonathan Ogilvie returns to the festival with an unpredictable coming-of-age story that delights in its shifting tone,” said Vanja Kaludjercic, IFFR Festival Director. “Quirkiness and nostalgia become sober and thoughtful, only to turn exuberant and then something else again, in a fitting tribute to post-punk subculture. Ogilvie is the kind of filmmaker we cherish at IFFR: those for whom the art is, above all, an adventure of discovery.”

"I am honoured to have IFFR select Head South as their opening film,” Ogilvie told Screen-Space. “I admire and appreciate the festival's consistent commitment to adventurous filmmakers and the art of cinema." The dramatic comedy, about a private schoolboy who becomes desperately enamoured with all things post-punk in 1979 Christchurch, is a semi-autobiographical work. Ogilvie’s slot in the 2024 edition is his first since his speculative hi-tech thriller Lone Wolf screened in the festival’s Big Screen Competition in 2021.

In her first year as Managing Director of IFFR, Clare Stewart has embraced the role just as the city and the festival team have embraced her. “We are buoyed by the enormous goodwill of [this] vibrant, film-loving city, and hugely grateful to the funders and partners who enable IFFR to remain a fierce defender and champion of independent filmmakers and artists at a time when the world needs diverse stories more than ever.”

“The strength and courage of the Tiger have prevailed as we work to shape the 2024 edition of IFFR. Like film festivals everywhere, we face significant challenges and our focus is on continuing to rebuild resources, consolidate partnerships and diversify audiences,” says Stewart.

In addition to Head South, first-wave titles also announced include the World Premiere of Indian filmmaker Ishan Shukla’s dystopian sci-fi animation Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust (pictured, above), featuring the voices of Golshifteh Farahani and Asia Argento, as well as filmmakers Gaspar Noé, Anurag Kashyap and Lav Diaz; Mário by US auteur Billy Woodberry, a biographical documentary of writer and nationalist leader Mário de Andrade, a central figure in the struggle for pan-African independence; So Unreal, the latest film from genre-expanding U.S. filmmaker Amanda Kramer; Elegies, from Hong Kong cinema legend Ann Hui; and, Egypt’s 2024 Oscars submission Voy! Voy! Voy! (pictured, below) by Omar Hilal.

Other news out of Rotterdam highlights the launch on Friday 26 January of IFFR Pro, the festival’s industry program, which this year will include the opening of the Pro Hub. This meeting space will allow filmmakers and industry professionals to gather for mentoring, meetings, as well as host the IFFR Pro Dialogues programme of panel discussions, covering urgent and enlightening issues facing the industry.  

Also, the 41st edition of IFFR’s co-production market CineMart begins on Sunday 28 January, with Spotlight presentations by project teams returning this year on Monday 29 January. On Tuesday 30, the second edition of the Pro Darkroom presents a curated selection of work-in-progress screenings, and is followed by the IFFR Pro Awards in the evening.

ALL NEWS REGARDING IFFR 2024 WILL BE AVAILABLE VIA THE OFFICIAL 'TIGER ALERT' NEWSLETTER. SUBSCRIBE HERE.

IFFR ANNOUNCES CLARE STEWART AS NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has appointed former Sydney Film Festival Director Clare Stewart to the post of Managing Director. Most recently Interim CEO at Sheffield DocFest and previously Director of BFI London Film Festival and BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, she commences in the role at IFFR on 21 June.

In addition to her Sydney Film Festival tenure (2006-2011), Stewart had key roles in the Australian film culture sector as the inaugural Head of Film Programmes at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (2002-2006), Events Manager at the Australian Film Institute (1996-2001) and Programmer/Manager of the Melbourne Cinematheque (1995-2002). She will work alongside fellow Australian expat and former Melbourne International Film Festival Director Michelle Carey, now in her fourth year as a senior Selection Committee member at IFFR. 

Korrie Louwes, Chairperson of the Supervisory Board, said: “Clare has an unparalleled breadth of experience in strategically directing and truly championing festivals, with a track record including some of the foremost celebrations of cinema in the world. In previous roles Clare has channelled her unique combination of creative understanding and business acumen to growing audiences, accelerating commercial success, and raising the profile of those events. It’s a great coup to have her join the IFFR team and bring her multifaceted and insightful leadership to our organisation.”

“IFFR is a world-leading institution that creates meaningful, global impact for independent film and filmmakers,” said Stewart, “and it is also dear to my heart as the first international film festival I attended 25 years ago. It shaped my understanding of the interdependencies between cultural activity and industry development, and the importance of engaging a dedicated local audience while positioning a festival as vital for the international, independent film sector.” 

“Rotterdam is a city renowned for innovation, experimentation and discovery – characteristics that IFFR already champions through its artistic and industry programmes,” observes Stewart, who will relocate the Rotterdam from the position. “This emphasis on bold, new ideas provides a strong cultural base to collaborate with Festival Director Vanja Kaludjercic (pictured, left) on her inspiring vision for building a festival that is both agenda-setting and responsive to change.”

“Her passion for IFFR is undeniable,” said Kaludjercic, “Clare brings a deep understanding of the artistic and commercial sides of a festival from her formidable career to date, which is perfectly suited to the dual leadership dynamic we have between our two roles." 

IFFR has a structure where the pairing of the Managing Director and the Festival Director oversee the commercial and creative elements of the organisation respectively, but working closely in partnership. Stewart previously consulted with the IFFR Board of Directors in 2021 in its first phase of re-evaluation prior to her joining DocFest, with a focus on the IFFR programme structure and content strategy.

Since 2020, Stewart is an elected member of the BAFTA Film Committee, where she has participated on the Learning, Inclusion and Talent Committee, and chaired the film selection for the BAFTA Breakthrough programme. She has served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Advisory Council for the Creative Economies (2014-2016), on competition juries at Sundance, Mumbai, Rio, Dubai, Hong Kong and Macau film festivals and the BAFTA Outstanding British Debut jury.

She is a previous recipient of the Queen's Trust Award for Young Australians and a Women and Hollywood Trailblazer Award in 2017 for her work promoting diversity and gender parity in the film industry.

QUEER SCREEN FIRST LGBTQIA+ FESTIVAL INVITED TO MARCHE DU FILM GLOBAL FEST SIDEBAR

Queer Screen will be representing five work-in-progress productions at the international marketplace Marché du Film, in conjunction with the 76th Cannes Film Festival.

Each year the Marché du Film offers renowned festivals the chance to showcase their selection of original work-in-progress feature titles to sales agents, distributors and festival programmers as part of the ‘Goes to Cannes’ initiative. 

Queer Screen, producers of Sydney’s Mardi Gras Film Festival and Queer Screen Film Fest, will join Festival de Málaga, Hong Kong Industry’s Asia Film Financing Forum, Spanish Screenings and the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in the marketplace. Their presence will represent the first ever LGBTQIA+ and Australian partner in what will be the eleventh edition of the event.

Queer Screen’s festival director, Lisa Rose (pictured, right), said the invitation is an enormous honour and a testament to the organisation’s international standing. “We are thrilled about being chosen,” she said. “To be the first ever Australian and the first ever LGBTQIA+ film festival involved is something we are very proud of and I can’t wait to champion these films.”

Marché du Film attendees can view an extract from the films and see pitches from the filmmakers, at an in-person event and online.

Rose has hand-picked four Australian and one international production to showcase, including SUNFLOWER, a gay coming of age drama from Melbourne filmmaker Gabriel Carrubba. “Earlier this year we gave Sunflower $15,000 from our completion fund,” Rose explained. “It’s the most we have ever awarded for a single project. To give emerging talent like Gabriel this opportunity on the global stage is very exciting.”

CLOSING NIGHT from filmmaker Timother Despina Marshall is a queer psychological horror that received $8,000 from the Queer Screen Completion Fund in 2021. “Tim is a Mardi Gras Film Festival alumni,” Rose said. “Three of his films have been finalists in our My Queer Career short film competition, with Gorilla winning the 2013 Iris Prize, the largest in the world for LGBTQIA+ shorts.”

Dark comedy-drama TRIPLE OH! is a mid-length film/episodic featuring a superb Brooke Satchwell (pictured, left). “It’s funny and sexy,” Rose said. “I loved it when I saw it, and it's so great to see director Poppy Stockell seamlessly deliver compelling narrative work after a much awarded factual career.”

Rounding out the Australian selections is ONE PERSON PROTEST from director Christopher Amos. It is the only documentary of the five films selected and is about Australian activist Peter Tatchell. 

The international project THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS comes via Canada and Pakistan from writer/director Fawzia Mirza, who’s making her feature directing debut after having many of her shorts screened at Queer Screen’s festivals over the years. It tells the story of a Pakistani Muslim woman, and her Canadian-born daughter coming of age in two different eras.

“Fawzia was a guest at our most recent festival in February and I knew she was toiling away in post while she was here, so I jumped at the chance to offer her this opportunity, as we don’t see enough queer Muslim stories on screen,” Rose said.

Queer Screens selections will be shown on Saturday 20 May 2023 at 4:30pm at Palais K, with filmmakers pitching in person or via recorded video. The film extracts and pitches will also be available online for Marché du Film attendees to view the following day.

PREVIEW: 2023 GERMAN FILM FESTIVAL

In collaboration with German Films, Palace Cinemas presents the 2023 German Film Festival with a lineup that includes several titles arriving in Australia direct from the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival (The Berlinale). Other highlights in the vibrant, 33-film strong program include a music-themed retrospective, a focus on female filmmakers and the return of the popular family sidebar, Kino for Kids.

Opening the festival is director Michael ‘Bully’ Herbig's A THOUSAND LINES (Tausend Zeilen; pictured, above), a true-life drama starring Elyas M’Barek and Jonas May as journalists caught in a fake news scandal involving a disgraced Der Spiegel journalist.

The Festival Centrepiece, direct from its Berlinale world premiere, is Ilker Çatak's THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE (Das Lehrerzimmer) featuring 'Babylon Berlin' star Leonie Benesch (pictured, right) as a dedicated, idealistic teacher who is pushed to the brink when she investigates a series of thefts at her new school.

The program strand Frauen Am Werk: Focus on Female Directors showcases German and Swiss women in film with eleven films from dramas, to documentaries and comedies. Frauke Finsterwalder’s SISI & I (Sisi & Ich) is a contemporary reinterpretation of the “Sisi” myth starring Sandra Hüller; the stylish biopic INGEBORG BACHMANN - JOURNEY INTO THE DESERT (Ingeborg Bachmann – Reise in die Wüste), starring Vicki Krieps, is the latest film by the legendary Margarethe von Trotta; IN A LAND THAT NO LONGER EXISTS (In einem Land, das es nicht mehr gibt) is based on director Aelrun Goette’s own experiences as a model in the German Democratic Republic in 1989; and, Saskia Diesing’s WWII drama LOST TRANSPORT explores the unexpected friendship between three very different women of diverse backgrounds.

Anika Decker directs Elyas M’Barek and Alexandra Maria Lara in the romcom LOVE THING (Liebesdings); Barbara Kulcsar’s Swiss box office hit comedy GOLDEN YEARS (Die goldenen Jahre) follows two retirees who must face their marital problems on a cruise through the Mediterranean; Emily Atef’s seductive drama SOMEDAY WE’LL TELL EACH OTHER EVERYTHING (Irgendwann werden wir uns alles erzählen) follows a young woman who begins a relationship with a charismatic middle-aged farmer; and, Birgit Möller’s FRANKY FIVE STAR is a quirky dramatic comedy starring newcomer Lena Urzendowsky as a woman inhabited by four weird but lovable personalities.

Also helmed by women are the documentaries in the lineup. Eva Weber’s MERKEL (pictured, right) is the astonishing story of how a triple political outsider – a woman, a scientist, and an East German – became Germany’s first female chancellor. And Cordula Kablitz-Post's FCK 2020 – TWO AND A HALF YEARS WITH SCOOTER (FCK 2020  -Zweieinhalb Jahre mit Scooter) follows Germany's undisputed techno superstars Scooter and their eccentric front man H.P Baxxter.

Music flows through this year’s festival with the sidebar retrospective, Music, Art and Chaos: A Sonic Transmission from Berlin. B-MOVIE: LUST & SOUND IN WEST BERLIN 1979-1989, from the directing team of Jörg A. Hoppe, Heiko Lange and Klaus Maeck, fuses unreleased footage and original interviews with pioneers Mark Reeder, Nick Cave, Blixa Bargeld, Nena, Joy Division and Gudrun Gut to reveal the story of life in the divided city; Muscha’s iconic film DECODER (1984) explores the disenfranchised youth culture, neon drenched visuals and urban industrial aesthetics of the early 80s; and, Klaus Maeck and Johanna Schenkel’s LIEBESLIEDER: EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN (1993) captures the renowned industrial band from 1980 to 1993 on the low-fi analogue equipment of the time.

Other centrepiece retrospective screenings include the Wim Wender’s angels-in-love classic WINGS OF DESIRE and Uli Edel’s CHRISTIANE F., remastered in 4K, starring Natja Bronckhurst as the14-year-old girl who falls into the drug scene in West Berlin in the 1970s.

Austrian Cinema presents Adrian Goiginger’s touching WWII drama THE FOX (Der Fuchs) featuring a standout performance from newcomer Simon Morzé as a member of the Austrian Army who finds friendship with a young fox cub; Dieter Berner’s ALMA AND OSKAR (Alma und Oskar) a historical romantic drama that follows the torrid love affair between Viennese grand dame Alma Mahler and expressionist artist Oskar Kokoschka; and, Chris Raiber’s quirky fairytale-like Vienna-set urban love story, FIRST SNOW OF SUMMER.

The Goethe-Institut will present films especially curated for children, teens and families with their Kino for Kids for sidebar. The roster of titles includes Mark Schlichter’s ALFONS JITTERBIT – CLASS TRIP CHAOS! (Alfons Zitterbacke – Endlich Klassenfahrt!), the story of a chaotic class trip to the Baltic Sea coast; MY LIFE AS LOTTA – OKEY DOKEY ALPACA! (Mein Lotta-Leben - Alles Tschaka mit Alpaka!), Martina Plura’s family comedy that follows Lotta (Meggy Husson) on her first school trip adventure; ONE IN A MILLION, Joya Thome’s coming-of-age documentary about success and loneliness in the age of social media; Sven Unterwaldt Jr.’S SCHOOL OF MAGICAL ANIMALS 2 (Die Schule der magischen Tiere 2; pictured, above), the live-action-adventure sequel that became Germany’s most popular film of 2022; and, THE ROBBER HOTZENPLOTZ (Der Räuber Hotzenplotz), Michael Krummenacher’s remake of Otfried Preußler's classic children's book.

Closing Night honours go to the female-led drama OVER & OUT, a unique take on a female friendship story. Directed by Julia Becker, it focuses on four lifelong friends who vowed to celebrate their weddings together 26 years ago but when one of them invites the others to Italy, a chaotic road trip ensues.

The 2023 GERMAN FILM FESTIVAL will take place nationally from 2 May to 24 May in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Brisbane and Byron Bay. Tickets and session details will be available at the event’s Official Website.