For its 38th edition, the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2009 will present 43 world premieres as well as 35 international and 34 European premieres of feature length films. A strong year for Eastern European film is led by ROOM AND A HALF, a fictional biopic about poet Joseph Brodsky by Andrey Khrzhanovsky; MORPHIA, Alexei Balabanov’s latest film, based on a M. Bulgakov adaptation by the late Sergei Bodrov Jr. and acclaimed Armenian director Harutyun Khachatryan’s BORDER.
Throughout the festival period, some of the most eye catching premieres will be the three films to be projected on the outside walls of Rotterdam’s office towers, made by Isabella Rossellini & Guy Maddin, Carlos Reygadas and Nanouk Leopold & Daan Emmen.
IFFR’s 2009 line up features a record number of thirty-three films supported by the festival’s Hubert Bals Fund. All are nominated for the Dioraphte Award (10,000 Euro) for a Hubert Bals Fund supported film screening at the festival. Among the world premieres, Alicia Scherson (TURISTAS) and Peng Tao (FLOATING IN MEMORY) are in competition. Armenian maestro Harutyun Khachatryan presents his new film BORDER in the festival’s main Spectrum section. BORDER reflects on the tragedy that befell his people during the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the 1990s.
Many discoveries can be found in the festival’s new Bright Future section for first or second time feature films. Among the Dutch films in Bright Future 2009, there is Noud Heerkens’ one take drama LAST CONVERSATION, featuring a stunning performance Johanna ter Steege (VANISHED, J’ENTENDS PLUS LA GUITARE) and award winning Jiska Rickels’ new documentary BABAJI, AN INDIAN LOVE STORY. >From Scandinavia, acclaimed short films director Heidi Maria Faisst (Denmark) presents her first feature, THE BLESSING. Part of a wave of interesting British films, IFFR presents international premieres of actor Nick Moran’s directing debut TELSTAR and Pat Holden’s exciting AWAYDAYS. Asian highlights include LOOKING FOR CHERRY BLOSSOMS, a crazy comedy by hot Japanese actor Joe Odagiri, and sports media satire TOKYO ONLYPICS, by Riichiro Mashima; a great crop of Chinese independent films features premieres by Yang Jin, Zhao Ye, Yu Guangyi and Wang Liren. Thailand’s talented Uruphong Raksasad presents a topical documentary on rural politics, AGRARIAN UTOPIA.
Main festival section Spectrum assembles an equally strong line up of new work. Among the world premieres, as mentioned above, are Andrey Khrzhanovsky’s masterful ROOM AND A HALF and Alexei Balabanov’s MORPHIA, as well as Gustav Deutsch’s astonishing found footage FILM IST. A GIRL & A GUN, Jan Nemec’s personal flash back to Prague’s Spring of 1968 THE FERRARI DINO GIRL. Iwai Chikara’s documentary Kikoe, on Japanese noise artist Otomo Yoshihide, and topical Senegalese film THE ABSENCE by Mama Keïta also make their first bow. Highlights include Erik Poppe’s intense TROUBLED WATER and Délépine & Kervern’s outrageous LOUISE-MICHEL, Vitali Mansky’s Dalai Lama documentary SUNRISE /SUNSET, as well as new films by Japan’s Kumakiri Kazuyoshi, NON-KO, and Philippine’s boy wonder, Raya Martin (NEXT ATTRACTION). Indian masters Adoor Gopalakrishan and Girish Kasaravalli both present new films at the festival.
Within Spectrum, Rotterdam’s short film program presents 250 works up to 60 minutes. Among these are world premieres of short features by Ryan Philippi (Réunion), Dani Leventhal (Israel), Ryan Noth (Canada), Kusuma Widjaja Putu (Indonesia), Laurent Gutierrez & Valerie Portefaix (Hong Kong), Clemens Von Wedemeyer (Germany) and Naomi Uman (Ukraine).
The main Signals section, with theme programs and retrospectives, includes a tribute to Swiss filmmaker Peter Liechti. The retrospective is highlighted with the world premiere of his astounding new film, THE SOUND OF INSECTS - RECORD OF A MUMMY.
In the context of the thematic program focusing on Young Turkish Cinema, Istanbul-set drama BLACK DOGS BARKING by Mehmet Bahadir Er & Maryna Gorbach will see its world premiere.
The ‘Haunted House’ group exhibition, part of the Hungry Ghosts-theme program on Asian ghost movies, presents the world premieres of installations by filmmakers Riri Riza (Indonesia), Nguyen Vinh Son (Vietnam), Amir Muhammad (Malaysia), Wisit Sasanatieng (Thailand), Garin Nugroho (Indonesia) and Lav Diaz (Philippines).
The ‘Size Matters’ theme program on the proliferation of screens in daily life includes the group exhibition ‘Aspect Ratio’ and a film program that presents world premieres by three exceptional filmmakers: Jonas Mekas reflects on television news coverage in LITHUANIA AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE USSR, Ken Jacobs revisits in ANAGLYPH TOM the 1905 source of his 1969 structuralist film masterpiece, TOM, TOM, THE PIPER'S SON and Kiyomi Ishibashi joins with SPYDER the handful of filmmakers who realized an entire feature film with footage exclusively shot with the mobile phone.
The list of IFFR 2009 world, international and European premieres of feature length films:
IFFR 2009 World premieres
VPRO Tiger Awards Competition
DOGGING: A LOVE STORY Simon Ellis United Kingdom 2009
AT WEST OF PLUTO (À L'OUEST DE PLUTON) Henry Bernadet, Myriam Verreault Canada 2009
SCHOTTENTOR Caspar Pfaundler Austria 2009
WRONG ROSARY (UZAK IHTIMAL) Mahmut Fazil Coskun Turkey 2009
TOURISTS (TURISTAS) Alicia Scherson Chile 2009 HBF supported film
THE HUNGRY GHOSTS Michael Imperioli USA 2009
THE STRENGTH OF WATER Armagan Ballantyne New Zealand, Germany 2008
FLOATING IN MEMORY (LIU LI) Peng Tao China 2009 HBF supported film
Bright Future
ALL MY FAILED ATTEMPTS Tan Chui Mui Malaysia 2009
BOLLYWOOD HERO Diederik van Rooijen Netherlands 2009
LAST CONVERSATION (HET LAATSTE GESPREK) Noud Heerkens Netherlands 2009
THE TREE (EL ARBOL) Carlos Serrano Azcona Spain, Mexico 2008
APRIL SHOWERS (ÁGUAS MIL) Ivo M. Ferreira Portugal 2009
LOOKING FOR CHERRY BLOSSOMS (SAKURA NA HITO TACHI) Joe Odagiri Japan 2009
OH MY SOUL Nicholas Monsour USA 2009
THE BLESSING (VELSIGNELSEN) Heidi Maria Faisst Denmark 2009
FIXER: THE TAKING OF AJMAL NAQSHBANDI Ian Olds USA 2009
TATTOO (CI QING) Wang Liren China 2008
AGRARIAN UTOPIA Uruphong Raksasad Thailand 2009
BABAJI, AN INDIAN LOVE STORY Jiska Rickels Netherlands 2009
Spectrum
THE ABSENCE (L'ABSENCE) Mama Keïta Senegal, France 2009
KIKOE Iwai Chikara Japan 2009
BORDER (SAHMAN) Harutyun Khachatryan Armenia, Netherlands 2009 HBF supported film
THIS AREA IS UNDER QUARANTINE (BORIVEN NEE YU PAI TAI KARN KUK KUN) Thunska Pansittivorakul Thailand 2008
DAZZLE (OOGVERBLINDEND) Cyrus Frisch Netherlands 2009
THE FERRARI DINO GIRL (HOLKA FERRARI DINO) Jan Nemec Czech Republic 2009
CREPUSCULE Maartje Seyferth, Victor Nieuwenhuijs Netherlands 2009
FILM IST. A GIRL & A GUN Gustav Deutsch Austria 2009
ROOM AND A HALF (POLTORY KOMNATY ILI SENTIMENTALNOE PUTESHESTVIE NA RODINU) Andrey Khrzhanovsky Russia 2008
THE MIDDLE MYSTERY OF KRISTO NEGRO (DAY TINGNGA TI MISTERYO TI KRISTO NEGRO) Khavn De La Cruz Philippines 2009
Signals: Hungry Ghosts, arts installations part of the ‘Haunted House’ exhibition
A PURIFICATION POD Riri Riza Indonesia 2009
MEETING ROOM FOR LIFE AND AFTER-LIFE Nguyen Vinh Son Vietnam 2009
READING ROOM Amir Muhammad Malaysia 2009
CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF THE GHOST Wisit Sasanatieng Thailand 2009
TRANSFORMATION, GHOSTS IN GARIN NUGROHO’S HOUSE Garin Nugroho Indonesia 2009
MANILA'S DARK ROOM Lav Diaz Philippines 2009
Signals: Peter Liechti retrospective
THE SOUND OF INSECTS - RECORD OF A MUMMY Peter Liechti Switzerland 2009
Signals: Size Matters, three films commissioned by IFFR for the Urban Screens Project
CLOSE-UP Nanouk Leopold, Daan Emmen Netherlands 2009, 420'
SEND ME TO THE 'LECTRIC CHAIR Isabella Rossellini, Guy Maddin Canada 2009, 7'
SERENGHETTI Carlos Reygadas Mexico 2009, 80'
Signals: Size Matters
LITHUANIA AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE USSR Jonas Mekas USA 2009
SPYDER Kiyomi Ishibashi Japan 2009
ANAGLYPH TOM (TOM WITH PUFFY CHEEKS) Ken Jacobs USA 2008
Signals: Young Turkish Cinema
BLACK DOGS BARKING (KARA KÖPEKLER HAVLARKEN) Mehmet Bahadir Er, Maryna Gorbach Turkey 2009
IFFR 2009 international premieres
VPRO Tiger Awards Competition
THE DARK HARBOUR (FUTOKO) Naito Takatsugu Japan 2008
NO PUEDO VIVIR SIN TI Leon Dai Taiwan 2008
BREATHLESS (DDONGPARI) Yang Ik-June South Korea 2008
Bright Future
LETTER TO A CHILD (OTROCI) Vlado Skafar Slovenia 2008
GUIDANCE Johan Jonasson Sweden 2009
THE ARCHITEKT (DER ARCHITEKT) Ina Weisse Germany 2008
199 TIPS TO BE HAPPY (199 RECETAS PARA SER FELIZ) Andrés Waissbluth Chile, Spain 2008
AWAYDAYS Pat Holden United Kingdom 2008
TELSTAR Nick Moran United Kingdom 2008
PERPETUUM MOBILE Valdas Navasaitis Lithuania, France 2008
THE LAND (DADI) He Jia China 2008
ACACIO Marília Rocha Brazil, Angola, Portugal 2008
THE DAMNED RAIN (GABHRICHA PAUS) Satish Manwar India 2008
ECCE MOMO! Anastas Charalampidis Greece 2008
THAT'S IT (APENAS O FIM) Matheus Souza Brazil 2008
A CHEONGGYECHEON DOG (CHEONGGYECHEONUI GAE) Kim Kyung-Mook South Korea 2008
TOKYO ONLYPIC Mashima Riichiro Japan 2008
Spectrum
SUNRISE/SUNSET (RASSVET/ZAKAT) Vitaly Mansky Russia 2008
MORPHIA (MORFIY) Alexei Balabanov Russia 2008
SECRETS (SECRETOS) Valéria Sarmiento Chile, France 2008
BREAD/CAMELLIAS SQUARE (PANE/PIAZZA DELLE CAMELIE) Tonino De Bernardi Italy 2009
LOVE IN THE SHADOWS Jon Jost, Moon Si-Hyun, Lee Sang-Woo South Korea 2008
THE DAY (DER TAG) Uli M. Schüppel Germany, France 2008
NON-KO (NONKO 36SAI KAJITETSUDAI) Kumakiri Kazuyoshi Japan 2008
NEXT ATTRACTION Raya Martin Philippines 2008
Signals: Hungry Ghosts
THE POT (DOK) Kim Tae-Gon South Korea 2008
THE FATALITY (JUE HUN YIN) Kuang Sheng, Lin Tzu-liang, Liang Hung-chih, Tiwa Moeithaisong Taiwan, Thailand 2008
THE SHAMAN (PENCABUT NYAWA) Raditya Sidharta Indonesia 2007
MY LOVE, YURIE (NAESARANG, YURIE) Ko Eun-Ki South Korea 2008
FORBIDDEN DOOR (PINTU TERLARANG) Joko Anwar Indonesia 2008
LAZARUS EPISODES 1-2-0 (LAZARUS) Izuchi Kishu Japan , 2007, 2008
TAKUT: FACES OF FEAR Riri Riza, Rako Prijanto, Raditya Sidharta, Robby Ertanto, Ray Nayoan, The Mo Brothers Indonesia 2008
Signals: Cinema Regained
ACHTERNBUSCH Andi Niessner Germany, Austria 2008
THE MEMORIES OF ANGELS (LA MEMOIRE DES ANGES) Luc Bourdon Canada 2008
Signals: Young Turkish Cinema
THE STORM (BAHOZ) Kazim Öz Turkey 2008
IFFR 2009 European premieres
VPRO Tiger Awards Competition
BLIND PIG WHO WANTS TO FLY (BABI BUTA YANG INGIN TERBANG) Edwin Indonesia 2008 HBF supported film
BE GOOD (SOIS SAGE) Juliette Garcias France, Denmark 2008
BE CALM AND COUNT TO SEVEN (ARAM BASH VA TA HAFT BESHMAR) Ramtin Lavafipour Iran 2008 HBF supported film
Bright Future
SURVIVAL SONG (XIAO LI ZI) Yu Guangyi China 2008
HASHI Sherman Ong Japan, Malaysia, Singapore 2008
JALAINUR Zhao Ye China 2008
JERMAL Ravi L. Bharwani, Rayya Makarim Indonesia, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland 2008
POMEGRANATES AND MYRRH (AL MOR WA AL RUMMAN) Najwa Najjar Palestine, France, Germany, United Kingdom 2008
CALIFORNIA COMPANY TOWN Lee Anne Schmitt USA 2008
AMONG THE CLOUDS (DAR MIANE ABRHA) Rouhollah Hejazi Iran 2008
THE MAID (LA NANA) Sebastian Silva Chile 2009
ER DONG Yang Jin China 2008 HBF supported film
EXHAUSTED (GOGAL) Kim Gok South Korea 2008
UNMADE BEDS Alexis Dos Santos United Kingdom 2008
GOODBYE (HEBANO) Bunyo Kimura Japan 2008
ZARA Ayten Mutlu Saray Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Kurdistan 2008 HBF supported film
Spectrum
GREEN ROCKING CHAIR (JUAN BAYBAYIN) Roxlee Philippines 2008 HBF supported film
DADA'S DANCE (DADA) Zhang Yuan China 2008
TROUBLED WATER (DE USYNLIGE) Erik Poppe Norway, Sweden 2008
RIVER PEOPLE (SHUI SHANG REN JIA) He Jianjun China 2008 HBF supported film
THE HIGHER FORCE (STORA PLANID) Olaf de Fleur Johannesson Iceland, USA 2008
9808 AN ANTHOLOGY OF 10TH YEAR INDONESIAN REFORM (9808 ANTOLOGI 10 TAHUN REFORMASI INDONESIA) Anggun Priambodo, Ucu Agustin, Ifa Isfansyah, Otty Widasari, Ariani Darmawan, Hafiz, Lucky Kuswandi, Edwin, Wisnu Suryapratama, Steve Pillar Setiabudi Indonesia 2008
A CLIMATE FOR CRIME (ORU PENNUM RANDAANUM) Adoor Gopalakrishnan India 2008
12 LOTUS Royston Tan Singapore 2008
ADELA Adolfo B. Alix Jr. Philippines 2008
Signals: Hungry Ghosts
4BIA (SEEPRANG) Yongyoot Thongkongtoon, Paween Purijitpanya, Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom Thailand 2008
THE ART OF THE DEVIL 3 (LONG KHONG 2) Pasit Buranachan, Aht Thamtragoon Thailand 2008
RULE #1 (DAIYAT GYE) Kelvin Tong Hong Kong, Singapore 2007
NAK Nattapong Ratanachoksirikul Thailand 2008
MOON AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WELL (TRANG NOI DAY GIENG) Nguyen Vinh Son Vietnam, France 2008 HBF supported film
THE ANNIVERSARY GIFT (KADO HARI JADI) Paul Agusta Indonesia 2008
YES, I CAN SEE DEAD PEOPLE David Lee Hong Kong 2007
THE COFFIN Ekachai Uekrongtham Thailand 2008
Signals: Cinema Regained
KANTATA TAKWA Gotot Prakosa, Eros Djarot Indonesia 2008
RERBERG AND TARKOVSKY. THE REVERSE SIDE OF 'STALKER' (RERBERG I TARKOVSKY. OBRATNAYA STORONA 'STALKERA') Igor Mayboroda Russia 2008
Hubert Bals Fund Harvest 2009
VPRO Tiger Awards Competition
BLIND PIG WHO WANTS TO FLY (BABI BUTA YANG INGIN TERBANG) by Edwin (Indonesia, 2008), European premiere
BE CALM AND COUNT TO SEVEN (ARAM BASH VA TA HAFT BESHMAR) by Ramtin Lavafipour (Iran,2008), European premiere
TOURISTS (TURISTAS) by Alicia Scherson (Chile, 2009), World premiere
FLOATING IN MEMORY (LIU LI) by Peng Tao (China, 2009), World premiere
Bright Future
NATIVE DANCER (BAKSY) by Guka Omarova (Kazakhstan, 2008)
THE DEAD GIRL'S FEAST (A FESTA DA MENINA MORTA) by Matheus Nachtergaele (Brazil, 2007)
I AM FROM TITOV VELES (JAS SUM OD TITOV VELES) by Teona Mitevska (Macedonia, 2007)
ER DONG by Yang Jin (China, 2008), European premiere
INLAND (GABBLA) by Tariq Teguia (Algeria, 2008)
UNA SEMANA SOLOS (A WEEK ALONE) by Celina Murga (Argentina, 2008)
TONY MANERO by Pablo Larraín (Chile, 2008)
LOS HEREDEROS (THE INHERITORS) by Eugenio Polgovsky (Mexico, 2008)
ZARA by Ayten Mutlu Saray (Kurdistan, 2008), European premiere
PERFECT LIFE (WANMEI SHENGHUO) by Emily Tang (Hong Kong, 2008)
Spectrum
BORDER (SAHMAN) by Harutyun Khachatryan Armenia, Netherlands 2009, world premiere
GREEN ROCKING CHAIR (JUAN BAYBAYIN) by Roxlee (Philippines, 2008), European premiere
THE FIRM LAND by Chapour C. Haghighat (Iran, 2008)
TEZA by Haile Gerima (Ethiopia, 2008)
RIVER PEOPLE (SHUI SHANG REN JIA) by He Jianjun (China, 2008), European premiere
I WANT TO SEE (JE VEUX VOIR) by Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige (Lebanon, 2008)
Young Turkish Cinema
PANDORA'S BOX (PANDORA'NIN KUTUSU) by Yesim Ustaoglu (Turkey, 2008)
Hungry Ghosts
MOON AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WELL (TRANG NOI DAY GIENG) by Nguyen Vinh Son (Vietnam, 2008), European premiere
(end of list)
Profile of the Hubert Bals Fund
Along with CineMart, the Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) is part of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). The 38th IFFR will take place January 21 – February 1, 2009. Year-round news on IFFR, HBF and CineMart can be found on the festival website www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com.
The Hubert Bals Fund is designed to bring remarkable or urgent feature films and feature-length creative documentaries by innovative and talented filmmakers from developing countries closer to completion. The Hubert Bals Fund provides grants that often turn out to play a crucial role in enabling these filmmakers to realize their projects. Although the Fund looks closely at the financial aspects of a project, the decisive factors remain its content and artistic value. Since the Fund started in 1988, close to 750 projects from independent filmmakers in Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America have received support. Approximately 80% of these projects have been realised or are currently in production. Every year, the IFFR screens completed films supported by the Fund.
The Hubert Bals Fund is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dutch non-governmental development organisations Hivos-NCDO Culture Foundation, the DOEN Foundation, Dioraphte Foundation and Dutch public broadcasting network NPS.
Grants and selection rounds
Annually, the Hubert Bals Fund has close to Euro 1.2 million at its disposal and is able to make individual grants of up to Euro 10,000 for script and project development, Euro 20,000 for digital production, Euro 30,000 for post-production or Euro 15,000 towards distribution costs in the country of origin. Selection rounds take place twice a year and have application deadlines on March 1 and August 1.
Training, workshops, the Hubert Bals Fund Awards
The Fund supports training initiatives for filmmakers in Ethiopia, Vietnam and Costa Rica. In Armenia and now in India, the Hubert Bals Fund participates in co-production meetings. On these occasions, Hubert Bals Fund Awards are granted to the most promising film projects.
Chatelin Bruno 
