International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has announced the competition award winners for its expanded 50th anniversary edition. Southern India-set Pebbles by Vinothraj P.S won the Tiger Award, while I Comete – A Corsican Summer by French filmmaker Pascal Tagnati and Looking for Venera by Norika Sefa from Kosovo both won Special Jury Awards. The VPRO Big Screen Award went to El perro que no calla by Ana Katz from Argentina and Quo Vadis, Aida? by Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Žbanić won the BankGiro Loterij Audience Award.
Festival director Vanja Kaludjercic: “In these most challenging of times, we are incredibly proud to have brought an outstanding selection of titles in our reimagined festival format. The expanded Tiger Competition included 16 films that reflect the plurality of voices and visions of talent that will continue to deliver great cinema for years to come. What we learned from this experience is that as resilient as the industry is, so are our audiences who fully embraced and celebrated the first chapter of this year's festival.”
The Ammodo Tiger Short Awards were given to Sunsets, everyday by Pakistani filmmaker Basir Mahmood, Terranova by Cubans Alejandro Pérez Serrano and Alejandro Alonso Estrella and Maat Means Land by California-based Native American artist and filmmaker Fox Maxy. IFFR additionally nominated Flowers blooming in our throats by Belgian filmmaker Eva Giolo to the short film category for the European Film Awards (EFA).
The FIPRESCI Prize was given to The Edge of Daybreak by Thai filmmaker Taiki Sakpisit. Norwegian director Ane Hjort Guttu won the KNF prize for her short film Manifesto. La nuit des rois by Philippe Lacôte from Côte d'Ivoire won the Youth Jury Award.
Tiger Competition 2021 winners Pebbles, I Comete – A Corsican Summer and Looking for Venera will be made available to watch on IFFR.com for an extended period: from Sunday 6 February 18:00 (CET) to Tuesday 9 February 21:00 (CET), with streaming exclusively accessible in the Netherlands. The three Ammodo Tiger Short winners – Maat Means Land, Sunsets, everyday and Terranova – will also be made available in the form of a single compilation during the same time frame, as well as the Big Screen Competition 2021 winner El perro que no calla and BankGiro Loterij Audience Award Quo Vadis, Aida?.
The Awards Ceremony marks the closing of the February festival days. With events including Vive le cinéma! in collaboration with Eye Filmmuseum, IFFR Unleashed: 50/50, RTM, Curaçao IFFR and Animatie Variatie with Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, IFFR 2021 will continue over the coming months and will close with four festival days from 2 to 6 June 2021.
