Bright Future is our section dedicated to young and emerging film talent with their own style and vision, often presenting their films for the first time on the international film scene.
Bright Future includes the following programmes:
Tiger Competition
Ammodo Tiger Short Competition
Bright Future
Bright Future Mid-length
Bright Future Short
This week, we’re also announcing the first Bright Future films confirmed for IFFR 2019.
The Day I Lost My Shadow, Soudade Kaadan, 2018
At the start of the war in Syria, young pharmacist Sana tries to buy some bottled gas, but her search quickly gets out of hand. Sana’s panic-stricken journey is told with striking hyper-realism and an excursion into magic realism. Winner of the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Best Debut in Venice.
The Load, Ognjen Glavonić, 2018
During the NATO bombardments of 1999, truck driver Vlada has to take a mysterious load to Belgrade. Subtle storytelling with an ever-present sense of threat about the moral degradation of an ordinary man just trying to get by. Culminating in a powerful revelation. His load becomes his burden.
Van ver staat het stil, Eva van Tongeren, 2018
Filmmaker Eva van Tongeren spent months writing to a convicted paedophile. She sent him pictures of the desert, memories of journeys he has never made. At times she daren’t even open his replies, as they could make her angry – after all, he committed a heinous crime. But she wants to understand his motives.
The most prestigious prize of IFFR, the Tiger Award, discovers and raises the profile of up-and-coming filmmakers. As Gerwin Tamsma, section coordinator of Bright Future, notes: "The reason you've never heard about them, is because they're brand new."
Take the winner of 2018 for instance, Cai Chengjie, who quit his job at Chinese state television to film a lyrical and very bold tale about current Chinese society with a strong feminist standpoint. Or how about 2017? After winning the Tiger Award, Sexy Durga by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan went on to make headlines as it wound up in a massive censorship controversy in India – screening the film could supposedly cause "law-and-order problems".
The common factor is: these filmmakers dare to do something new. They push boundaries. And that's why they deserve the spotlight at IFFR. Not just the winner, but all eight world premieres that are selected.
Tip: want to watch films that were selected for our Tiger Competition in previous years? Check out our collection at IFFR Unleashed! For more information about the Tiger Competition and a list of previous winners, click here.
Not just any shorts, but the weird, experimental kind. Some have a bit of a story to them, many don’t. It’s all about form, expression, art. 22 short films vie for three equivalent prizes worth €5,000. For more info on the Ammodo Tiger Short Competition and a list of previous winners, click here.
All debut films within Bright Future that are also a world or international premiere are elligible for the Bright Future Award. For more info on the Bright Future Competition and a list of previous winners, click here.
09.01.2019 | International Film Festival Rotterdam's blog
Cat. : FESTIVALS
