19/12/2022 - The flagship Dutch event, returning to its typical dates early in the calendar, will host its first physical edition since 2020

“You can definitely say the Tiger has returned,” said festival director Vanja Kaludjercic this morning, as she unveiled the full line-up for the 2023 IFFR, taking place from 25 January-5 February, its first edition in its standard late-January slot since the pandemic hit. With more than 400 feature, mid-length and short films slated to premiere or take part in the retrospective sections, she hailed the fact that “after two enforced online editions, IFFR 2023 will mark our full return to cinemas and to an in-person event all across the city”.

Kaludjercic went on to introduce the year’s programme in more depth, saying, “We stay committed to the path we set out for ourselves: celebrating great cinema in all its splendour and looking where others don’t look. Our entire programme, full of surprises, is a testament to that. In addition to those film cultures which traditionally are strongly present at IFFR, we are expanding to cover films from Sri Lanka, Cameroon, Ukraine, the Dominican Republic, Morocco and Taiwan, to name just a few. From remarkable debuts to cinematic grand masters and our specially commissioned Steve McQueen artwork [the installation Sunshine State, postponed from the 2022 event], it is our true pleasure to share IFFR 2023's wildly varied line-up.”

The opening-night film, Munch [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Henrik M Dahlsbakken
film profile], a biopic of the iconic Norwegian artist by Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken, will screen out of competition. Backed by Nordic streamer Viaplay, its experimental approach will see four actors – Alfred Ekker Strande, Mattis Herman Nyquist, Ola G Furuseth and Anne Krigsvoll – depicting the painter throughout his life.

This year, the Tiger Competition, the festival’s platform for emerging film talent, will showcase 16 titles from a vast national spread, including One Last Evening [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lukas Nathrath
film profile] by Lukas Nathrath, Numb by Amir Toodehroosta and Notes on a Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Diego Llorente. The jury, composed of president Lav Diaz, Sabrina Baracetti, Anisia Uzeyman, Christine Vachon and Alonso Díaz de la Vega, will grant three prizes: the Tiger Award, worth €40,000, and two Special Jury Awards.

The Big Screen Competition, “bridging the gap between popular, classic and arthouse cinema”, will have its winner selected by an audience jury. The victor will receive a guaranteed theatrical release in the Netherlands, followed by a TV broadcast by VPRO and NPO. “For us, popular and avant-garde are not entirely contradictory ideas,” Kaludjercic concluded.

The two feature competition line-ups are as follows:

Tiger Competition

100 Seasons [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Giovanni Bucchieri
film profile] - Giovanni Bucchieri (Sweden)
Gagaland - Teng Yuhan (China)
Geology of Separation [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Yosr Gasmi, Mauro Mazzocchi (Tunisia/Italy/France)
Birdland [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Leïla Kilani (Morocco/France)
One Last Evening [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lukas Nathrath
film profile] - Lukas Nathrath (Germany)
Mannvirki [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Gústav Geir Bollason (Iceland/France)
Munnel - Visakesa Chandrasekraram (Sri Lanka)
New Strains - Artemis Shaw/Prashanth Kamalakanthan (USA)
Notes on a Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Diego Llorente (Spain)
Numb - Amir Toodehroosta (Iran)
The Breath of Life [+see also:
trailer
interview: Guido van der Werve
film profile] - Guido van der Werve (Netherlands)
La Palisiada [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philip Sotnychenko
film profile] - Philip Sotnychenko (Ukraine)
Playland - Georden West (USA)
Le Spectre de Boko Haram [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Cyrielle Raingou (Cameroon/France)
Thiiird - Karim Kassem (Lebanon)
three sparks [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Naomi Uman (Albania/Mexico)

Big Screen Competition

Before We Collapse [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Alice Zeniter/Benoît Volnais (France)
Before the Buzzards Arrive - Jonás N Diaz (Mexico)
Copenhagen Does Not Exist [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martin Skovbjerg
film profile] - Martin Skovbjerg (Denmark)
Drawing Lots [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Zaza Khalvashi/Tamta Khalvashi (Georgia)
Endless Borders [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Abbas Amini
film profile] - Abbas Amini (Czech Republic/Germany/Iran)
Mida's Ants [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Edgar Honetschläger (Austria/Italy)
Four Little Adults [+see also:
film review
interview: Selma Vilhunen
film profile] - Selma Vilhunen (Finland)
La Hembrita - Laura Amelia Guzmán Conde (Dominican Republic)
Joram - Devashish Makhija (India)
Luka [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Woodworth
film profile] - Jessica Woodworth (Belgium/Italy/Netherlands/Bulgaria/Armenia)
My Little Nighttime Secret - Natalya Meshchaninova (Russia)
The Nothingness Club - Não Sou Nada [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Edgar Pêra
film profile] - Edgar Pêra (Portugal)
Okiku and the World and the World - Sakamoto Junji (Japan)
One Win - Shin Yeon-Shick (South Korea)
La Sudestada - Daniel Casabé/Edgardo Dieleke (Argentina)
Voyages en Italie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Sophie Letourneur (France)