The International Film Festival Rotterdam closes its 41st edition on Saturday February 4 with a screening of The Hunter. The Hunter is a powerful psycholigical drama that tells the story of Martin (Willem Dafoe) a mercenary sent from Europe by a mysterious bio-tech company to the Tasmanian wilderness on a hunt for the last Tasmanian tiger. Next to Willem Dafoe (Spiderman, The English Patient, Platoon), The Hunter stars Frances O’Connor (Blessed, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Mansfield Park) and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, The Piano) in the principal roles.

The Hunter is based on the novel of the same name written by Julia Leigh.

The Hunter was launched as film project at Rotterdam’s CineMart 2004.

The film premiered last September during the Toronto IFF. Australian filmmaker Daniel Nettheim directed many television series and the short film The Third Stroke (1995). After his début feature Angst (2000), The Hunter (2011) is his second feature film.