INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM REVITALISES IFFR PRO, REVEALS CINEMART AND DARKROOM SELECTIONS
Darkroom Doubles in Size, Presenting 10 Feature Projects and Two Immersive in the Work-in-Progress Programme
Rotterdam – 5 December 2024 – International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has unveiled its selection of 20 film projects and four immersive projects for its 42nd edition of CineMart – IFFR Pro’s co-production market, which will run Sunday 2 to Wednesday 5 February 2025. Additionally, IFFR has confirmed the lineup for its IFFR Pro work-in-progress strand ‘Darkroom’, which for 2025 has doubled in size, with 10 feature projects and two immersive projects being presented. This marks newly appointed Head of IFFR Pro Marten Rabarts’ first CineMart selection cycle and programme.
The IFFR Pro Days return to their familiar place in the festival heart in ‘de Doelen’ between 31 January – 5 February 2025, and alongside CineMart and Darkroom, will feature the talent development initiatives Rotterdam Lab, which marks its 25th anniversary in 2025, alongside Creative Producer Indaba and an industry day dedicated to the Dutch film ecosystem.
Marten Rabarts, Head of IFFR Pro, said: “In their timely, creative and defiant approaches to our times, the voices in this CineMart lineup demand to be listened to. There is a sense of existential urgency that has driven much of our curation, through projects that directly tackle the origins of authoritarian regimes, through to AI-infused dystopian futures, as well as those that speak out against colonialism and oppression. As the first CineMart selection as Head of IFFR Pro, I’m heartened to see the range of storytelling and talent on display, from world-renowned names to the incredible number of IFFR, Rotterdam Lab and Hubert Bals Fund alumni continuing their filmmaker journeys. The bolstered number of projects in the CineMart lineup, as well as doubling the number of projects in Darkroom, is only a small part of a full and re-energised Pro programme in 2025. During the Pro Days we’re offering a complete spectrum of tailored services, including Pro Hub panels and the daily networking receptions that make IFFR a vital place to connect with the international industry. We couldn’t be more excited to host the next edition, and to present and champion these projects in Rotterdam.”
During CineMart a curated lineup of projects in development are presented to international industry for financing and co-production. The 2025 programme includes an array of returning IFFR filmmakers – including Ukrainian auteur Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, with Something Strange Happened to Me, whose Hubert Bals Fund-supported debut Pamfir (IFFR 2023) premiered in Quinzaine des cinéastes at Cannes, alongside IFFR regular Daniel Mann, whose Under a Blue Sun screened in the Tiger Competition in 2024, with
The Uganda Project, and Kenyan filmmaker Angela Wanjiku Wamai (Shimoni, IFFR 2023) with the epic neo-Western Enkop, which is one of the four Hubert Bals Fund-supported projects in the CineMart lineup.
The selection covers the origins of authoritarian regimes, like in Jazmín López's (Si yo fuera el invierno mismo, IFFR Tiger Competition 2020) Faust, to their dystopian technological futures in Cape of Pleasures by IFFR regular Marcelo Gomes (Portrait of a Certain Orient, IFFR Big Screen Competition 2024) and filmmaker and visual artist Cao Guimarães.
Additionally, queer legend and filmmaker Cheryl Dunye whose The Watermelon Woman screened at IFFR 1997, projects AI anxiety in Black Is Blue following recent years of significant success directing landmark TV series including ‘The Umbrella Academy’, ‘Queen Sugar’ and ‘Bridgerton’. Dunye’s project is one of a number of queer stories and voices across the selection. Zaida Carmona (La amiga de mi amiga, IFFR 2023) also returns with Adiós, amor, alongside Eugen Jebeleanu’s third feature The Price of Gold, produced by Ada Solomon of microFILM.
The selection also includes two genre takes on cannibalism with Meat from Rioghnach Ni Ghrioghair’s (Don’t Go Where I Can’t Find You, SXSW 2022), alongside Strange Root from Lam Li Shuen and Mark Chua, the Singaporean duo behind the celluloid shorts Chomp It! (IFFR 2023) and The Inescapable Desire of Roots (IFFR 2024). Indian filmmaker Ashim Ahuwalia brings Unidentified Actress, a follow up to his Cannes Un Certain Regard and IFFR 2013 selected Miss Lovely.
On CineMart’s Immersive lineup, Rotterdam artist Robin Coops returns to CineMart with the new musical experience One Charming Night and Lilian Hess, who premiered her CineMart and Darkroom-presented immersive work Duchampiana in Venice Immersive this year, returns with Strata for IFFR 2025.
IFFR Pro's Darkroom offers a platform to present recently or nearly completed films and immersive media projects to the international industry seeking gap or completion funding, sales agents and festivals with the support of expert consultancy. For the first time, Darkroom will feature a dedicated focus, which for 2025 will be on Georgian filmmakers to provide them a platform of support and visibility. The selection features three Georgian projects, including: Uta Beria’s Hubert Bals Fund-supported Tear Gas; Dry Leaf by Alexandre Koberidze (What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?, Berlinale 2021 FIPRESCI prize) and Rati Oneli (City of the Sun, Berlinale 2017; co-writer Beginning by Dea Kulumbegashvili, IFFR 2021) will present Wild Dogs Don’t Bite, supported by the HBF+Europe: Post-production Support scheme.
Furthermore, two Dutch immersive projects will be presented under its 2025 Darkroom lineup: The March by Leo Erken and Frieda Gustavs, alongside The Great Orator by Daniel Ernst.
IFFR will also welcome back a number of returning filmmakers in the Darkroom selection, including Bikas Ranjan Mishra (Dance of Ganesha, IFFR 2012) with the Hubert Bals Fund-supported Bayaan, starring Huma Qureshi; Ivana Mladenovic (Soldiers. Story From Ferentari, IFFR 2018; Ivana the Terrible, Locarno Special Jury Prize 2019) with her latest Sorella di Clausura, and Ecuadorian filmmaker Ana Cristina Barragan (Alba, IFFR 2016; La piel pulpo, 2022) with The Ivy.
The IFFR Pro Awards will recognise projects from the CineMart and Darkroom selections and will be presented on the evening of Wednesday 5 February 2025, including the Eurimages New Lab Awards, consisting of an Innovation Award for projects in development and an Outreach Award for work-in-progress projects.
Details on accreditation for IFFR 2025 can be found here and information on key dates for the festival can be viewed here.
IFFR Pro and the Hubert Bals Fund acknowledge the support of Creative Europe MEDIA and the Netherlands Film Fund, as well as our many national and industry partners.
100 Thousand Turkish Liras, Nazlı Elif Durlu, Turkey, Germany
Produced by: istos film, Achtung Panda!
Black Is Blue, Cheryl Dunye, United States, Germany, Greece
Produced by: BLACK IS BLUE LLC, Jingletown Films, Jürgen Brüning Filmproduktion, Sima Films, Pinch Me Films, Chrysallis Productions
Contact: [email protected]
International Film Festival Rotterdam’s (IFFR) upcoming 54th edition of the festival will take place from 30 January – 9 February 2025, with the full programme being launched on 17th December 2024. IFFR presents a leading international film festival and year-round programme and actively supports new and adventurous filmmaking talent through its co-production market CineMart, its Hubert Bals Fund, Rotterdam Lab and other industry activities.
IFFR seeks to expand, enrich and challenge people’s views of the world and each other through film and audiovisual arts. IFFR’s programme deepens appreciation of cinema in all its forms, broadens and diversifies audiences, and creates opportunities for independent filmmakers and artists from around the globe.
Through IFFR’s visionary programming and forward-looking initiatives, we create a haven for the plurality of voices, audiovisual formats and diverse storytelling. We are an essential destination for film professionals and film lovers. We support filmmakers and artists with funding and development opportunities and advance the impact of their work in the world. We are accessible to everyone. Through screenings, talks, exhibitions, education, professional initiatives and funding schemes we bring people from all backgrounds together, enabling discovery, recognition dialogue, learning and development. We look where others don’t and we open a space for ideas, pushing creative boundaries that have the power to transform.
IFFR is supported by partners including Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap (OCW), Gemeente Rotterdam, Creative Europe Media, NL Film Fonds, Fonds 21, de Volkskrant and VriendenLoterij.
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