Festival Director Vanja Kaludjercic presented the lineup of films selected across the Tiger, Big Screen and Tiger Short competitions for the 55th edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam IFFR taking place January 29 – February 8, 2026.
The festival will open with the world premiere of the Portuguese film Providence and the Guitar by João Nicolau. Inspired by a short novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, the film follows Leon and Elvira, two performers trying to keep their stage careers afloat. Providence and the Guitar also marks the acting debut of Salvador Sobral, one of Portugal’s most beloved musicians and the winner of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.
The festival will close with the World Premiere of crime comedy Bazaar (Murder in the Building) from French filmmaker Rémi Bezançon and starring Laetitia Casta, Gilles Lellouche and Guillaume Gallienne. The film follows an enthusiastic Hitchcock scholar who becomes convinced that the neighbour across the courtyard has murdered his wife. With her husband, a successful thriller novelist, she launches an investigation that is by turns risky, absurd and revealing.
Vanja Kaludjercic, Festival Director at IFFR, said, “The 2026 edition of IFFR unites new voices and returning artists whose works explore belonging, reinvention, humour, fear, beauty and the persistent human effort to understand our place in a changing world. Today’s announcement spotlights the competitions – the beating heart of the festival – with an array of titles that speak to our mission of audience discovery and championing filmmakers forging new paths in cinema. We’re also delighted the festival will open with João Nicolau’s Providence and the Guitar – a generous and witty film which places the present alongside echoes of the past, while Rémi Bezançon’s Bazaar (Murder in the Building) will close the festival with style, intelligence and a sense of fun. Across the programme, we hope every audience member will find a film that speaks to them – or challenges them – in a meaningful way.”
2026 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) Lineup
Tiger Competition
Soheila Golestani, Marcelo Gomes, Ariane Labed, Kristy Matheson and Jurica Pavičić make up the Tiger Competition Jury for 2026.
La belle année dir. Angelica Ruffier (Sweden, Norway)
A Fading Man dir. Welf Reinhart (Germany)
The Gymnast dir. Charlotte Glynn (United States)
A Messy Tribute to Motherly Love dir. Dan Geesin (Netherlands, Germany, Belgium)
My Semba dir. Hugo Salvaterra (Angola)
Nangong Cheng dir. Shao Pan (China)
O profeta dir. Ique Langa (Mozambique, South Africa, Qatar)
Roid dir. Mejbaur Rahman Sumon (Bangladesh)
Supporting Role dir Ana Urushadze (Georgia, Estonia, Turkey, Switzerland, United States)
Unerasable! dir. Socrates Saint-Wulfstan Drakos (Belgium, Thailand, Sweden)
Variations on a Theme dir. Jason Jacobs, Devon Delmar (South Africa, Netherlands, Qatar)
Yellow Cake dir. Tiago Melo (Brazil)
Big Screen Competition
Sara Ishaq, Loes Luca, Chris Oosterom, Mila Schlingemann and Jan-Willem van Ewijk make up the Big Screen Competition Jury for 2026.
2m² dir. Volkan Üce (Belgium, Germany, Turkey)
The Arab dir. Malek Bensmail (Algeria, France, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Belgium)
Butterfly dir. Itonje Søimer Guttormsen (Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, Germany)
Cyclone dir. Philip Yung (Hong Kong)
The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford dir. Sean Dunn (United Kingdom)
Home dir. Marijana Janković (Denmark, Serbia)
Master dir. Rezwan Shahriar Sumit (Bangladesh)
Moonglow dir. Isabel Sandoval (Philippines, Taiwan, Japan)
Now I Met Her dir Xiao Luxi (China)
Projecto Global dir. Ivo M. Ferreira (Portugal, Luxembourg)
Talking to a Stranger dir. Adrián García Bogliano (Mexico)
Tell Me What You Feel dir. Łukasz Ronduda (Poland)
Tiger Short Competition
A donde nos lleva la fe de José Gerónimo dir. Juliano Kunert (Dominican Republic)
Acid City dir. Jack Wedge, Will Freudenheim (United States)
The Apple Doesn’t Fall… dir. Dean Wei (China)
Body, remember… dir. Matthew Berka (United Kingdom)
CUL-DE-SAC ! dir. Clyde Gates, Gabriel Sanson (Belgium, France)
Deep Cobalt dir. Petna Ndaliko Katondolo (Congo, Democratic Republic, United States)
DISSONANCE* dir. Jordan Strafer (Germany) *World Premiere (Festival)
Domestic Demon dir. Anahid Yahjian (United States, Portugal)
Futuros luminosos dir. Ismael García Ramírez (Colombia)
Golden Island dir. Arief Budiman (Indonesia, Singapore)
Home is where the heart is dir. Timothée Engasser (France)
I am a River dir. Heidi Piiroinen (Finland, France)
Last Shot dir. Parham Rahimzadeh (Netherlands)
like moths to light dir. Gala Hernández López (Spain, Italy, France)
Mirror Martyr Mirror Moon dir. Jesse Jones (Ireland)
The Next World dir. Grau Del Grau (United States)
Objet d’énigme dir. Chiara Caterina (Italy, Belgium)
Orla dir. Marie Lukáčová (Czech Republic, Slovakia)
RELUCESCO dir. Shannon Lynn Harris (Canada)
The Second Skin dir. Mariia Lapidus (United States, Mexico)
Smriti~ dir. Shahi A J (India)
The Tragic Movement of the Spheres dir. Simon Rieth (France)
Displacement Film Fund
The Displacement Film Fund was established to champion and fund the work of displaced filmmakers, or filmmakers with a proven track record in creating authentic storytelling on the experiences of displaced people. An initiative spearheaded by actor, producer and UNHCR Global Goodwill Ambassador, Cate Blanchett, the pilot scheme was announced at the 2025 edition of the Festival and IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund is the Management Partner.
Five short film production grants of €100,000 each were bestowed to Maryna Er Gorbach (Ukraine), Mo Harawe (Somalia-Austria), Hasan Kattan (Syria), Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran) and Shahrbanoo Sadat (Afghanistan), who will world premiere their completed works at IFFR 2026:
Allies in Exile dir. Hasan Kattan (United Kingdom)
Rotation dir. Maryna Er Gorbach (Ukraine, Turkey)
Sense of Water dir. Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran, Germany)
Super Afghan Gym dir. Shahrbanoo Sadat (Germany)
Whispers of a Burning Scent dir. Mo Harawe (Somalia, Austria, Germany)
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