| 49thInternational Film Festival Rotterdam | |
| Opening: | Mosquito by João Nuno Pinto |
| Closing: | A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood by Marielle Heller |
| Location: | Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| Founded: | 1972 |
| Awards: | The Cloud In Her Room (Tiger Award) |
| Date: | 22 January–2 February 2020 |
| Chronology: | IFFR |
| Previous: | 2019 |
| Next: | 2021 |
The 49th International Film Festival Rotterdam, the 2020 installment of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, took place on 22 January–2 February 2020.[1]
The Cloud In Her Room by Zheng Lu Xinyuan won the Tiger Award, the top prize.[2]
The section highlighted work of young and emerging filmmakers, consisted of the Tiger competition, Ammodo Tiger Short competition, Bright Future competition, main, mid-length and short programmes.[3]
The following films were selected to compete for the Tiger Award. The line-up was announced on 18 December 2019.[4]
| Title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| El año del descubrimiento | Luis López Carrasco | Spain, Switzerland | |
| Beasts Clawing at Straws | Kim Yong-hoon | South Korea | |
| The Cloud In Her Room | Zheng Lu Xinyuan | Hong Kong | |
| Desterro | Maria Clara Escobar | Brazil, Portugal, Argentina | |
| Drama Girl | Vincent Boy Kars | Netherlands | |
| La fortaleza | Jorge Thielen Armand | Venezuela, France, Netherlands, Colombia | |
| Kala azar | Janis Rafailidou | Netherlands, Greece | |
| Nasir | Arun Karthick | India, Netherlands | |
| Piedra sola | Alejandro Telemaco Tarraf | Argentina, Mexico, Qatar, United Kingdom | |
| Si yo fuera el invierno mismo | Jazmín López | Argentina |
The following films were selected to compete for the Ammodo Tiger Short Competition. The line-up was announced on 4 December 2019.[5]
| Title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Logical Exits | Mahdi Fleifel | Denmark, United Kingdom, Lebanon | |
| Aggregate States of Matters | Rosa Barba | Peru, Germany | |
| Apiyemiyekî? | Ana Vaz | France, Netherlands | |
| Apparition | Ismaïl Bahri | France | |
| Aquí y allá | Melisa Liebenthal | France, Argentina | |
| Becoming Alluvium | Thao Nguyen Phan | Vietnam, Spain | |
| Beer | Erik van Lieshout | Netherlands | |
| A Bright Summer Diary | Lei Lei | United States | |
| A chuva acalanta a dor | Leonardo Mouramateus | Portugal, Brazil | |
| Communicating Vessels | Maïder Fortuné, Annie MacDonell | Canada | |
| The Eyes of Summer | Rajee Samarasinghe | Sri Lanka, United States | |
| Look Then Below | Ben Rivers | United Kingdom | |
| The Lost Procession | Bani Abidi | United Arab Emirates, Germany, Pakistan | |
| the names have changed, including my own and truths have been altered | Onyeka Igwe | United Kingdom | |
| Progressive Touch | Michael Portnoy | Austria, Netherlands, United States | |
| Sayōnara | William Andreas Wivel | Denmark | |
| Sun Dog | Dorian Jespers | Belgium | |
| Tendre | Isabel Pagliai | France | |
| They Parlaient Idéale | Laure Prouvost | France, Belgium, Italy | |
| Tyrant Star | Diane Severin Nguyen | Vietnam, United States | |
| Wong Ping's Fables 2 | Wong Ping | Hong Kong |
The programme highlighted first feature films by aspiring filmmakers.[6]
| Title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babai | Artem Aisagaliev | Russia, United States | |
| Chaco | Diego Mondaca | Bolivia, Argentina | |
| Los fantasmas | Sebastián Lojo | Guatemala, Argentina | |
| Fellwechselzeit | Sabrina Mertens | Germany | |
| For the Time Being | Salka Tiziana | Germany, Spain, Switzerland | |
| I Blame Society | Gillian Wallace Horvat | United States | |
| Moving On | Yoon Dan-bin | South Korea | |
| My Mexican Bretzel | Nuria Giménez Lorang | Spain | |
| Ofrenda | Juan María Mónaco Cagni | Argentina | |
| Panquiaco | Ana Elena Tejera | Panama | |
| A Rifle and a Bag | Cristina Hanes, Isabella Rinaldi, Arya Rothe | India | |
| Sebastian springt über Geländer | Ceylan-Alejandro Ataman-Checa | Germany | |
| The Trouble with Nature | Illum Jacobi | Denmark, France | |
| Truth or Consequences | Hannah Jayanti | United States | |
| Wisdow Teeth | Liang Ming | China |
| Title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIDOL | Lawrence Lek | United Kingdom | |
| Air Condition | Fradique | Angola | |
| Cenote | Oda Kaori | Japan | |
| Damp Season | Gao Ming | China | |
| Death Inhabits at Night | Eduardo Morotó | Brazil | |
| La dosis | Martín Kraut | Argentina | |
| Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains | Gu Xiaogang | China | |
| En medio del laberinto | Salomón Pérez | Peru | |
| The Fever | Maya Da-Rin | Brazil | |
| L'île aux oiseaux | Maya Kosa, Sérgio da Costa | Switzerland | |
| The Invitation | Saurav Rai | India | |
| Longa noite | Eloy Enciso | Spain | |
| A Love Unknown | John Clang | Singapore | |
| Lusala | Mugambi Nthiga | Kenya | |
| The Magic Mountain | Eitan Efrat, Daniel Mann | Belgium | |
| Make Up | Claire Oakley | United Kingdom | |
| Merry Christmas, Yiwu | Mladen Kovacevic | Sweden | |
| Le miracle du Saint Inconnu | Alaa Eddine Aljem | Morocco | |
| My Morning Laughter | Marko Đorđević | Serbia | |
| Nafi's Father | Mamadou Dia | Senegal | |
| Non c'è nessuna Dark Side (atto uno 2007-2019) | Erik Negro | Italy | |
| The Painter and the Thief | Benjamin Ree | Norway | |
| Phases of Matter | Deniz Tortum | Turkey | |
| The Pregnant Tree and the Goblin | Kim Dongryung, Park Kyoungtae | South Korea | |
| Shell and Joint | Hirabayashi Isamu | Japan | |
| Slow Machine | Paul Felten, Joe DeNardo | United States | |
| Some Kind of Heaven | Lance Oppenheim | United States | |
| Suzanne Daveau | Luísa Homem | Portugal | |
| This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection | Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese | Lesotho | |
| Tierra adentro | Mauro Colombo | Panama | |
| Tlamess | Ala Eddine Slim | Tunisia | |
| The Tree House | Truong Minh Quý | Singapore | |
| VHYes | Jack Henry Robbins | United States | |
| We Are From There | Wissam Tanios | Lebanon |
The section consisted of:[9]
The following films were selected to compete for the VPRO Big Screen Award. The line-up was announced on 18 December 2019.[10]
| Title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| El cazador | Marco Berger | Argentina | |
| Eden | Ágnes Kocsis | Hungary, Romania | |
| Énorme | Sophie Letourneur | France | |
| The Evening Hour | Braden King | United States | |
| Fanny Lye Deliver'd | Thomas Clay | United Kingdom, Germany | |
| Mosquito | João Nuno Pinto | Portugal, France, Brazil | |
| A Perfectly Normal Family | Malou Reymann | Denmark | |
| Synapses | Chang Tso-chi | Taiwan | |
| A Yellow Animal | Felipe Bragança | Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique |
The programme highlighted the work of future in arthouse cinema.[11]
| Title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All This Victory | Ahmad Ghossein | Lebanon | |
| Antigone | Sophie Deraspe | Canada | |
| BattleScar – Punk Was Invented by Girls | Nico Casavecchia, Martin Allais | France | |
| Birds (Or How to Be One) | Babis Makridis | Greece | |
| Bitter Chestnut | Gurvinder Singh | India | |
| Black Bag | Shao Qing | China | |
| Children of the Sea | Ayumu Watanabe | Japan | |
| Il colpo del cane | Fulvio Risuleo | Italy | |
| Cook, F**k, Kill | Mira Fornay | Czech Republic | |
| A Dark, Dark Man | Adilkhan Yerzhanov | Kazakhstan | |
| Emilia | César Sodero | Argentina | |
| Fidelity | Nigina Sayfullaeva | Russia | |
| Gaadi | Prasanna Vithanage | Sri Lanka | |
| Happy Old Year | Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit | Thailand | |
| A linha | Ricardo Laganaro | Brazil | |
| The Longest Day | Jonas Selberg Augustsén | Sweden | |
| Los que vuelven | Laura Casabé | Argentina | |
| The Making of [5x1] | Midi Z | Taiwan | |
| Moffie | Oliver Hermanus | South Africa | |
| The Moneychanger | Federico Veiroj | Uruguay | |
| Mother | Kristof Bilsen | Belgium | |
| Not in This World | Park Jungbum | South Korea | |
| O [5x1] | Qiu Yang | Taiwan | |
| Only You Alone | Zhou Zhou | China | |
| The Orphanage | Shahrbanoo Sadat | Denmark | |
| Parasite (B&W Version) | Bong Joon-ho | South Korea | |
| Passenger | Isobel Knowles, Van Sowerwine | Australia | |
| Rose Stone Star | Marcello Sannino | Italy | |
| The Science of Fictions | Yosep Anggi Noen | Indonesia | |
| South Terminal | Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche | France | |
| Tenzo | Tomita Katsuya | Japan | |
| Valley of Souls | Nicólas Rincón Gille | Colombia | |
| Vendrá la muerte y tendrá tus ojos | José Luis Torres Leiva | Chile | |
| White on White | Théo Court | Spain | |
| A Witness Out of the Blue | Andrew Fung | Hong Kong | |
| You Know Him | Ercan Kesal | Turkey | |
| You Will Die at Twenty | Amjad Abu Alala | Sudan | |
| Zombi Child | Bertrand Bonello | France |
The programme showcased international award-winners and festival favourites.[12]
The programme showcased the work in hardcore film genres.[13]
| Title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boyz in the Wood | Ninian Doff | United States | |
| Bring Me Home | Kim Seung-woo | South Korea | |
| ColOZio | Artemio Narro | Mexico | |
| Detention | John Hsu | Taiwan | |
| L'état sauvage | David Perrault | France | |
| First Love | Takashi Miike | Japan | |
| Gutterbee | Ulrich Thomsen | Denmark | |
| Impetigore | Joko Anwar | Indonesia | |
| Jallikattu | Lijo Jose Pellissery | India | |
| The Long Walk | Mattie Do | Laos | |
| Saint Maud | Rose Glass | United Kingdom | |
| Special Actors | Ueda Shinichiro | Japan |
The section highlighted work of compilations, retrospectives and other formats in cinema.[14] The section consisted of:
The programme showcased new work of established filmmakers.[15]
| Title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bring Down the Walls | Phil Collins | United States | |
| Il diario di Angela – Noi due cineasti. Capitolo secondo | Yervant Gianikian | Italy | |
| Les enfants d'Isadora | Damien Manivel | France | |
| Un film dramatique | Éric Baudelaire | France | |
| The Halt | Lav Diaz | Philippines | |
| A Hidden Life | Terrence Malick | Germany | |
| How to Overthrow the US Government (Legally) | Caveh Zahedi | United States | |
| Jeanne d'Arc | Bruno Dumont | France | |
| Krabi, 2562 | Ben Rivers, Anocha Suwichakornpong | Thailand | |
| Liberté | Albert Serra | France | |
| Little Joe | Jessica Hausner | Austria | |
| No.7 Cherry Lane | Yonfan | Hong Kong | |
| Las poetas visitan a Juana Bignozzi | Laura Citarella, Mercedes Halfon | Argentina | |
| Sandlines | Francis Alÿs | Iraq | |
| Vitalina Varela | Pedro Costa | Portugal |
The section presented the IFFR's thematic programme and showcased the relevant social and political issues in cinema. The section consisted of:[16]
The following awards were presented at the 49th edition:[17]
The Cloud In Her Room by Zheng Lu Xinyuan
Only You Alone by Zhou Zhou