IFFR announces full line-up of the 2020 festival

49th edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam will be held from 22 January to 2 February 2020, and as the festival unveils their full competition line-up, it seems as there is a great year of films in front of us. 34 films will get there premiere over the three main competition selections: Tiger, Big Screen, and Bright Future.

The opening film of 2020 IFFR will be Mosquito by João Nuno Pinto will open our 49th festival edition. It’s a stinger – and one that takes us back to Mozambique, 1917, where young soldier Zacarias finds himself stricken with malarial fever. A war film without war about a soldier without an army.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood by  Marielle Heller, a film about an American children's TV star, played by Tom Hanks in an eternal red cardigan, who demonstrates that kindness beats bitt, got the honor to be the closing screening of IFFR 2020.  

The full line-up of competition programs of the festival in continuation: 

Tiger Competition

El año del descubrimiento

Luis López Carrasco, 2020, Spain/Switzerland, world premiere

Seemingly incidental conversations in a bar in Cartagena, Spain, expose an almost forgotten piece of social history.

Beasts Clawing at Straws

Kim Yonghoon, 2020, South Korea, world premiere

Who will get the bag of money, and where did it come from? An artfully constructed black comedy/crime thriller and compelling summary of human shortcomings in one.

The Cloud in Her Room

Zheng Lu Xinyuan, 2020, France/China, world premiere

Twenty-something Muzi returns to her birthplace Hangzhou in this bittersweet, personal debut about a life in limbo.

Desterro

Maria Clara Escobar, 2020, Brazil/Portugal/Argentina, world premiere

A young Brazilian mother walks out of her derailed relationship and disappears. A big bang of a film, from which several films explode in different directions.

Drama Girl

Vincent Boy Kars, 2020, Netherlands, world premiere

Vincent Boy Kars probes how he can fictionalize the life of fellow millennial Leyla – or is he making a documentary about drama?

La fortaleza

Jorge Thielen Armand, 2020, Venezuela/France/Netherlands/Colombia, world premiere

In Venezuela – a country creaking on its foundations – a man retreats into the jungle to battle his inner demons.

Kala azar

Janis Rafa, 2020, Netherlands/Greece, world premiere

In a pretty inhuman environment, caring for animals gives meaning to a taciturn couple. Until they have an accident.

Nasir

Arun Karthick, 2020, India/Netherlands, world premiere

Candid portrait of a gentleman reduced to second-class citizenship as a Muslim in an India characterized by rising Hindu nationalism.

Piedra sola

Alejandro Telemaco Tarraf, 2020, Argentina/Mexico, world premiere

A lama herder from the Argentine highlands sees his herd threatened by a puma. A mystical story full of breathtaking landscapes.

Si yo fuera el invierno mismo

Jazmín López, 2020, Argentina, world premiere

An artistic film project on a country estate evolves into a mysterious exploration of the complex mourning process of lost love.

Big Screen Competition

Eden

Ágnes Kocsis, 2020, Hungary/Romania, world premiere

Can love save Éva from a world that is making her sick, or will she have to stay in her sterile apartment forever?

El cazador

Marco Berger, 2020, Argentina, world premiere

The compact drama about a 15-year old boy who receives a video of him having sex with another boy.

Énorme

Sophie Letourneur, 2019, France, international premiere

A famous pianist is unexpectedly pregnant, thanks to her over-controlling husband. This raw comedy bends genders in unexpected, weird ways.

The Evening Hour

Braden King, 2020, USA, international premiere

The melancholic drama about economic decline and spiritual redemption in a sleepy mining town where drug trade has become part of the local economy.

Fanny Lye Deliver’d

Thomas Clay, 2019, United Kingdom/Germany, international premiere

A cross-genre western, invasion thriller and survival drama which depicts the political and sexual liberation of a deeply religious woman in 1657 England.

Mosquito

João Nuno Pinto, 2020, Portugal/France/Brazil, world premiere

Mozambique, 1917. Teenage soldier Zacarias travels alone through this Portuguese colony, dizzy with malaria. A film like a feverish dream.

A Perfectly Normal Family

Malou Reymann, 2020, Denmark, world premiere

When the father of two Danish girls becomes a trans woman, the younger daughter in particular struggles with this uncomfortable transition.

Synapses

Chang Tso-chi, 2019, Taiwan, international premiere

Melancholy Taiwanese family drama about the meaning and function of memories and the indestructibility of family ties.

A Yellow Animal

Felipe Bragança, 2020, Brazil/Portugal/Mozambique, world premiere

A melancholy, tragicomic fable about a bankrupt Brazilian filmmaker links a personal history to the shadows of Portuguese colonialism.

Bright Future Competition

Babai

Artem Aisagaliev, 2020, Russia/USA, world premiere

The Babai is the night-time bogeyman for children: traumas determine who you are, according to this claustrophobic portrait of two Russian brothers.

Chaco

Diego Mondaca, 2020, Bolivia/Argentina, world premiere

1934. Bolivia is at war with Paraguay. Led by a mercenary German general, native soldiers push ever deeper into the hostile Chaco region.

Los fantasmas

Sebastián Lojo, 2020, Guatemala/Argentina, world premiere

By day, Koki is a nice tour guide in Guatemala City, but at night he lures men to a hotel – where they are relieved of their property.

Fellwechselzeit

Sabrina Mertens, 2020, Germany, international premiere

A poignant psychodrama about young Stephanie, whose life is characterized by her symbiotic relationship with her mentally unstable mother.

For the Time Being

Salka Tiziana, 2020, Germany/Spain/Switzerland, international premiere

During a sultry summer holiday in the remote Spanish mountains, estranged family members are forced to relate to one another.

I Blame Society

Gillian Wallace Horvat, 2020, USA, world premiere

Whilst making her debut film, a young director is driven to commit the perfect murder and edges towards madness.

Moving On

Yoon Dan-bi, 2019, South Korea, international premiere

A subtle portrait of three generations of a family forced to live under one roof by circumstance.

My Mexican Bretzel

Nuria Giménez Lorang, 2019, Spain, international premiere

Excerpts from the diary of a woman and beautiful images made in the post-war decades by a man combine to weave an enchanting narrative.

Ofrenda

Juan María Mónaco Cagni, 2020, Argentina, world premiere

Two young women are reunited in the Argentine pampas, in a place where they spent their childhoods.

Panquiaco

Ana Elena Tejera, 2020, Panama, world premiere

A descendant of the Panamanian Dole community returns to his roots. An enchanting film poem about myths, memory, and identity.

A Rifle and a Bag

Cristina Hanes/Isabella Rinaldi/Arya Rothe, 2020, India, world premiere

An intimate documentary portrait of Indian communist rebels who have laid down their arms to ensure their future.

Sebastian springt über Geländer

Ceylan-Alejandro Ataman-Checa, 2020, Germany, world premiere

This refined, painstaking debut follows Sebastian through three phases of his life, on the road to self-discovery.

The Trouble with Nature

Illum Jacobi, 2020, Denmark/France, world premiere

A film about the disrupted relationship between man and nature. Edward Burke, founding the father of modern conservatism, climbs the Alps in search of 'the sublime'.

Truth or Consequences

Hannah Jayanti, 2020, USA, world premiere

Earth's richest people have fled into space. This semi-documentary film focuses on the lower classes who are left behind.

Wisdom Tooth

Liang Ming, 2019, China, international premiere

A thriller and coming-of-age film in which the harmonious life of Guxi and her half-brother is shaken up by an attractive lifesaver.