# 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam

The 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam, is the 2024 edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which began on 25 January 2024. The festival opened with Head South a New Zealand film by Jonathan Ogilvie. The complete line-up of films competing in the festival was revealed on 18 December 2023. The festival closed on 4 February 2024 with La Luna by M. Raihan Halim.
Rei by Tanaka Toshihiko of Japan won the Tiger Award whereas, Kiss Wagon by Midhun Murali from India and Flathead by Jaydon Martin from Australia won the Special Jury Awards. The VPRO Big Screen Award was awarded to The Old Bachelor by Oktay Baraheni from Iran. Green Border by Agnieszka Holland won the Audience Award.

## Jury

Source:

### Tiger Competition

* Marco Müller: former director of Locarno, Venice and IFFR
* Ena Sendijarević: an Amsterdam-based Bosnian filmmaker and screenwriter
* Nadia Turincev: industry expert and founder of Easy Rider Films
* Herman Yau: Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and cinematographer.
* Billy Woodberry: leading directors of the L.A. Rebellion

### Tiger Short Competition

* Mónica Lima: Portuguese filmmaker
* Yasmina Price: New York-based writer and film programmer
* Jade Wiseman: a Montreal-born film distributor now based in Amsterdam.

### Big Screen Competition

* Samina Khan
* Sylvie de Leeuwe
* Lisa van der Loos
* Marcos Silva
* Ella de Bruijn

### FIPRESCI Award

* Ela Bittencourt
* Dārta Ceriņa
* Panagiotis Kotzathanasis
* Antonios Lagarias
* Ronald Rovers

### NETPAC Award

* Elena Larionova Haug
* Donsaron Kovitvanitcha
* Andreas Ungerböck

## Official selection
### Opening and closing films

Source:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Opening film ||||
| Head South | Head South | Jonathan Ogilvie | New Zealand |
| Closing film ||||
| La Luna | La Luna | M. Raihan Halim | Singapore, Malaysia |

### Tiger Competition

The following films are selected to compete for the Tiger Award. The line-up was announced on 19 December 2023.
    Highlighted title indicates award winner.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire | The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire | Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich | United States |
| Flathead | Flathead | Jaydon Martin | Australia |
| Grey Bees | Grey Bees | Dmytro Moiseiev | Ukraine |
| Kiss Wagon | Kiss Wagon | Midhun Murali | India |
| Me, Maryam, the Children and 26 Others | Me, Maryam, the Children and 26 Others | Farshad Hashemi | Iran, Germany, Czech Republic |
| Moses | Moses | Jenni Luhta, Lauri Luhta | Finland |
| The Rim | La parra | Alberto Gracia | Spain |
| Formosa Beach | Praia Formosa | Julia De Simone | Brazil, Portugal |
| Rei | Rei | Tanaka Toshihiko | Japan |
| Journey of Shadows | Reise der Schatten | Yves Netzhammer | Switzerland |
| She Fell to Earth | She Fell to Earth | Susie Au | Hong Kong |
| sr | sr | Lea Hartlaub | Germany |
| Swimming Home | Swimming Home | Justin Anderson | United Kingdom |
| Under a Blue Sun | Under a Blue Sun | Daniel Mann | France, Israel |

### Big Screen Competition

The following films are selected to compete for the VPRO Big Screen Award.
    Highlighted title indicates award winner
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Aire: Just Breathe | Aire: Just Breathe | Leticia Tonos | Dominican Republic, Spain |
| Children of War and Peace | Children of War and Peace | Ville Suhonen | Finland |
| Trust | Confidenza | Daniele Luchetti | Italy |
| Eternal | Eternal | Ulaa Salim | Denmark, Iceland, Norway |
| Milk Teeth | Milk Teeth | Sophia Bösch | Germany, Switzerland |
| The Old Bachelor | The Old Bachelor | Oktay Baraheni | Iran |
| Portrait of a Certain Orient | Portrait of a Certain Orient | Marcelo Gomes | Brazil, Italy, Lebanon |
| Seven Seas Seven Hills | Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai | Ram | India |
| Steppenwolf | Steppenwolf | Adilkhan Yerzhanov | Kazakhstan |
| Tenement | Tenement | Inrasothythep Neth, Sokyou Chea | Cambodia |
| The Worst Man in London | The Worst Man in London | Rodrigo Areias | Portugal |
| Yohanna | Yohanna | Robby Ertanto | Indonesia, United Kingdom, Italy |

### Tiger Short Competition

The following films were selected to compete for the Tiger Short Competition.
    Highlighted title indicates award winner
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 3 MWh | 3 MWh | Marie-Magdalena Kochová | Czech Republic |
| 6000 mensonges | 6000 mensonges | Simon Rieth | France |
| Break no.1 & Break no.2. | Break no.1 & Break no.2. | Lei Lei | China |
| Crazy Lotus | Crazy Lotus | Naween Noppakun | Thailand |
| Daphne was a torso ending in leaves | Daphne was a torso ending in leaves | Catriona Gallagher | Italy, Greece |
| Digital Devil Saga | Digital Devil Saga | Cameron Worden | USA |
| Two Sides of the Tortoise | Los dos lados de la tortuga | Oscar Illingworth | Ecuador |
| Few Can See | Few Can See | Frank Sweeney | Ireland |
| Flatastic | Flatastic | Alice Saey | France, Netherlands |
| Flower Show | Flower Show | Elli Vuorinen | Finland |
| History Is Written at Night | La historia se escribe de noche | Alejandro Alonso Estrella | Cuba, France |
| I Would Rather Be a Stone | Radije bih bila kamen | Ana Hušman | Croatia |
| Like a Sick Yellow | Si e verdhë e sëmurë | Norika Sefa | Kosovo |
| Petticoat Fire | Petticoat Fire | Mox Mäkelä | Finland |
| Adrift Potentials | Potenciais à Deriva | Leonardo Pirondi | Brazil, USA |
| Teen Girl Fantasy | Teen Girl Fantasy | Marisa Hoicka | Canada |
| Terminal Island | Terminal Island | Sam Drake | USA |
| To Exist Under Permanent Suspicion | To Exist Under Permanent Suspicion | Valentin Noujaïm | France |
| Void | Void | Iwasaki Yusuke | Japan |
| The Watchman | Nöbetçi | Ali Cherri | Italy France |
| Workers' Wings | Krahët e punëtoreve | Ilir Hasanaj | Kosovo |

### Short & Mid-length

The Short & Mid-length film programme showcases films under 63 minutes.
| Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 1014 | Deborah S. Philips | Germany |
| 102 Narra | Rafael Manueal, Tatjana Fanny | Netherlands |
| Ade (on a Sunday) | Theja Rio | India |
| Alguén me chamou Serpe Negra | Borja Santomé Rodríguez | Spain |
| Azul Pandora | Alan González | Cuba |
| Baulera 12 | Mila Araoz, Amaru Villanueva Rance | UK |
| Beautiful Men | Nicolas Kepens | Belgium |
| Bonnarien | Adiel Gliot | French Guiana |
| A Brave New World | Arnold Tam | Hong Kong |
| Bull's Heart | Margarita Bagdasaryan | Uzbekistan |
| Coral | Sonia Oleniak | USA |
| Dau:añcut (Moving Along Image) | Adam Piron | Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma |
| Dear Shadow, My Old Friend | Timoteus Anggawan Kusno | Netherlands |
| Denials, Decoys | Micah Weber | USA |
| Descent | Syd Farrington | UK |
| Dig It | Gabriel Lester | Netherlands |
| East Coker | Wang Hanxuan | China |
| The Electric Kiss | Rainer Kohlberger | Austria |
| O filme feliz :) | Duarte Coimbra | Portugal |
| Flux | Youjin Moon | USA |
| Golden Dragon | Boren Chhith | Cambodia |
| Grandmamauntsistercat | Zuza Banasińska | Netherlands |
| Holographic Will | Mike Stoltz | USA |
| I Am Hymns of the New Temples | Wael Shawky | Italy |
| I Would've Been Happy | Jordan Wong | USA |
| I. / II. / III. | Alexandre Larose | Canada |
| If I'm Here It Is by Mystery | Clari Ribeiro | Brazil |
| In Dreams | Josh Shaffner | USA |
| The Inescapable Desire of Roots | Mark Chua, Lam Li Shuen | Singapore |
| The Instability of Clouds | Zazie Ray-Trapido | USA |
| Is my Living in Vain | Ufuima Essi | UK |
| Isblink | Olga Krüssenberg | Sweden |
| Keep Looking | Ayo Akingbade | USA |
| Leela | Tanmay Chowdhary | India |
| lessons in flight | Cecilia Araneda | Brazil |
| Light, Noise, Smoke, and Light, Noise, Smoke | Nishikawa Tomonari | Japan |
| Line of Sight | Ali Eslami | Netherlands |
| Loophole | Jordan Strafer | USA |
| Lose Voice Tool Kit | Adele Dipasquale | Italy |
| Magic & Propaganda | Lilia Filina | Russia |
| Manántula | Ion de Sosa | Spain |
| A Man Imagined | Malanie Shatzky, Brian M. Cassidy | Canada |
| Man of Aral | Helena Gouveia Monteiro | Ireland |
| Materia vibrante | Pablo Marín | Argentina |
| Molecular Delusions | Quentin L'helgoualc'h | France |
| Msaytbeh, the elevated place. | Rawane Nassif | Lebanon |
| El neceser rojo | Serge Garcia | Mexico |
| Ojitos mentirosos | Elena Duque | Spain |
| On Plains of Larger River & Woodlands | Miguel de Jesus | Portugal |
| Pain | Ivan Faktor | Croatia |
| Peeper | Han Changlok | South Korea |
| Pistoleras | Natalia del Mar Kašik | Austria |
| Preoperational Model | Philip Ullman | Netherlands |
| Questioning the Existence of Alec | Roger Horn | South Africa |
| A Radical Duet | Onyeka Igwe | UK |
| Schalafsand | Elias Böttcher | Switzerland |
| The Silence of Iron | Mariana de Melo | Brazil |
| Silent Panorama | Nicolas Piret | Belgium |
| Sleepy Heads | Tudor Cristian Jurgiu | Romania |
| space_invaders.exe | Malaz Usta | Netherlands |
| Spirits of the Black Leaves | Thaweechok Phasom | Thailand |
| Stero | Tevin Kimathi, Millan Tarus | Kenya |
| Storyboard Suli | Anggun Priambodo | Indonesia |
| El tercer mundo después del sol | Analú Laferal, Tiagx Vélez | Colombia |
| To the spirits in the room | Cate Giordano | USA |
| Um tropeço em cinco movimentos | Valentina Rosset | Brazil |
| UNDR | Kamal Aljafari | Palestine |
| Water Hazard | Alexander David | Portugal |
| When the Wind Rises | Chen Hung | Taiwan |
| The Witness Tree | Niranjan Raj Bherwal | Nepal |
| The Wool Aliens | Julia Parks | UK |
| You can't get what you want but you can get me | Samira Elagoz, Z Walsh | Netherlands |
| Zanatany, L'empreinte des linceuls esseulés | Hachimiya Ahamada | Belgium |

### Bright Future

The programme will highlight first-feature films from promising filmmakers.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production Countries (s) |
| 78 Days | 78 Days | Emilija Gašić | Serbia |
| Naangal | Naangal | Avinash Prakash | India |
| a Few Mornings, an Evening | | Astrid van Nimwegen | Netherlands |
| The Heirloom | The Heirloom | Ben Petrie | Canada |
| Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust | | Ishan Shukla | India |
| yours, | yours, | Eva Giolo, Rebecca Jane Arthur, Katja Mater, Sirah Foighel Brutmann, Eitan Efrat, Maaike Neuville | Belgium |

### Cinema Regained

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Year | Production countrie(s) |
| 121280 Ritual | 121280 Ritual | Antoinetta Angelidi | 2008 | Greece |
| Cinema Bruciato | Cinema Bruciato | Clemens Klopfenstein | 2024 | Switzerland |
| Godsterminal | Godsterminal | Georg Tiller | 2024 | Austria |
| Hair Piece: A Film for Nappyheaded People | Hair Piece: A Film for Nappyheaded People | Ayoka Chenzira | 1984 | United States |
| Joymoti Never Left | Joymoti Never Left | Mehdi Jahan | 2024 | India |
| Naked Acts | Naked Acts | Bridgett M. Davis | 1995 | United States |
| Obsessive Hours at the Topos of Reality | Obsessive Hours at the Topos of Reality | Rea Wallden | 2023 | Greece |
| Overnight Flies | Overnight Flies | Georg Tiller | 2016 | Austria |
| Parama | Parama | Aparna Sen | 1985 | India |
| Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen | Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen | Suman Ghosh | 2024 | India |
| Persona Beach | Persona Beach | Georg Tiller | 2011 | Austria |

### Harbour

The programme will showcase contemporary cinema.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 8 Views of Lake Biwa | Biwa järve 8 nägu | Marko Raat | Estonia |
| 100 Yards | 门前宝地 | Xu Haofeng, Xu Junfeng | China |
| Anubhuti | अनुभूति | Anirban Dutta | India |
| Cosmic Miniatures | | Alexander Kluge | Germany |
| Dream Team | Dream Team | Lev Kalman, Whitney Horn | New Zealand |
| Elegies | 詩 | Ann Hui | Hong Kong |
| Fire on Water | Fire on Water | Sun-J Perumal | Malaysia |
| Greice | Greice | Leonardo Mouramateus | Brazil |
| Head South | Head South | Jonathan Ogilvie | United States |
| Hungry Ghost Diner | Hungry Ghost Diner | We Jun Cho | Malaysia |
| Power Alley | Levante | Lillah Halla | Brazil |
| 'Lolo & Sosaku' The Western Archive | | Sergio Caballero | Spain |
| Maia – Portrait With Hands | Maia – Portrait With Hands | Alexandra Gulea | Germany |
| Mário | | Billy Woodberry | Portugal |
| Small Hours Of The Night | Small Hours Of The Night | Daniel Hui | Singapore |
| So Unreal | So Unreal | Amanda Kramer | United States |
| The Cursed Land | The Cursed Land | Panu Aree | Thailand |
| Trolley Times | Trolley Times | Gurvinder Singh | India |
| Who’ll Stop the Rain | 青春並不溫柔 | Su I-hsuan | Taiwan |
| Heresy | Witte Wieven | Didier Konings | Netherlands |
| Zone | | Christina Friedrich | Germany |
| God Between Us | Zwischen uns Gott | Rebecca Hirneise | Austria |

### Art Directions: immersive media

The programme highlighted the expansion of cinema to installations, exhibitions and live performance.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 8 miljard ikken | 8 miljard ikken | Tibor de Jong | Netherlands |
| The Assembly | The Assembly | Charlotte Bruneau | Luxembourg |
| I'm Terribly Sorry | I'm Terribly Sorry | Rachel Maclean | United Kingdom |
| Realmbreak Hotel | Realmbreak Hotel | Floris van Laethem | Netherlands |
| Small Acts of Violence | Small Acts of Violence | Aay Liparoto | Belgium |

### Limelight

The programme will showcase cinematic highlights of film festival favourites and international award-winners.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 13 Bombs | 13 Bom di Jakarta | Angga Dwimas Sasongko | Indonesia |
| Adagio | Adagio | Stefano Sollima | Italy |
| The Beast | La Bête | Bertrand Bonello | France |
| Blue Giant | Blue Giant | Yuzuru Tachikawa | Italy |
| Boléro | Boléro | Anne Fontaine | France |
| La chimera | La chimera | Alice Rohrwacher | Italy |
| Daaaaaalí! | Daaaaaalí! | Quentin Dupieux | France |
| The Delinquents | Los delincuentes | Rodrigo Moreno | Argentina |
| Evil Does Not Exist | 悪は存在しない | Ryusuke Hamaguchi | Japan |
| Firebrand | Firebrand | Karim Aïnouz | United Kingdom |
| Four Daughters | Four Daughters | Kaouther Ben Hania | France |
| Full River Red | 滿江紅 | Zhang Yimou | China |
| Green Border | Zielona granica | Agnieszka Holland | Poland |
| Hammarskjöld | Hammarskjöld | Per Fly | Sweden |
| Holly | Holly | Fien Troch | Belgium |
| How to Have Sex | How to Have Sex | Molly Manning Walker | United Kingdom |
| The Iron Claw | The Iron Claw | Sean Durkin | United States |
| Jigarthanda DoubleX | ஜிகர்தண்டா டபுள்X | Karthik Subbaraj | India |
| The Arctic Convoy | Konvoi | Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken | Norway |
| Krazy House | Krazy House | Steffen Haars, Flip van der Kuil | Netherlands |
| Lost in the Night | Lost in the Night | Amat Escalante | Mexico |
| La Luna | La Luna | M. Raihan Halim | Singapore |
| Madame Luna | Madame Luna | Daniel Espinosa | Sweden |
| Mars Express | Mars Express | Jérémie Périn | France |
| The Promised Land | Bastarden | Nikolaj Arcel | Denmark |
| Stormskerry Maja | Stormskärs-Maja | Tiina Lymi | Finland |
| Viduthalai Part 1 and Viduthalai Part 2 | விடுதலை: பாகம் I & II | Vetrimaaran | India |
| Voy! Voy! Voy! | !فوي! فوي! فوي | Omar Hilal | Egypt |
| The Zone of Interest | The Zone of Interest | Jonathan Glazer | United States |

### Kids & Family

Source:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Andersland | | An Vrombaut | |
| Blèh | | Tim Alards, Pepijn van Essen | |

## Awards

Source:
| Winner(s) | Work/ director | Notes | Ref. |
| Robby Müller Award ||||
| Grimm Vandekerckhove Cinematographer (Belgium) | Grimm Vandekerckhove Cinematographer (Belgium) | Honoured | |

### Tiger Award

* Rei, Tanaka Toshihiko, Japan
Special Jury Awards
* Kiss Wagon, Midhun Murali, India
* Flathead Jaydon Martin, Australia

### VPRO Big Screen award

* The Old Bachelor, Oktay Baraheni, Iran

### FIPRESCI Award

* Kiss Wagon, Midhun Murali, India

### NETPAC Award

* Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust Ishan Shukla, India, France, Germany

### Youth Jury Award

* Levante, Lillah Halla, Brazil, France, Uruguay

### Audience Award

* Green Border by Agnieszka Holland

### Ammodo Tiger short awards

* Crazy Lotus, Naween Noppakun, Thailand
* Few Can See, Frank Sweeney, Ireland
* Workers’ Wings, Ilir Hasanaj, Kosovo

### European Short Film Award nomination

* I Would Rather Be a Stone, Ana Hušman, Croatia

### KNF Award 2024

* Daphne was a torso ending in leaves, Catriona Gallagher, Italy, Greece