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55th International Film Festival Rotterdam

The 55th International Film Festival Rotterdam, is the 2026 edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which was held from 29 January to 8 February 2026. In this edition a retrospective for Egyptian film director Marwan Hamed, as one of its Focus strands in celebration of his prolific career was featured along with European premiere of his 2025 film El Sett, a biopic of Egyptian singer and actress Umm Kulthum. In its second focus strand the festival will present films from the Japanese V-Cinema.

The festival closed with the premiere of French film Bazaar, a comedy-thriller about a crime writer and a film professor caught up in a mystery by Rémi Bezançon. Tiger Award was won by Variations on a Theme!, by Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar, whereas Audience Award was won by British biographical drama film I Swear by Kirk Jones.

Jury

The jury for its three competition sections was announced on 2 December 2025.

Tiger Competition

Tiger Short Competition

Big Screen Competition

Official selection

The titles were revealed on 16 December 2025.

Opening and closing films

The opening and closing films of the festival are:

Tiger Competition

The competition titles are as follows:

  • La belle année, Angelica Ruffier (Sweden, Norway)
  • A Fading Man, Welf Reinhart (Germany)
  • The Gymnast, Charlotte Glynn (United States)
  • A Messy Tribute to Motherly Love, Dan Geesin (Netherlands, Germany, Belgium)
  • My Semba, Hugo Salvaterra (Angola)
  • Nangong Cheng, Shao Pan (China)
  • O profeta, Ique Langa (Mozambique, South Africa, Qatar)
  • Roid, Mejbaur Rahman Sumon, (Bangladesh)
  • Supporting Role, Ana Urushadze (Georgia, Estonia, Turkey, Switzerland, United States)
  • Unerasable!, Socrates Saint-Wulfstan Drakos (Belgium, Thailand, Sweden)
  • Variations on a Theme, Jason Jacobs, Devon Delmar (South Africa, Netherlands, Qatar)
  • Yellow Cake, Tiago Melo (Brazil)

Big Screen Competition

  • 2m², Volkan Üce, Belgium, Germany, Turkey
  • The Arab, Malek Bensmaïl, Algeria, France, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Belgium
  • Butterfly, Itonje Søimer Guttormsen, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, Germany
  • Cyclone, Philip Yung, Hong Kong
  • The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford, Sean Dunn, United Kingdom
  • Home, Marijana Janković, Denmark, Serbia
  • Master, Rezwan Shahriar Sumit, Bangladeshis
  • Moonglow, Isabel Sandoval, Philippines
  • Now I Met Her, Xiao Luxi, China
  • Projecto Global, Ivo M. Ferreira, Portugal, Luxembourg
  • Talking to a Stranger (Hablando con extraños), Adrian Garcia Bogliano, Mexico
  • Tell Me What You Feel, Łukasz Ronduda, Poland

Tiger Short Competition

  • A donde nos lleva la fe de José Gerónimo, director 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)
  • 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)

Limelight

A programme showcasing cinematic highlights of film festival favourites and international award-winners.

Bright Future

The programme highlights first-feature films from promising filmmakers.

Harbour

The programme showcases contemporary cinema.

Focus: Marwan Hamed

This will feature Marwan Hamed's work from the past twenty years.

Focus: V-cinema

Japan’s V-Cinema Focus will showcase a range of Toei titles:

Awards

The following awards were given in the festival:

Tiger Award

  • Variations on a Theme!, Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar, South Africa, Netherlands, Qatar

Special Jury Awards

  • La belle année, Angelica Ruffier, Sweden, Norway
  • Supporting Role Ana Urushadze, Georgia, Estonia, Turkey, Switzerland, United States

Big Screen award

  • Master, Rezwan Shahriar Sumit, Bangladesh

Audience Award

Ammodo Tiger short awards

  • The Second Skin, Mariia Lapidus, USA, Mexico
  • The Apple Doesn’t Fall… Dean Wei, China
  • Ndjimu (Deep Cobalt), Petna Ndaliko Katondolo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, USA

FIPRESCI Award

  • Supporting Role Ana Urushadze, Georgia, Estonia, Turkey, Switzerland, United States

KNF Award 2026

  • The Apple Doesn’t Fall… Dean Wei, China

NETPAC Award

  • i grew an inch when my father died P. R. Monencillo Patindol, Philippines

Special mention

  • The Seoul Guardians, Kim Jong-Woo, Kim Shin-Wan and Cho Chul-Young, South Korea

Youth Jury Award

  • Ah Girl, Ang Geck Geck Priscilla, Singapore

European Short Film Award Nomination

  • CUL-DE-SAC !, Clyde Gates, Gabriel Sanson, Belgium, France

Robby Müller Award

References

External links