Fifteen first or second features films by talented filmmakers from around the globe have been selected for IFFR's Hivos Tiger Awards Competition 2014. They will compete for three equal Hivos Tiger Awards of 15,000 Euro each. Jury chair Elia Suleiman will hand out the prizes at the official awards ceremony on 31 January. The line up includes six world premieres.

Jury Hivos Tiger Awards Competition 2014

The Hivos Tiger Awards Competition Jury 2014 consists of distinguished film maker Elia Suleiman; celebrated Dutch filmmaker Nanouk Leopold, whose first film Iles flottantes premiered in Tiger Awards competition in 2001, Indonesian filmmaker, artist and former Tiger Award nominee Edwin (Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly), Violeta Bava, BAFICI programmer and film producer from Argentina and Japanese actress and producer Kiki Sugino.

Elia Suleiman’s Chronicles of a Disappearance (1996) is part of IFFR’s sidebar celebrating 25 years of Hubert Bals Fund. Edwin presents two films in Spectrum Shorts this year: Someone's Wife in the Boat of Someone's Husband and Hortus. Kiki Sugino produced Koji Fukada’s Au revoir l'été, screening in Spectrum, and has a supporting role in the film.

Hivos Tiger Awards Competition 2014

IFFR announced the first five competition films in December 2013; Anatomy of a Paper Clip by Akira Ikeda (Japan, 2013, European premiere), Concrete Clouds by Lee Chatametikool (Thailand/Hong Kong/China, 2013, European premiere), Happily Ever After by Tatjana Božic (Croatia/Netherlands, 2014, world premiere), Riocorrente by Paulo Sacramento (Brazil, 2013, international premiere) and Vergiss mein ich (Lose My Self) by Jan Schomburg (Germany, 2014, world premiere).

The following ten titles complete the line up of the Hivos Tiger Awards Competition 2014:

Afscheid van de Maan/Farewell to the Moon by Dick Tuinder (Netherlands, 2014, world premiere)

Visual artist Dick Tuinder’s second feature revolves around 12-year-old Dutch and his family in the hot summer of 1972, when the Americans launch their last mission to the moon. Tuinder contrasts the tragicomic adventures of his protagonists with the lost illusions of that transitional year, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and approaching oil crisis. IFFR showed many of Tuinder’s short films, as well as his first feature Winterland (2009).

Arwad by Samer Najari and Dominique Chila (Canada, 2013, international premiere)

Ali returns to Arwad in Syria after the death of his mother. One night, he mysteriously drowns at sea. Both his wife and mistress struggle: accident or suicide? Ali’s identity crisis as an immigrant only makes the quest more complex. Arwad is a moving drama about loss, escape and exile. Chila and Najari created a number of short films together, Arwad is their first feature film.

Casa grande by Fellipe Barbosa (Brazil, 2014, world premiere)

This first fiction feature by Fellipe Barbosa provides a sharply drawn authentic picture of 17-year old Jean growing up among the Rio’s wealthy upper class. While Jean tries to escape his overbearing parents, they in turn try to hide their financial problems from him. Starring a mix of TV stars and non-professional actors, the coming of age drama addresses themes such as class differences and racism.

Han Gong-ju by Lee Su-Jin (South Korea, 2013, European premiere)

17-year-old Han Gong-Ju is banished from her community after an incident in the small Korean village where she grew up and sent to school elsewhere. She slowly tries to build a new life and makes new friends, but never seems to manage to shake off the mysterious event that colours her past. Lee Su-Jin, who showed his short film Son’s in IFFR 2007, premiered his first fiction in Busan IFF, where it won the Audience Jury award.

The Hope Factory/Kombinat Nadezhda by Natalia Meschaninova (Russia, 2014, world premiere)

The industrial city of Norilsk, with its arctic landscapes, huge factories, and anonymous Soviet architecture, is the gripping backdrop of The Hope Factory, the first feature by young Russian film maker Natalia Meschaninova. It is an emotional coming-of-age story about two girls, two rivals who pursue the same goal: leaving their homeland.

Mein blindes Herz/My Blind Heart by Peter Brunner (Austria, 2013, European premiere)

Kurt suffers from Marfan Syndrome (an incurable disease that may cause blindness) just like lead actor Christos Haas does in real life. But the film goes way beyond documenting this

Incurable condition. After killing his clinging mother, Kurt undertakes a journey in which the boundaries between perpetrator and victim are blurred. In his debut feature Peter Brunner questions fundamental issues through poetic narrative and stunning black-and-white images.

Stella Cadente/Falling Star by Luis Miñarro (Spain, 2014, world premiere)

This colourful first fiction by renowned producer Minarro offers a quietly hallucinating take on the brief rule of Amadeo of Savoy, who was king of turbulent Spain for two years around 1870. Confined to the safety of life within the palace walls, the lonely and frustrated King and his servants succumb to playful adventures which focus on love and pleasure.

Something Must Break/Nånting måste gå sönder by Ester Martin Bergsmark (Sweden, 2014, international premiere)

Bergsmark’s first fiction feature captures the turbulent relationship between the gay cross-dressing Sebastian and his lover Andreas, who is straight. Something Must Break is an intimate and emotional picture of people looking for who they can be and are allowed to be. Ester Martin Bergsmark drew inspiration from a Swedish cult novel as well as his own experiences as a transgender.

Viktoria by Maya Vitkova (Bulgaria/Romania, 2013, European premiere)

Viktoria is an unusual child, born without an umbilical cord and against the will of her mother -who didn't want to have a baby in communist Bulgaria. Her mother dreamed of the West. After having a daughter, that dream of freedom becomes even more impossible. Viktoria is a highly visual epic about dramatic paradoxes of motherhood and motherland..

War Story by Mark Jackson (USA, 2014, international premiere)

Traumatised war photographer Lee (strong role by Catherine Keener) flees to a hotel in Sicily where she faces the aftermath of her experiences alone. Only when Lee meets a young Tunisian refugee and decides to help her is there a breakthrough in her own healing process. With delicate camerawork, director Mark Jackson provides a striking and captivating picture of Lee's inner world in his second feature.