The festival's celebrations for the 50th anniversary are split in two parts – 1 to 7 February and 2 to 6 June – connected by a series of events in between. IFFR 2021 wants to be a hybrid festival that adapts to the current crisis and continues to offer an exciting programme for local and (inter)national audiences, as well as industry professionals.
2 – 6 June
Taking place on a special spring date that honours the festival's very first edition in 1972, the second part of the festival hopes to be a festive celebration that invites larger audiences. The IFFR's Anniversary Programme will taps into the rich history of IFFR by inviting luminaries of the last five decades to enter a dialogue with fresh names and faces. IFFR will also present Harbour in June, the newest and largest programme representing the multidimensional nature of Rotterdam, and the Bright Future programme dedicated to emerging film talent.
There is a rich selection of Asian titles within the June programme. Let's have a look:
The 12 Day Tale of the Monster That Died in 8
by Iwai Shunji • Japan • International premiere
As Japanese monsters like Godzilla have so often saved the world, could they now help us fight Covid-19? That is why actor Saitō Takumi grows three tiny monsters: Avigan, Remdesivir and Ivermectin. A moving tribute to film history's often-forgotten magic powers: remembrance and play as forces of healing.
200 Cigarettes from Now
by Tianyu Ma • China • World premiere
Chain-smoking, daydreaming and lazing around is how Xia and Jie spend the majority of their days at Jie's apartment in Boston. Fleeting impressions with lashings of sweet C-pop evoke the lives and emotional worlds of young Asians attempting to get into the film or TV industry in the USA.
Ayako Tachibana Wants to Go Viral
by Sato Amane • Japan • International premiere
Tachibana Ayako and Keisuke became darlings of the YouTubeverse due to their cute videos, which mainly she makes but he gets all the credit for. A quirky pink eiga (erotic film) satire on YouTuber mores and gender clichés that turns into a stylish horror film.
Bela
by Prantik Basu • India
Milling grain, preparing for festivities and the efforts of a traditional dance troupe constitute a single, continuous choreography of village life in the north-east of India. Prantik Basu spent two years filming and his edit covers two days in which the village is in almost constant movement.
Black Cat
by Tanaami Keiichi • Japan
More information about this film coming soon on IFFR Official Website.
The Blind Rabbit
by Pallavi Paul • India • World premiere
Grainy CCTV images show the brutal police raid on the library of an Islamic university in Delhi in late 2019, ending with the lens breaking. An essay on invisibility as a repressive strategy. Poorly recorded events live on as intangible spirits liable to appear anywhere.
The Blue Danube
by Ikeda Akira • Japan • International premiere
A group of Japanese soldiers has been shooting at the village across the river from 9 to 5 for decades. But they no longer know why they're at war. Framed as tightly as their discipline, The Blue Danube wryly highlights the absurdity of overbearing bureaucracy that Japan and many other countries suffer from.
Cinephilia Now: Part 1 – Secrets Within Walls
by Sasaki Yusuke • Japan • International premiere
When Sasaki Yusuke moves to a city new to him, he discovers a wonderful world of privately organised film screening initiatives in community centres, galleries, museums but also people's living rooms. This is a paean to those creating such events to make their communities better and more beautiful places.
The Day Is Over
by Qi Rui • China • European premiere
Many adults, including 12-year-old Zhang Jiaxing's parents, have left their remote mountain village in southern China for the metropolis Shenzhen. An anonymous note from a classmate kicks off a series of dramatic events in this heart-rending, unsentimental, meticulously observed feature debut.
Decameron
by Rita Hui Nga Shu • Hong Kong • World premiere
Critical visual essay on the present, past and future of Hong Kong. Using fiction, archival material and contemporary images, Rita Hui Nga Shu sketches a damaged Hong Kong, which perseveres in spite of repressed mass protests and a pandemic.
Everything Is Cinema
by Don Palathara • India • World premiere
Chris comes to Kolkata to shoot his version of Louis Malle's 1969 Calcutta. Then Covid-19 hits. An essay on relationships: cinema vs. reality, the world vs. home, 1960s giddiness vs. the sombre seriousness of our age. What can we see when we look at our time through the prism of film history?
Fan Girl
by Antoinette Jadaone • Philippines
Schoolgirl Jane adores movie heart-throb Paulo Avelino. When she finds her way into his home, they start a game of angst and desire during which both discover news facets of themselves. A dazzling mix of meta-movie, fairy-tale and coming-of-age story. Popular cinema at its finest and most intelligent.
Faraway My Shadow Wandered
by Liao Jiekai, Sudhee Liao • Singapore
More information about this film coming soon on IFFR Official Website.
Glossary of Non-Human Love
by Ashish Avikunthak • India • World premiere
More information about this film coming soon on IFFR Official Website.
Homeless
by Lim Seung-hyeun • South Korea • International premiere
An honest, sensitive social drama, with a touch of the supernatural. Delivery driver Han-gyeol and poster sticker Go-woon are trying to find a home in Seoul. Han-gyeol finally succeeds – a stroke of luck, or has he done something illegal? An indictment of an individualistic society.
Keep Rolling
by Man Lim-chung • Hong Kong
A loving and curious portrait of Ann Hui, Hong Kong cinema's greatest living filmmaker, crafted through interviews, choice film scenes and documentary coverage of her at work. As so often with Hui, talking about her turns into discussing Hong Kong – a subject that becomes more loaded by the day.
Lata
by Alisha Tejpal • India • European premiere
The daily routine of an employee at a Mumbai apartment complex provides insight into the social structures influencing her life.
Mat Magic
by Mat Sentol, John Calvert • Singapore
Southeast Asian comedy superstar Mat Sentol meets legendary American magician (and once-upon-a-time actor) John Calvert for a tandem effort like little else in film history. Mixing cliché-happy low-brow farce and magic show, they demonstrate that cinema itself is above all a magic act. A classic of Singapore cinema.
MINAMATA Mandala
by Hara Kazuo • Japan
Shot over 15 years, this film documents the arduous legal and medical battle endured by the residents of Minamata, a city whose name has become synonymous with the infamous neurological disease caused by mishandling of chemical wastewater. An epic tale of struggle and commitment.
Modern Korea – Doing Our Best the People's Network
by Jisun Youm • South Korea • International premiere
Self-critical look by Korea's public broadcaster at its involvement with the military dictatorship, using its own materials and interviews.
OK Computer
by Pooja Shetty, Neil Pagedar • India
In near-future India, robots are an integral part of everyday life. So it comes as a huge shock when a robot turns out to be a murderer. This six-part science-fiction comedy combines lots of jokes and wordplay with over-the-top design, but also raises serious questions about artificial intelligence.
The Old Child
by Felipe Esparza Pérez • China • World premiere
In this brief daydream, a monk and a child each embrace modern technology in their own way.
Pebbles
by Vinothraj P.S. • India • World premiere
A 13 km trek through the suffocating heat of the day brings the violent drunk Ganapathy and his son's relationship to a head. They wander across a desolate landscape that symbolises their poverty and attendant emotional deprivation.
Sea Palace
by Masaoka Kenzō • Japan
Early live-action work rich in special effects by animation giant Masaoka Kenzō, revived and restored. Nine minutes to re-write film history.
Self-portrait 2020
by Lee Dongwoo • South Korea • European premiere
A devastating documentary portrait of a man who was once a promising filmmaker. Now in his fifties, Lee Sang-yeol is homeless, an alcoholic and unpredictable, but finds a kindred spirit in a young filmmaker he serendipitously encounters on the streets of Seoul. A tale of lost dreams and the brutality of life.
A Song for You
by Dukar Tserang • China • European premiere
Young Ngawang has a dream. He wants to record an album. But how does a Tibetan nomad thrive in the big city? Everything changes when he meets a woman who looks just like his talisman. A light-hearted film, both road movie and folk-pop music insider story, with a fascinating lead.
The Story of Southern Islet
by Chong Keat Aun • Malaysia • European premiere
A Malaysian fishmonger falls ill after he upset a local god, or so he believes. His wife initially dismisses it as superstition, but undergoes an exceptional spiritual awakening whilst searching for her husband's cure. Atmospheric, mysterious drama based on the filmmaker's childhood memories.
Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo
by Yamanaka Sadao • Japan
More information about this film coming soon on IFFR Official Website.
Time
by Ricky Ko • Hong Kong • European premiere
Former matinee idol Patrick Tse (84) still rules the screen in this darkly comic film about hired killer Chau, now operating with an elderly clientele until he becomes entangled with a suicidal teenager. Funny, poignant drama from Hong.
More info on IFFR Official Website.
