55th International Film Festival Rotterdam

The 55th International Film Festival Rotterdam, is the 2026 edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which was held from 29 January to 8 February 2026. In this edition a retrospective for Egyptian film director Marwan Hamed, as one of its Focus strands in celebration of his prolific career was featured along with European premiere of his 2025 film El Sett, a biopic of Egyptian singer and actress Umm Kulthum. In its second focus strand the festival will present films from the Japanese V-Cinema.

The festival closed with the premiere of French film Bazaar, a comedy-thriller about a crime writer and a film professor caught up in a mystery by Rémi Bezançon. Tiger Award was won by Variations on a Theme!, by Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar, whereas Audience Award was won by British biographical drama film I Swear by Kirk Jones.

The jury for its three competition sections was announced on 2 December 2025.

• Soheila Golestani, Iranian actress and film director

• Marcelo Gomes, Brazilian film director, screenwriter and visual artist.

• Ariane Labed, Greek-French actress and film director.

• Kristy Matheson, BFI London Film Festival Director since 2023, and formerly the Creative Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Director of Film at Australia’s national museum of screen culture ACMI.

• Jurica Pavičić, Croatian writer, columnist and film critic

• Sammy Baloji: photographer from the Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Anka Gujabidze: visual artist from Tbilisi

• Jukka-Pekka Laakso: Festival director of Tampere Film Festival since 2002

• Jan-Willem van Ewijk: Dutch film director, actor and screenwriter

• Sara Ishaq: Yemeni-Scottish film director, screenwriter, and trainer

• Loes Luca: Dutch actress, singer and comedian

• Chris Oosterom: Director of Imagine Film Festival

• Mila Schlingemann: Senior Programmer & Acquisitions at EYE, the national museum for film and the art of moving image in the Netherlands.

The titles were revealed on 16 December 2025.

The opening and closing films of the festival are:

The competition titles are as follows:

• La belle année, Angelica Ruffier (Sweden, Norway)

• A Fading Man, Welf Reinhart (Germany)

• The Gymnast, Charlotte Glynn (United States)

• A Messy Tribute to Motherly Love, Dan Geesin (Netherlands, Germany, Belgium)

• My Semba, Hugo Salvaterra (Angola)

• Nangong Cheng, Shao Pan (China)

• O profeta, Ique Langa (Mozambique, South Africa, Qatar)

• Roid, Mejbaur Rahman Sumon, (Bangladesh)

• Supporting Role, Ana Urushadze (Georgia, Estonia, Turkey, Switzerland, United States)

• Unerasable!, Socrates Saint-Wulfstan Drakos (Belgium, Thailand, Sweden)

• Variations on a Theme, Jason Jacobs, Devon Delmar (South Africa, Netherlands, Qatar)

• Yellow Cake, Tiago Melo (Brazil)

• 2m2, Volkan Üce, Belgium, Germany, Turkey

• The Arab, Malek Bensmaïl, Algeria, France, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Belgium

• Butterfly, Itonje Søimer Guttormsen, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, Germany

• Cyclone, Philip Yung, Hong Kong

• The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford, Sean Dunn, United Kingdom

• Home, Marijana Janković, Denmark, Serbia

• Master, Rezwan Shahriar Sumit, Bangladeshis

• Moonglow, Isabel Sandoval, Philippines

• Now I Met Her, Xiao Luxi, China

• Projecto Global, Ivo M. Ferreira, Portugal, Luxembourg

• Talking to a Stranger (Hablando con extraños), Adrian Garcia Bogliano, Mexico

• Tell Me What You Feel, Łukasz Ronduda, Poland

• A donde nos lleva la fe de José Gerónimo, director Juliano Kunert (Dominican Republic)

• Acid City, dir. Jack Wedge, Will Freudenheim (United States)

• The Apple Doesn’t Fall..., dir. Dean Wei (China)

• Body, remember..., dir. Matthew Berka (United Kingdom)

• CUL-DE-SAC !, dir. Clyde Gates, Gabriel Sanson (Belgium, France)

• Deep Cobalt, dir. Petna Ndaliko Katondolo (Congo, Democratic Republic, United States)

• DISSONANCE, dir. Jordan Strafer (Germany)

• Domestic Demon, dir. Anahid Yahjian (United States, Portugal)

• Futuros luminosos, dir. Ismael García Ramírez (Colombia)

• Golden Island, dir. Arief Budiman (Indonesia, Singapore)

• Home Is where the heart Is, dir. Timothée Engasser (France)

• I am a River, dir. Heidi Piiroinen (Finland, France)

• Last Shot, dir. Parham Rahimzadeh (Netherlands)

• like moths to light, dir. Gala Hernández López (Spain, Italy, France)

• Mirror Martyr Mirror Moon, dir. Jesse Jones (Ireland)

• The Next World, dir. Grau Del Grau (United States)

• Objet d’énigme, dir. Chiara Caterina (Italy, Belgium)

• Orla, dir. Marie Lukáčová (Czech Republic, Slovakia)

• RELUCESCO, dir. Shannon Lynn Harris (Canada)

• The Second Skin, dir. Mariia Lapidus (United States, Mexico)

• Smriti~, dir. Shahi A J (India)

• The Tragic Movement of the Spheres, dir. Simon Rieth (France)

A programme showcasing cinematic highlights of film festival favourites and international award-winners.

The programme highlights first-feature films from promising filmmakers.

The programme showcases contemporary cinema.

This will feature Marwan Hamed's work from the past twenty years.

Japan’s V-Cinema Focus will showcase a range of Toei titles:

The following awards were given in the festival:

• Variations on a Theme!, Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar, South Africa, Netherlands, Qatar

Special Jury Awards

• La belle année, Angelica Ruffier, Sweden, Norway

• Supporting Role Ana Urushadze, Georgia, Estonia, Turkey, Switzerland, United States

• Master, Rezwan Shahriar Sumit, Bangladesh

• I Swear by Kirk Jones, United Kingdom

• The Second Skin, Mariia Lapidus, USA, Mexico

• The Apple Doesn’t Fall... Dean Wei, China

• Ndjimu (Deep Cobalt), Petna Ndaliko Katondolo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, USA

• Supporting Role Ana Urushadze, Georgia, Estonia, Turkey, Switzerland, United States

• The Apple Doesn’t Fall... Dean Wei, China

• i grew an inch when my father died P. R. Monencillo Patindol, Philippines

Special mention

• The Seoul Guardians, Kim Jong-Woo, Kim Shin-Wan and Cho Chul-Young, South Korea

• Ah Girl, Ang Geck Geck Priscilla, Singapore

• CUL-DE-SAC !, Clyde Gates, Gabriel Sanson, Belgium, France

• Yorick Le Saux, French cinematographer

• Official website