There will be films from Morocco, Lebanon, Iran, and Tunisia at IIRF.
The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has unveiled the full lineup for its 2023 event.
After two all-virtual festivals, the IFFR is finally returning in-person fest, running January 25 to February 5 in the Dutch port city.
Four films from the MENA region will have their world premieres at IFFR. The movies are also part of the 16 films selected for the festival’s flagship Tiger Competition, worth $42,000 in prize money.
The 2023 IFFR will open with the world premiere of Munch, an experimental biopic of tortured Norwegian painter Edvard Munch from self-taught filmmaker Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken. All India Rank, a coming-of-age tale from director Varun Grover, will close the event on February 5.
This edition’s Tiger Competition films represent countries from Sweden to Sri Lanka. Tunisia, Morocco, Iran and Lebanon are also represented.
The IFFR’s main Tiger Competition lineup will include Thiiird, a mystery drama out of Lebanon from award-winning documentarian Karim Kassem. The film follows the quiet Fouad (Fouad Mahouly) who runs a mechanic’s garage in a village outside Beirut.
African films in the 2023 Tiger Competition lineup include the Tunisian drama Geology of Separation from directors Yosr Gasmi and Mauro Mazzocchi; the Moroccan feature Indivision from Leïla Kilani; and Le spectre de Boko Haram by Cameroon director Cyrielle Raingou, all of which will have their world premieres at the IFFR.
Geology of Separation follows the mundane experience of a migrant who fled violence in Libya and is awaiting permission to remain in Italy.
Indivison is set in La Mansouria, near Tangier, the wealthy homestead of the Bechtani family. The family share their homestead with an abundant forest and villagers who have “squatted” in the area for 40 years. A forthcoming wedding triggers a splitting of paths.
Also running in the competition will be Iranian filmmaker Amir Toodehroosta’s Numb. With a background in advertising and short films, Toodehroosta has frequently used filmmaking to challenge and critique Iranian society.
