09/12/2024 - Taking place from 2-5 February, the festival’s development showcase will see 20 features and four immersive works presented to international industry representatives

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), running from 30 January-9 February 2025, has announced the line-up for its 42nd CineMart, the co-production market of the IFFR Pro industry strand. Twenty feature-length projects have been selected for the event, taking place from 2-5 February within the festival, together with four immersive projects, many of them coming from directors already established in the international industry. These projects in development will be unveiled to IFFR Pro industry attendees in order to offer them potential co-production and financing opportunities, after which a number of awards will be granted. Twelve projects have also been announced for the festival’s Darkroom works-in-progress strand.

The gathering described its eclectic choices for this year’s line-up as follows: “From stories of war and anti-colonial struggle to bold, queer voices and strong female characters; and from the origins of authoritarian regimes to their dystopian futures, from folk horror to stop-motion animation, romantic musical comedy and Afro-noir mystery – this selection is remarkable in its range of storytelling.”

Standing out amongst the feature projects is Something Strange Happened to Me, Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk’s follow-up to Pamfir [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
interview: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
film profile] (selected for the 2022 Directors’ Fortnight, and premiering just after the war with Russia broke out). This film will reference the ongoing war in a far more direct manner than Pamfir: in it, a mother turns to the alternative therapeutic methods of her neighbours, helping her come to terms with the trauma of losing her son who was defending their village from the Russian invasion.

Israeli-born, UK-based filmmaker Daniel Mann cracked the festival’s Tiger Competition with his hybrid essay-documentary Under a Blue Sun [+see also:
film review
film profile]; now, he returns to the festival’s auspices with The Uganda Project, investigating a secret 1904 British Empire expedition to the highlands of Uganda which assessed it as a potential national home for the Jewish people.

Pioneering black and queer US filmmaker Cheryl Dunye is developing Black Is Blue, her first major project since her 1996 film The Watermelon Woman was revived for theatrical release and streaming, bringing it a passionate new audience. By the looks of it not an expansion of her 2014 short of the same name, it will depict an AI-infused near-future dystopia, as two trans lovers plot revenge against a DNA-harvesting corporation. Germany and Greece will join the USA as co-production territories.

From the immersive strand, an immediate standout is Lillian Hess’s Strata, coming quick on the heels of her Eurimages-awarded Duchampiana at last year’s IFFR Pro (see the interview), which world-premiered in the Venice Film Festival’s immersive section several months after.

“There is a sense of existential urgency that has driven much of our curation,” said Marten Rabarts, the newly appointed head of IFFR Pro, in a statement accompanying the section’s unveiling. “Through projects that directly tackle the origins of authoritarian regimes to AI-infused dystopian futures, as well as those that speak out against colonialism and oppression, I’m heartened to see the range of storytelling and talent on display. They include world-renowned names as well as the incredible number of IFFR, Rotterdam Lab and Hubert Bals Fund alumni continuing their filmmaking journeys.”

The full list of projects is below:

100 Thousand Turkish Liras - Nazlı Elif Durlu (Turkey/Germany)
Producers: istos film, Achtung Panda!

Adiós, amor - Zaida Carmona (Spain)
Producers: DEBUT Films, Canada

Black Is Blue - Cheryl Dunye (USA/Germany/Greece)
Producers: Black Is Blue LLC, Jingletown Films, Jürgen Brüning Filmproduktion, Sima Films, Pinch Me Films, Chrysallis Productions

Cape of Pleasures - Marcelo Gomes, Cao Guimarães (Brazil/Uruguay)
Producers: Cinco em Ponto, Misti Filmes, Criatura Cine 

Corte Culebra - Ana Elena Tejera (France/Panama)
Producers: Mestizo Cinema, Fulgurance

Enkop (The Soil) - Angela Wanjiku Wamai (Kenya/Netherlands)  
Producers: LBx Africa, PRPL

Eziko - Babalwa Baartman, Jenna Cato Bass (South Africa)
Producers: Sanusi Films, Miss K Productions

Faust - Jazmín López (Germany/Argentina)
Producer: Schuldenberg Films

Four Seasons in Java - Kamila Andini (Indonesia/Singapore) 
Producers: Forka Films, Giraffe Pictures 

How Melissa Blew a Fuse - Una Gunjak (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Croatia/Serbia)
Producers: SCCA/pro.ba, Nukleus Film, Film House Bas Celik

Inbetween Worlds - Diana Cam Van Nguyen (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Producers: 13ka, nutprodukcia

Marseille - Yim Brakel (Netherlands)
Producer: Labyrint Film

Meat - Rioghnach Ni Ghrioghair (Ireland)
Producer: Fantastic Films

Sentinel - Carl Joseph E Papa (Philippines)
Producer: Project 8 Projects

Something Strange Happened to Me - Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk (Ukraine)
Producer: Mellivora Production

The March of the Sunflowers - Erik Ricco (Brazil)
Producers: Cup Filmes, Coala Filmes, Tubz Studio

The Price of Gold - Eugen Jebeleanu (Romania)
Producer: microFILM

The Uganda Project - Daniel Mann (France/UK)
Producers: Acqua Alta, La Bête, Laila UK 

Strange Root - Lam Li Shuen, Mark Chua (Singapore/Indonesia)
Producers: 13 Little Pictures, Emoumie Pictures, Palari Films

Unidentified Actress - Ashim Ahuwalia (India/Germany)
Producers: Future East Film, Rapid Eye Movements 

CineMart Immersive Projects

The Dreams of Time - Jeissy Trompiz (Venezuela/Brazil)
Producers: Alamar Films, Migranta Films

Hyperdam - Floris van Laethem (Netherlands)
Producer: Dutch Digital Collectibles

One Charming Night - Robin Coops (Netherlands)
Producers: Studio Biarritz, Coops & Co

Strata - Lilian Hess (Luxembourg)
Producer: a_BAHN