The International Film Festival Rotterdam has selected fourteen films for the VPRO Tiger Awards Competition of its 35th edition which will start January 25. The Competition line up counts nine world premieres, three international premieres and two European premieres. Four titles were supported by the IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund and one title was previously selected as CineMart Project. Two competition titles have been acquired already for release in The Netherlands: LAND OF THE BLIND and NORTHERN LIGHT (LANGER LICHT).

Rotterdam festival director Sandra den Hamer: “We are very excited with this year's line up in the VPRO Tiger Awards Competition. They are from all over the world and vary greatly in style, from innovative personal essay to political satire. After a long absence of young Americans in our competition, it is great to now have two very strong candidates from the US. This year also China is represented in Rotterdam with two fresh and energetic débuts. All fourteen films reveal great promise and talent for the future!”

The three winners will be announced during IFFR 2006’s Awards Ceremony, to be held on Friday February 3. Each of the three equal VPRO Tiger Awards comes with Euro 10,000 and guaranteed Dutch television screening by IFFR’s main sponsor, Dutch public network VPRO.


The fourteen films in IFFR 2006’s VPRO Tiger Awards Competition: (in alphabetical order by director’s name)

SONG OF SONGS by Josh Appignanesi (United Kingdom, 2005), international premiere.

GLUE (GLUE (HISTORIA ADOLESCENTE EN MEDIO DE LA NADA)) by Alexis Dos Santos (Argentina, 2006), world premiere, Hubert Bals Fund supported film.

LAND OF THE BLIND by Robert Edwards (United Kingdom/USA, 2006), world premiere.

THE GAZE (NEGAH) by Sepideh Farsi (Iran/France, 2006), world premiere, CineMart 2000 Project.

UN MATIN BONNE HEURE (EARLY IN THE MORNING) by Gahité Fofana (France/Guinea, 2006), world premiere, Hubert Bals Fund supported film.

UN JOUR D’ÉTÉ (A SUMMER DAY) by Franck Guérin (France, 2006), world premiere.

WALKING ON THE WILD SIDE (LAI XIAO ZI) by Han Jie (China, 2006), world premiere, Hubert Bals Fund supported film.

ODE TO JOY (ODA DO RADOSCI) by Anna Kazejak-Dawid, & Jan Komasa & Maciej Migas (Poland, 2005), international premiere.

THE LEGEND OF TIME (LA LEYENDA DEL TIEMPO) by Isaki Lacuesta (Spain, 2006), world premiere.

NORTHERN LIGHT (LANGER LICHT) by David Lammers (The Netherlands, 2006), world premiere.

MADEINUSA by Claudia Llosa (Peru/Spain, 2005), European premiere.

THE DOG POUND (LA PERERRA) by Manuel Nieto Zas (Uruguay/Argentina/Canada/Spain, 2006), world premiere, Hubert Bals Fund supported film.

OLD JOY by Kelly Reichardt (USA, 2005), international premiere.

TAKING FATHER HOME (BEI YA ZI DE NAN HAI) by Ying Liang (China, 2005), European premiere.