Short film and Art Directions at 49th edition of IFFR
January 22–February 2, 2020
Short film and Art Directions at IFFR 2020
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has always celebrated the ways in which art and film intersect. Every year, the festival incorporates exhibitions, performances and screenings of artist film and video on the big screen. At the 49th edition in 2020, artists’ moving image once again occupies a central position in the festival programming.
Ammodo Tiger Short Competition
The 2020 edition presents 21 films in the Ammodo Tiger Short Competition, including new works by Ismaïl Bahri, Laure Prouvost, Ben Rivers, Wong Ping, Cécile B. Evans, Rosa Barba, Bani Abidi, Ana Vaz, Michael Portnoy, Erik van Lieshout, Onyeka Igwe, Thao Nguyen Phan, Maïder Fortuné & Annie MacDonell and Diane Severin Nguyen. Three winners will be selected by a three-strong jury made up of the recently appointed director of Kunsthal Rotterdam, Nathanja van Dijk, French filmmaker Safia Benhaim, and Los Angeles-born, Belgrade-based film curator and writer Greg de Cuir Jr.
Artists’ moving image
IFFR Short Film is a unique showcase of artists’ moving image and experimental film for works under 65 minutes.The screenings take place during the first weekend of the festival, 23-27 January. Other artists presenting work in the section include Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Basim Magdy, Pauline Curnier Jardin, Cyprien Gaillard, Hsu Che-yu, Maryam Jafri, Jaakko Pallasvuo, Aura Satz, Petna Ndaliko Katondolo, Imran Perretta, Riar Rizaldi, Andrew Norman Wilson, Yu Araki, Luke Fowler, Suneil Sanzgiri, Adrián Melis, Nicolas Provost, Iván Argote, Tulapop Saenjaroen and Musquiqui Chihying.
Artist film and video of all lengths will be represented throughout many festival sections including new feature-length films by 2018 Eye on Art award recipient Francis Alÿs, Lawrence Lek, James Benning, Pedro Costa, Lav Diaz, Phil Collins, John Clang, Eitan Efrat & Daniel Mann, Carlos Casas, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, Eric Baudelaire, Janis Rafa (in IFFR’s Tiger Competition), Ben Rivers and 2019 Prince Claus Laureate Anocha Suwichakornpong.
Frameworks & Art Directions
IFFR takes pride in complementing its film programme with Art Directions: an extensive series of art installations, performances and exhibitions in collaboration with Rotterdam-based art institutions TENT Rotterdam, Het Nieuwe Instituut and WORM. In collaboration with Art Rotterdam, a special film booth will be installed in Rotterdam Central Station to present DIT LEARN by Laure Prouvost.
Rosa Barba will present the sound-film performance Voice Engine, a voice modulated film that will be activated by the singing voices of a Rotterdam choir. The Quay Brothers will present a prelude to their third feature in the works in the form of an installation at TENT Rotterdam. The Quay Brothers and Rosa Barba have been invited to take part in IFFR’s initiative Frameworks, supported by Stichting Stokroos, where the festival annually invites two renowned visual artists to propose emerging talents for a completion grant to finnish a single-screen audio-visual work. Patricia Allio and The Karrabing Film Collective have been selected and will present their latest work at the festival.
IFFR’s newly launched Young Curators initiative offers Thai curator Darunee Terdtoontaveedej an opportunity to explore pre-colonial gender fluidity with a film programme, a panel discussion and an exhibition at Het Nieuwe Instituut. At WORM, an exhibition will present polaroids by the late Dutch cinematographer Robby Müller, in celebration of the newly launched Robby Müller Award.
Collectivity is a theme running throughout the festival, consolidated in the thematic programme Synergetic. The Ummah Chroma will present their installation G/D THYSELF: Spirit Strategy On Raising Free Black Children at Het Nieuwe Instituut. In collaboration with Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, the first edition of IFFR Sessions, a discursive programme of screenings and seminars in closed sessions, will take place centred around the theme of collectivity. Participating speakers include Karrabing Film Collective, Rojava Film Commune with Jonas Staal, Hafiz Ranjacale (co-founder of Indonesian artist collective ruangrupa), Eric Baudelaire and The NEST Collective.
Live performances in late-night audiovisual performance series sound//vision include Ojoboca, Benjamin Verdonck & Lucas Van Haesbroeck, Christine Vantzou & Eva L’ Hoest.
Talks
Jenn Nkiru, Terence Nance and cinematographer Bradford Young, all of whom are members of The Ummah Chroma, will give talks at the festival. Other guests that will give talks include Rosa Barba, Quay Brothers, Patricia Allio, Pedro Costa, Bárbara Wagner, Zachary Epcar and philosopher Timothy Morton. Cécile B. Evans and Lawrence Lek will take part in a panel on AI & Creativity organised in collaboration with STRP Festival.
For more info on the IFFR 2020 programme visit our website.
