International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has announced the first titles selected for the Bright Future programme, one of the four sections the festival programme consists of. Bright Future focuses on up-and-coming filmmakers with their own style and vision. The titles in competition will be announced in early January, but IFFR will now already reveal the first world premieres and the past year’s film highlights selected for Bright Future.
Many of the young filmmakers will be screening their work to an international audience for the first time in Rotterdam. This year, this includes the global premieres of films such as the acutely observed A Brief Excursion (Croatia, 2017) by filmmaker Igor Bezinović as well as Michel Lipkes´ second feature film Strange But True (Extraño pero verdadero, Mexico, 2017), a dark narrative about lovers who work as garbage collectors in Mexico City shot in black and white.
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A Brief Excursion (left), Strange But True (right)
A lot of the films now announced have won prizes since their première in 2016. For instance, Antes que cante el gallo (Before the Rooster Crows, Puerto Rico, 2016) by Arí Maniel Cru won the Yellow Robin Award at IFFR Curacao 2016. Actor Andrzej Seweryn won the prize for Best Actor at the Locarno festival for his role in Jan Matuszyński's The Last Family (Poland, 2016). And, filmmaker Zhang Dalei won the Taipei Golden Horse Award for his wonderful debut The Summer is Gone (China, 2016).
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The Last Family (left), Kékszakállú (right)
A considerable number of films in the Bright Future programme were co-financed by IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund and co-production market CineMart. These include Gastón Solnicki's mesmerising Kékszakállú (Argentina, 2016), the exceptionally original debut All the Cities of the North (Serbia/Bosnia and Herzegovina /Montenegro, 2016) by filmmaker Dane Komljen and Alessandro Commodin’s excellent second feature film I tempi felici verrano presto (Happy Times Will Come Soon,Italy, 2016).
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The Summer is Gone, Antes que cante el gallo, All the Cities of the North, I tempi felici verrano presto
Bright Future was started in 2009 and features young, up-and-coming film talents with their own style and vision. Makers who dare to take risks with original, often daring works. The Hivos Tiger Competition, IFFR’s flagship competition, is part of the Bright Future programme. Debuting film makers who are not selected for the Hivos Tiger Competition and whose films have their global or international premieres at IFFR 2017 are eligible for a Bright Future Award.
An overview of confirmed Bright Future titles can be found below. The complete selection, as well as the competition titles, will be announced beginning of January.
Bright Future premieres
A Brief Excursion, Igor Bezinović, Croatia, world premiere
Burning Birds, Sanjeewa Pushpakumara, Sri Lanka/France, European premiere, HBF supported
Elon Doesn't Believe in Death, Ricardo Alves Jr., Brazil, European premiere, HBF supported
Extraño pero verdadero/ Strange But True, Michel Lipkes, Mexico, world premiere, HBF supported, CineMart 2013
La guerra dei cafoni/The War of Bumpkins, Davide Barletti, Lorenzo Conte, Italy, world premiere
Confirmed for Bright Future
All the Cities of the North, Dane Komljen, Serbia/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Montenegro, HBF supported
Antes que cante el gallo/Before the Rooster Crows, Arí Maniel Cruz, Puerto Rico
By the Time It Gets Dark, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Thailand/Netherlands/France/Qatar, HBF supported, CineMart 2010
Los decentes, Lukas Valenta Rinner, Argentina/South Korea/Austria
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