International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is one of the top five film festivals in Europe, alongside Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Locarno. Its programme includes feature films, documentaries and shorts. IFFR actively supports new and adventurous filmmaking talent through its co-production market CineMart, its Hubert Bals Fund, Rotterdam Lab and other industry activities.
According to the festival manifesto, its vision is to champion “power of cinema to increase our understanding of society” as it has the “potential to infuse positive social change”.
In its official sections, there is also room for retrospectives and themed programmes. The four official sections of the festival are:
- “Bright future”: section devoted to independent and innovative films. The films participating in the Hivos Tiger Awards Competition are in this section.
- “Voices”: section devoted to established filmmakers.
- “Deep Focus”: section devoted to filmmakers with a long career and extensive oeuvre. This section features retrospectives and masterclasses.
- “Perspectives”: multidisciplinary section presenting works with ties to filmmaking, interactions with the visual arts, installations, games, etc.
The festival also features a space focusing on the audiovisual industry, which aims to scout for producers and co-producers. Over the 12-day event, roughly 100 directors and filmmakers will present their works to the festival audience, which last year had 329,000 viewers including some 2,400 professionals.
The Catalan films participating in the 47th annual festival are:
The Days to Come
Els dies que vindran (The Days to Come) is a detailed look at the pregnancy of a couple that has nine months to learn how to be three before they really had time to learn to be two. Following the real pregnancy of the actors, the film explores the difficulties of sharing this profoundly transformative experience. A Lastor Media and Avalon film, directed by Carlos Marqués-Marcet.
The world première will be at the Rotterdam Festival in the Tiger Competition section.
Karelia: International with Monument
The first of a two-part series dedicated to Karelia, a region on the Russian-Finnish border and home to the Karelian people. Its fragmented, essayist narration portrays historical moments where reality and fantasy come into conflict. A film directed and produced by Andrés Duque.
It will have its world première in the Voices section.
Love Me Not
This film combines comedy and melodrama. Set in a metaphorical war in the Middle East, Salomé. Produced and directed by Lluís Miñarro and co-produced by Mexican production company Piano Productions, it has received aid from ICEC and EFICINE, participation from TV3 and support from IRL through its grant program to subtitle audiovisual productions produced in Catalonia last year. It will be part of the Deep Focus - Signatures section.
Between Two Waters
12 years have passed since La leyenda del tiempo, the Lacuesta film following Isra and Cheíto when they were teenagers. Now, Isra returns to San Fernando to win back his wife and his daughters. The reunion of these brothers will reawaken the memory of their father’s violent death when they were just boys; their need to start over and come to terms with themselves will reunite them.
Directed by Isaki Lacuesta with Isa Campo and production by La Termita Films, B-Team Pictures, All Go Movies, Mallerich Films Paco Poch, Bord Cadre Film and Studio Indie Productions.
It can be seen at the festival in the Voices section.
A Story Without Destiny
Stories of conquests and utopias meet in a tale set in the intertidal zone.
The fictional worlds of Chilean Enrique Ramírez are always tied to the sea. The filmmaker sees it as a continuously moving repository for memory and projection, where fate intersects with the overarching themes of exploration, conquest and migration.
A film directed by Enrique Ramirez with production by CO producciones, Villa la brugère, CNAP, La noche del ultimo dinosaurio.
A Story Without Destiny will have its world première in the Bright Future section.
Don’t Wake Me Up
Don’t Wake Me Up is a short film Sara Fantova made as a final project for her degree, looking at the filmmaker’s teenage years in Bilbao.
The film is on the festival programme in the Voices Short section.
the eyes empty and the pupils burning with rage and desire
By Luis Macías. Can be seen at the IFF are in the Bright Future Short section.
