01/12/2025 - The Dutch festival’s industry strand also showcases previous recipients of the Hubert Bals Fund within its project market, as well as the Darkroom selection for works-in-progress

IFFR Pro, the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s industry programme, has announced the projects taking part in its flagship CineMart co-production market, which will run 1-4 February 2026. Twenty-one features in development make up the CineMart selection, of which six are part of the inaugural CineMart x HBF line-up, allowing projects previously awarded support from the festival’s Hubert Bals Fund to enjoy another moment in the spotlight. Darkroom will present 10 feature-length works-in-progress, all recently or nearly completed films seeking final funding contributions and early opportunities for festival consideration.

Marten Rabarts, head of IFFR Pro, made the following statement: “Balancing breakthrough talent and celebrated auteurs at the height of their careers, this year’s selections underline CineMart’s role as a place where discovery and established filmmaking meet. The urgency is palpable: from stories grappling with war and displacement to narratives exploring climate change, queerness and the struggle to define and preserve identities in turbulent times, all amidst bold cinematic creativity and forays into genres such as sci-fi, horror and musicals.”

Amongst CineMart’s line-up are several recently established directors from the festival circuit. Galician filmmaker Lois Patiño (Samsara [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lois Patiño
film profile], Ariel [+see also:
film review
interview: Lois Patiño
film profile]) continues his "transcendental, sensory explorations of death and the afterlife” with Adarna, set in the Philippines and following a man who suffers an accident after stealing a rooster believed to have magical powers. After his debut in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section last year with Aisha Can’t Fly Away [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Morad Mostafa
film profile], Egyptian director Morad Mostafa is already back with his second feature, entitled Animals. “A journey infused with horror and myth,” the film tells the story of a young man haunted by a crime involving his twin brother.

With Brazilian cinema in a good state, especially after the country’s change in political leadership, it’s also worth highlighting Lillah Hallah’s “surrealist satire” Golden Balls, which received development funding from the HBF in 2024. Her previous feature Power Alley [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lillah Halla
film profile] impressed in Cannes' Critics' Week for its visual vibrancy, and this new feature looks set to boast that same quality in plot terms, since it’s touted as a “dark musical comedy” about an ex-con who poses as an “alpha-male” to save her son from a masculinist cult.

Many more directors with acclaimed works under their belts can be found in the full line-up, as follows.

CineMart

Noodles, Our Love was Instant and Forever - Whammy Alcazaren (Philippines)
Production: Daluyong Studios, Two Fold

Hearing - Lê Bảo (Singapore/Vietnam)
Production: E&W Films, Sensory Ocean Films

Kingdom of the Insomniacs - Kang Bo (China)
Production: Rediance

Pale Faces - Chantel Clark (Netherlands/South Africa)
Production: BALDR Film, Cadence

Worse Together - Luis De Filippis (Canada/Switzerland)
Production: JA Productions Inc., Cloud Fog Haze Pictures

LUX - Thomas Elley (Denmark)
Production: Frau Film

The Dispute - Andrea Ellsworth & Kasey Elise Walker (UK/USA)
Production: Felix Culpa, Watermark Media, Gilga

When the Goats Came - Arthur Gay (New Zealand/UK/Greece)
Production: In Two Minds Productions, Exa Films, Ossian International

The Poet’s Son - Nicolas Graux (Belgium/France/Germany)
Production: Tarantula, Petit à Petit Production, Yellow Blackbird, Clin d’Œil

Beirut Baby - Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige (Lebanon/France)
Production: Abbout Productions, Haut et Court

Portuguese Man O’War - Ridham Janve (India)
Production: Bombay Berlin Film Productions, The Film Cafe

Neon Phantom - Leonardo Martinelli (Brazil)
Production: Duas Mariola Filmes

Animals - Morad Mostafa (Egypt/France)
Production: Bonanza Films, Wrong Films

after the night, the night - Naomi Pacifique (Netherlands/Switzerland)
Production: Grom Productions, Lemming Film, GoldenEgg Production

Adarna - Lois Patiño (Spain)
Production: Elástica Films, Matriuska Producciones

Shumari - Toshihiko Tanaka (Japan)
Production: ColorBird, No Saint. & Bloom

CineMart x HBF

Coumba - Mamadou Dia (Senegal/France)
Production: Maayo, Les Films du Bilboquet

Golden Balls - Lillah Halla (Brazil/Uruguay)
Production: Manjericão Filmes, Cimarrón Cine, Arissas

Neon Phantom - Leonardo Martinelli (Brazil)
Production: Duas Mariola Filmes

Daughters of the Sea - Martika Ramirez Escobar (Philippines/Spain)
Production: This Side Up, Arkeofilms, Alba Sotorra Cinema Productions

Vika - Tamar Shavgulidze (Georgia/Netherlands)
Production: Nushi Film, GoGoFilm

Birdwoman - Lipika Singh Darai (India/France)
Production: Salt For Sugar Films

Darkroom

Sugar - Amira Duynhouwer (Netherlands/Belgium)
Production: Studio Ruba, Mirage

The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs - Èlia Gasull Balada & Matteo Norzi (Peru/USA/Spain/Chile)
Production: Shipibo Conibo Center, Desfase Films, Funicular Films, Pista B

Uchronia: Parallel Histories of Queer Revolt - Fil Ieropoulos (Greece/Netherlands)
Production: FYTA

LFD Hope - Joshua Loftin (UK/Hungary)
Production: Sea Fox Films, Lorenz Films, Gallivant Film, Good Kids Productions

The Outside - Víctor Moreno (Spain/Belgium)
Production: KV Films, Womack Studios, Transit Transat

Làstima - Mario Piredda (Italy/Switzerland)
Production: Articolture, Dok Mobile

Get Up Stand Up - Mari Sanders (Netherlands/Greece)
Production: The Film Kitchen, Neda Film

Marina - Laís Santos Araújo & Pethrus Tibúrcio (Brazil)
Production: Aguda Cinema, Carnaval Filmes

Sea, Star, Woman - Jeunghae Yim (France/South Korea)
Production: 5à7 Films, Seesaw Pictures

Amor es el monstruo - Neto Villalobos Brenes (Costa Rica/Peru/Panama/Chile)
Production: La Sucia Centroamericana, Cine Infinito, Expansiva Cine, Clara Films