IFFR Announces 10 World Premieres for 56th Edition — SkimNews
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- International Film Festival Rotterdam announced 10 world premieres for its 56th edition, split between Bright Future and Harbour and scheduled to screen Jan. 28-Feb. 7.
- Vanja Kaludjercic said the first 10 films range from the playful and provocative to the intimate and politically urgent; the festival’s complete 56th-edition program will launch Dec. 16.
- Ali and Ben’s Spicy Meats premieres as a Malaysian horror-comedy from brothers Feisal and Iskander Azizuddin, following two broke pickle-business friends who discover a magic recipe made from human meat.
- Portrait of a Young Criminal is Parbat Chapagai’s Nepal-set debut adaptation of Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment,” with a destitute tutor planning to kill his employer after bonding with teenage sex worker Sonya.
- The Lapse combines Hong Kong filmmaker and artist Rita Hui Nga Shu’s AI-cloned voice, declassified government documents and lived experience to examine the gap between official promises and Hongkongers’ reality.
- Waiting Room follows Palestinian photojournalist Mohammed Zaanoun fleeing Khan Younis, moving his family to Egypt and documenting their exile across one year.
- Tehran the Obscure Atelier of Desire portrays Tehran artists returning to unfinished canvases, abandoned experiments and future sketches, with the threat of war explicitly looming outside their studios.
Why it matters: For Parbat Chapagai, Feisal Azizuddin, Iskander Azizuddin and Rita Hui Nga Shu, the material change is concrete: their films are among 10 world premieres when IFFR opens Jan. 28, giving audiences first access. The Dec. 16 full-program launch then supplies the broader festival slate for scheduling.
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