Pranav Birje | Editor
IFFR has revealed an additional selection of premieres across its Harbour, Bright Future and Limelight strands, alongside its two shorts Focus programmes, for the upcoming 55th edition of the festival taking place from 29 January – 8 February 2026. The shorts Focus programmes will centre on the ensemble of Belgian and Congolese artists Collectif Faire-Part and the Japanese multidisciplinary artist Tetsuya Maruyama.
The fresh raft of premieres for the upcoming edition include the world premieres of experimental 3D-rendered comedy The Misconceived from James N. Kienitz Wilkins; performance-based film Songs of Hope and Despair. Performed by Bundschuh, Fish, Fox Tail, Rainbow, Dead Drummer, Muse-Leaving Germany and by other agencies from the Chto Delat collective; and debut features IAI from Sakai Zenzo and Why Do I See You In Everything? from Rand Abou Fakher.
Additionally, the festival will welcome international premieres of dark Basque fairy tale Gaua from Paul Urkijo Alijo; Thunska Pansittivorakul’s music-filled journey Isan Odyssey; the atmospheric neo-noir Mergen from Chingiz Narynov, and Gamer Girls from Veronica Bassetto and Sophie Yang. Under the Limelight strand, which features highlights of this year’s festival circuit, European premieres will be held for the road movie Tokyo Taxi from Japanese veteran filmmaker Yamada Yoji – marking his 91st film, and the historical epic Quezon from Jerrold Tarog.
For the shorts Focus programmes, Collectif Faire-Part explores Belgium’s colonial history, contemporary power dynamics and collective resistance rooted in decolonisation. Through a multidisciplinary practice encompassing film, photography and performance, founding members Anne Reijniers, Paul Shemisi, Nizar Saleh and Rob Jacobs seek to articulate new narratives about Kinshasa, Brussels, and the complex ties that continue to bind them. Marking their first international retrospective, IFFR’s Focus programme will feature the world premiere of What We Said to Brussels Airlines, their 2023 IFFR selected title Speech for a Melting Statue and L’escale, alongside additional collective and individual works.
Tetsuya Maruyama is a Japanese multidisciplinary artist based in Rio de Janeiro. Though working mostly in analogue film, his works range from performance to installation, text to found sound compilations. IFFR’s programme will put this diversity on full display for audiences to discover his exploration of the quotidian carefully observed and dissected by lens and emulsion, microphone and pen. The programme will include the world premieres of third mountain featuring slides from a Brazilian mining company, Q&A which centres on images created through a homemade pinhole camera, FOTOGRAFAR in which a glass of water and a beam of light become tools of diaristic self-reflection; and One more performance that unfolds a space in which a performance examines the space of cinema as cinema itself. Additional works will include untitled(three moons), ANTFILM, GIRA 2 and more.
Vanja Kaludjercic, Festival Director at IFFR, said: “At IFFR, we want every audience member to feel welcome and inspired to explore fresh perspectives. This new selection of premieres and shorts reflects the creative energy and curiosity that define our festival. The two Shorts Focus programmes each open up their own space: one through Tetsuya Maruyama’s tactile, analogue approach to performance and image-making; the other through Collectif Faire-Part’s ongoing reflections on how we address colonial histories and the questions they continue to raise. Both offer bold, distinctive voices that we’re proud to bring to Rotterdam.”