Rotterdam announces 2009 Competitions line up

38th International Film Festival Rotterdam
January 21 – February 1, 2009

PRESS RELEASE January 7, 2009

Rotterdam announces 2009 Competitions line up

Fourteen films have been selected for IFFR’s VPRO Tiger Awards Competition 2009. The line up features first or second films from all continents, and includes eight world premieres concurring for three equal top prizes of each 15,000 euro. For the first time, films from Turkey, New Zealand and Indonesia are included in competition.
The Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films includes twenty-seven films shorter than 60 minutes; the three Tiger Awards for Short Film each come with 3,000 euro.

Starting with the world premiere of the début by Quebec City based filmmakers Henri Bernadet & Myriam Verreault, A l’ouest de Pluton (At West of Pluto) and set to close with Alicia Scherson’s second feature Turistas (Tourists) from Chile, the VPRO Tiger Awards Competition 2009 offers a wide variety of topic, style and setting.
The Rotterdam Film Festival’s long history with young Asian filmmaking is reflected in the fact that no less than six films from Asia are included. Apart from earlier announced productions from Japan (Dark Harbour), Korea (Breathless), Indonesia (Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly) and Taiwan (No puedo vivir sin ti) this also includes Peng Tao’s gripping second feature Floating in Memory. The successor of his acclaimed Little Moth was made with the support of the Hubert Bals Fund’s digital production scheme. A total of four films in Competition have received grants from Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund, now in its twentieth year, underlining the IFFR’s continuing commitment to filmmakers from the South.

The Strength of Water, a first film from New Zealand to be included in Competition in Rotterdam, was presented at CineMart in 2002. An authentic and engaging story set in a Maori coastal village, the film was co-produced by Germany’s Pandora Film.

Wrong Rosary, the first Turkish film ever to be included in Rotterdam’s Tiger Awards competition, now in its 14th year, is a love story set in present day Istanbul, written and directed by Mahmut Fazil Coskun. Other European films include Caspar Pfaundler’s intimate and reflective second feature Schottentor from Austria. Earlier, IFFR announced Sois Sage (Be Good) Juliette Garcias’s début from France and, as part of an excellent line up of British productions in this year’s festival, Dogging: A Love Story by Simon Ellis.

The Tiger Awards Jury to select the winning feature films consists of visual artist Marlene Dumas (South Africa/The Netherlands), Turkish writer and filmmaker Yesim Ustaoglu (her Journey to the Sun (1999) and recent Pandora’s Box, both supported by the Hubert Bals Fund, screen in the festival), Mr PARK Ki-Yong, Director of the Korean Academy of Arts and Co-Director of the Cinema Digital Seoul Film Festival, Hungarian writer, director and actor Kornél Mundruczó (his Delta screens in the festival) and Kent Jones, Associate Director of Programming Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York.

The Jury of the Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films consists of Malaysian writer and director TAN Chui Mui (her seven recent short films screen in the festival), Maria Pallier, buyer and programme maker for the Spanish broadcasting company TVE, and the British journalist, curator and artist George Clark.

IFFR 2009 will open with The Hungry Ghosts, Michael Imperioli’s début as a film-maker, on Wednesday 21st January. The Hungry Ghosts also competes for one of the three equal Tiger Awards, announced on Friday 30 January. The festival expects approximately 3000 guests. The full programme of IFFR 2009 will be announced on January 15, 2009 on www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com


The 27 short films in the Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films 2009:
(in alphabetical order by international film title)

#37 by Joost Rekveld, (Netherlands, 2009), 29’, World premiere
Bernadette by Duncan Campbell, (United Kingdom, 2008), 38’
Block B by Chris Chong Chan Fui, (Malaysia/Canada, 2008), 20’, European premiere
Brises by Enrique Ramirez, (France/Chile, 2008), 13’, International premiere
City of Production by Laurent Gutierrez and Valerie Portefaix, (Hong Kong, 2008), 52’, World premiere
Coagulate by Mihai Grecu, (France, 2008), 6’, International premiere
Despair by Galina Myznikova and Sergey Provorov, (Russia, 2009), 30’, World premiere
Entre chiens et loups by Jean-Gabriel Périot, (France, 2008), 29’
Film Far Beyond a God, A by Waël Noureddine, (France, 2008), 40’, International premiere
Ghosts and Gravel Roads by Mike Rollo, (Canada, 2008), 16’
Man and Gravity by Jakrawal Nilthamrong, (Thailand, 2009), 10’, World premiere
Más se perdió by Stephen Connolly, (United Kingdom, 2009), 14’, World premiere
Möbel der Proportionen, Die, by Yves Netzhammer, (Switzerland, 2008), 28’
Myth Labs by Martha Colburn, (USA, 2009), 8’ World premiere (Distributie NL door Filmbank)
Necessary Music by Beatrice Gibson, (United Kingdom, 2008), 20’, European premiere
O'er the Land by Deborah Stratman, (USA, 2008), 52’, International premiere
Optical Vacuum by Dariusz Kowalski, (Austria, 2008), 55’
Oracle by Sebastian Diaz Morales, (Netherlands/Argentina, 2007), 11’
Origin of the Species by Ben Rivers, (United Kingdom, 2008), 16’
Presentation Theme by Jim Trainor, (USA, 2008), 14’, European premiere
Purgatorio by Lav Diaz, (Philippines, 2008), 16’, International premiere
Red-light District Graffiti by Kasumi Hiraoka, (Japan, 2008), 28’
ruissellements du diable, Les, by Keren Cytter, (Germany, 2008), 10’
Six Apartments by Reynold Reynolds, (Germany, 2007), 12’, International premiere
Sphinx on the Seine by Paul Clipson, (USA/Russia, 2008), 9’, International premiere
vie lointaine, La, by Sebastien Betbeder, (France, 2008), 56’
zasto ne govorim srpski (na srpskom) by Phil Collins, (United Kingdom/Kosovo, 2008), 35’



The 14 films in IFFR 2009’s VPRO Tiger Awards Competition
(in alphabetical order by international film title)

At West of Pluto (À l'ouest de Pluton) by Henri Bernadet & Myriam Verreault
(Canada, 2009), World premiere

Be Calm and Count to Seven (Aram bash va ta haft beshmar) by Ramtin Lavafipour
(Iran, 2008), European premiere, Hubert Bals Fund supported film

Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly (Babi buta yang ingin terbang) by Edwin
(Indonesia, 2008), European premiere, Hubert Bals Fund supported film

Breathless (Ddongpari) by YANG Ik-June
(South Korea, 2008), International premiere

Dark Harbour (Futoko) by NAITO Takatsugu
(Japan, 2008), International premiere

Dogging: A Love Story by Simon Ellis
(United Kingdom, 2009), World premiere

Floating in Memory (Liu li) by PENG Tao
(China, 2009), World premiere, Hubert Bals Fund supported film

The Hungry Ghosts by Michael Imperioli
(USA, 2009), World premiere and IFFR 2009 Opening Film

No puedo vivir sin ti by Leon Dai
(Taiwan, 2008), International premiere

Schottentor by Caspar Pfaundler
(Austria, 2009), World premiere

Sois sage (Be Good) by Juliette Garcias
(France, Denmark, 2008), European premiere

The Strength of Water by Armagan Ballantyne
(New Zealand, Germany, 2008), World premiere

Turistas (Tourists) by Alicia Scherson
(Chile, 2009), World premiere, Hubert Bals Fund supported film

Wrong Rosary (Uzak ihtimal) by Mahmut Fazil Coskun
(Turkey, 2009), World premiere


(end of press release)

Notes to the editorial desk (not for publication)

Please find hereafter: IFFR 2009 VPRO Tiger Awards Competition including notes and sales contacts.

Press information/image material/interviews: IFFR Press Office, Bert-Jan Zoet or Nancy van Oorschot
+31 (10) 890 9090 or [email protected]



FACTSHEET IFFR 2009 VPRO Tiger Awards Competition


The 14 films in IFFR 2009’s VPRO Tiger Awards Competition
(in alphabetical order by international film title)

Dogging: A Love Story by Simon Ellis
(United Kingdom, 2009), World premiere
Production: Vertigo Films. Sales contact: Protagonist Pictures, Charlotte van Weede, [email protected], +44 207 3065155

Multi award winning director Simon Ellis’s debut feature is a heartfelt comic tale, and a sharp observation on the perils, pitfalls and wrong turns of romance in the 21st century. In a bid to get his life back on track and coerced by his womanising flatmate, aspiring journalist Dan is introduced to the al fresco sex scene that is ‘dogging’.


Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly (Babi buta yang ingin terbang) by Edwin
(Indonesia, 2008), European premiere, Hubert Bals Fund supported film
Production & Sales: Babibutafilm, Meiske Taurisia, [email protected], +62 812 9405664

Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly, first feature of Edwin, offers a kaleidoscopic picture of the Indonesian Chinese minority across the experiences of Linda, who encounters both other Chinese Indonesians and non-Chinese Indonesians, all with obsessive agendas of their own.


At West of Pluto (À l'ouest de Pluton) by Henri Bernadet & Myriam Verreault
(Canada, 2009), World premiere
Production: Vostok Films Ltd. Sales: E1 Films International, Anick Poirier, [email protected], +1 514 841 1910 ext.234

The day-to-day lives of a dozen teens living in the Québec suburbs, told over a 24-hour period. In this web of stories that mixes humour and drama, each character confronts the perceptions they have of one another; more importantly, they confront themselves.


Schottentor by Caspar Pfaundler
(Austria, 2009), World premiere
Production and sales: Nanook Film, Peter Roehsler, [email protected], +43 6991 2034200

The ‘Schottenpassage’, an underground railway station in Vienna, receives thousands of visitors each day. Pfaundler chose this place as the arena for his film, original in its form and substance, about people's deeper motivations. He allows several people, in no hurry on their way to a familiar destination, to stop time briefly with daydreams about possible encounters and attempts to make more authentic contact with their true selves.


Dark Harbour (Futoko) by NAITO Takatsugu
(Japan, 2008), International premiere
Production: PFF Partners. Sales: PIA Film Festival, Miki Ohi, [email protected], +81 332651425

Manzo, a 38-year-old bachelor, goes out to sea day after day on the fishing boat. One day, at the Japanese port town where he lives, a party sponsored by the town office for prospective brides to meet the bachelors in town takes place. Manzo wears his best outfit but the result is a crushing defeat. When a mysterious mother and son suddenly appear in his house, Manzo eventually warms up to the two intruders and a strange house-sharing situation is born.


No puedo vivir sin ti by Leon Dai
(Taiwan, 2008), International premiere
Production: Luminoso Film Co., Ltd. Sales: FAME Universal Entertainment Limited, Ramy Choi, [email protected], +852 9 2573619

A realistic drama set in a Taiwanese fishing village where Wu-Hsiung Li, a middle-aged man, tries in vain to get his household registered. Ever since his girlfriend left, he has raised their daughter. Now the girl has to enter elementary school, he tries in vain to become her foster parent. The helpless father decides to hold his daughter and jump down from the pedestrian bridge.


Wrong Rosary (Uzak ihtimal) by Mahmut Fazil Coskun
(Turkey, 2009), World premiere
Production & Sales: Hokus Fokus, [email protected], +90 533 810 57 97

A wonderful atmospheric tale from Istanbul, where a peculiar love story takes place: muezzin Musa falls for his neighbour, the Catholic nurse Clara. The story gets even more exceptional when Musa meets Yakup, who turns out to be connected with Clara.


Sois sage (Be Good) by Juliette Garcias
(France, Denmark, 2008), European premiere
Production: Slot Machine & Zentropa Entertainment. Sales: TrustNordisk, Susan Wendt, [email protected], +45 3686 8769

Sois Sage tells the story of a young woman searching for the love of her life in an effort to understand and ease the sorrow of a break-up. She has been a good girl, far too good, because the man she loves, and the man who loved her, is her own father. Sois Sage dares to tackle the painfully difficult issue of the love that lies at the heart of incest.


Be Calm and Count to Seven (Aram bash va ta haft beshmar) by Ramtin Lavafipour
(Iran, 2008), European premiere, Hubert Bals Fund supported film
Production & Sales: Aftab e honar afarin, [email protected]

Feature début film from Iran tells about people on the country's southern islands who make their living smuggling a variety of goods, on the run from the local police. Shot in a pure, realistic style reminiscent of earlier Iranian masters.


Breathless (Ddongpari) by YANG Ik-June
(South Korea, 2008), International premiere
Production: Mole Film . Sales: Showbox / Mediaplex, Inc, Sonya Kim, [email protected], +82 2 3218 5636

After witnessing the death of his mother and sister, Sang-hoon has grown up with violence. Day by day, Sang-hoon tries to overcome the violence in his life. A happenstance meeting with a high school girl leads to second and third ones, and the two gradually find out more about themselves through each other.


Turistas (Tourists) by Alicia Scherson
(Chile, 2009), World premiere, Hubert Bals Fund supported film
Production: La Ventura Ltda. & Paraíso Production Diffusion. Sales: La Ventura Ltda., Macarena Lopez, [email protected], +56 2 2752015

Carla hesitates. She is 37, she is married, possibly pregnant and she is supposed to be happy while she travels towards summer vacation along with her husband. But maybe she prefers to be hitchhiking with a random Norwegian backpacker heading to a beautiful national park where she could walk among big trees and talk about birds and old pop songs with the park ranger. In Turistas, Scherson combines her background as an observant biologist with her great cinematographic talent for details and furtive emotions.


The Hungry Ghosts by Michael Imperioli
(USA, 2009), World premiere and IFFR 2009 Opening Film
Production & Sales: Cicala Filmworks, Stefan Schaefer, [email protected], +1 917 364 7240

In The Hungry Ghosts, Imperioli’s characters float like ghosts through life, looking for happiness, hoping to fulfil a desire. The film, set in New York and its surroundings in a period of 36 hours, contains several narrative lines. It becomes clear and inevitable that initially independent narrative lines will come together in the end.


The Strength of Water by Armagan Ballantyne
(New Zealand, Germany, 2008), World premiere
Production: Filmwork Ltd. & Pandora Film Produktion GmbH. Sales: NZ-Film, Kathleen Drumm, [email protected], +64 4 3827680

The northern coast of New Zealand forms the backdrop for a story set in a small Maori community. The little boy Kimi Kaneha is suffering greatly after the death of his twin sister. He doesn't really accept her death. He isn't taken very seriously, but does seem to have more insight than everyone thinks. His strange way of coming to terms with his sister's death might just work.


Floating in Memory (Liu li) by PENG Tao
(China, 2009), World premiere, Hubert Bals Fund supported film
Production & Sales: New Youth Independent Film Studio, ZENG Wenwen, [email protected], +86 13146073140

As young adults flood into the rural cities of China in search of work, this is the tale of one man's seduction of an underage girl to prostitute herself. This story of the weak exploiting the weaker takes an unexpected turn when the young man suddenly disappears and the girl is confronted with her pregnancy. The film charts a journey not just of a young girl robbed of her innocence but also of a country dealing with its own growing pains.