38th Rotterdam International Film Festival Lineup

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. For the first time, films from Turkey, New Zealand and Indonesia are included in competition.

A l’Ouest de Pluton (West of Pluto), Henri Bernadet & Myriam Verreault, Canada, 2009
Aram Bash Va Ta Haft Beshmar (Be Calm and Count to Seven), Ramtin Lavafipour, Iran, 2008
Babi Buta Yang Ingin Terbang (Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly), Edwin, Indonesia, 2008 (Trailer )
Ddongpari (Breathless), Yang Ik-June, South Korea, 2008
Dogging: A Love Story, Simon Ellis, UK, 2009
Futoko (Dark Harbour), Naito Takatsugu, Japan, 2008
The Hungry Ghosts, Michael Imperioli, USA, 2009 (Trailer )
Liu Li (Floating in Memory), Peng Tao, China, 2009
No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti, Leon Dai, Taiwan, 2008 (Trailer a little bit dramatic but is in b/w!)
Schottentor, Caspar Pfaundler, Austria, 2009
Sois Sage (Be Good), Juliette Garcias, France and Denmark, 2008
The Strength of Water, Armagan Ballantyne, New Zealand and Germany, 2008
Turistas (Tourists), Alicia Scherson, Chile, 2009
Uzak Ihtimal (Wrong Rosary), Mahmut Fazil Coskun, Turkey, 2009

To read the complete press release go here. This year the fest simplified the program with only three sections.

BRIGHT FUTURE
Bright Future is the platform for filmmakers of the future. Here, the festival presents the most important, idiosyncratic and adventurous new work by novice makers from all over the world. The section mainly consists of first or second films. The competitive part of the festival, the VPRO Tiger Awards Competition for first and second features and the Tiger Awards Competition for short films , is part of this section.

To check the Shorts in competition go here.

SPECTRUM
Spectrum comprises work by experienced filmmakers and artists who provide, in the opinion of the IFFR, an essential contribution to international film culture. Spectrum brings together highlights of the film year, new work by prominent auteurs and topical, strong and innovative films by accomplished filmmakers. Closely linked to Bright Future, Spectrum sets a high quality standard in substance and style.

To check the films in this program go here.

SIGNALS
Signals is made up of a series of thematic film programmes, exhibitions or performances. Here the festival focuses on specific themes and oeuvres of striking filmmakers or visual artists. The programmes within Signals offer insight in topical as well as timeless ideas within cinema. During IFFR 2009, Signals includes the theme sections:
Jerzy Skolimowski retrospective
Paolo Benvenuti retrospective
Peter Liechti retrospective
Size Matters
Hungry Ghosts
First Things First
Young Turkish Cinema
Regained

To read about films in this program go here.

If you want to watch the available trailers for the films in each section go here.

New Arrivals is an online platform for shorts, a collaboration between the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and Dutch broadcasting company NPS. IFFR is inviting filmmakers from all over the world to send in their short film. All entries will be shown online. An editorial committee selects five films every month, a jury selects the monthly winner. At the upcoming 38th edition of the IFFR (21 Jan till 1 Feb 2009) all seven monthly winners will be shown at a special event. To check about this program go here and to watch the shorts go here, site is in Danish but you can watch the shorts.

The parallel section CineMart selected 36 international film projects from almost 500 submssions and to learn about the section and the projects go here.

The official site does not have information about each movie yet, but as soon as they post I'll be checking it to find what all the movies are about and if there are any worth mentioning I'll update the post.