Breillat & Siffredi in Rotterdam

by Marie-France Dupagne

16/12/2003 - The 33rd edition of the Rotterdam International Film Festival (January 21 – February 1, 2004) will be featuring some interesting new elements on the programme. There’s the world premiere of the new film by the French director Catherine Breillat, Pornocratie [trailer], a powerful film according to some people. The director, who is already working on her new project, Une vieille maîtresse, which has already been chosen by CinéMart. She will be attending the festival, along with the main star of the film, Rocco Siffredi, the porn star, who also shot Romance in 1999 with the director.

The other premieres on the programme include Arseny Tarkovsky, eternal presence by Vjatsjeslav Amirchanian, Le jardin de papa by Zeka Laplaine, Spreading by He Jianjun, Tomorrow's weather by Jerzy Stuhr, Deadlines by Ludi Boeken & Michael Alan Lerner, War by Jake Mahaffy and Prendimi e portami via by Tonino Zangardi. Four Dutch films will also be having their world premieres at the event: The South by Martin Koolhoven, Justiça by Maria Ramos, Johan Cruyff: en el momento dado by Ramón Gieling and Fighting Fish by Jamel Aattache.
The Festival will also be showing some films that have enjoyed success abroad, like Elephant by Gus van Sant, Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola, Uzak by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Twenty Nine Palms [trailer] by Bruno Dumont, Father and son by Alexander Sokurov, The Best of Youth by Marco Tullio Giordana, The Agronomist by Jonathan Demme and the Festival will be opened by the film Zatoichi by Takeshi Kitano. The complete festival programme will be published on January 15, 2004, but there will be a preview of the event with the film by Julie Bertuccelli, Since Otar Left, which will be shown in a selection of Dutch cities from January 2 to 19, 2004.