34th International Film Festival Rotterdam
26 January – 3 February 2005

European film festival, container port, what’s the fuss about?

Well this festival could almost be the European Sundance, except that it’s been around longer and doesn’t have a book written about it by Peter Biskind. Boasting an impeccable selection of brand new films from across the globe Rotterdam may not invade your local video store obviously in the months to come with films about paddling yuppie shark dodgers, no Rotterdam lets other festivals do the promotion for it. The films are that new. To go all Mamet on us, one might not unreasonably say that this film festival is so cool, when it goes to bed, sheep count it.

Presenting a new director - Sandra den Hamer who, unlike the previous lauded incumbent, is actually Dutch, a ‘Dutch Perspective’ has been (re)introduced. A timely act bolstered by the tragic murder of Dutch maverick film-maker Theo von Gogh last year, whose final acclaimed work 06/05 gains a theatrical premiere at the festival.

The 34th International Film Festival Rotterdam presents over 100 world, international and European premieres, and that’s before the regular programme full of great films handpicked for the occasion. So where should one start? Here follows a brief immersion into some of the festival strands, mentioning notable films.

VPRO Tiger Awards Competition
This is the heart and soul of the festival, a competition between fourteen first or second features for one of the three Tiger Awards - which come with 10,000 Euros and a guaranteed Dutch television screening.

You want more information on these? I’m guessing that at this stage you’ll have to bribe a programmer or kidnap the director.

The films in competition are:

O AMIGO DUNOR (DUNOR MY FRIEND)
José Eduardo Alcazar, Brazil/Paraguay, 2005

EL CIELO GIRA (THE SKY TURNS)
Mercedes Alvarez, Spain, 2004

HAT MUA ROI BAO LAUY (BRIDE OF SILENCE)
DOAN Minh Phuong & DOAN Thanh Nghia, Vietnam/Germany, 2005

ALLEIN (ALONE)
Thomas Durchschlag, Germany, 2004

ONDE (WAVES)
Francesco Fei, Italy, 2005

LAS MANTENIDAS SIN SUEÑOS (KEPT AND DREAMLESS)
Vera Fogwill & Martin Desalvo, Argentina, 2005

NEMMENO IL DESTINO (CHANGING DESTINY)
Daniele Gaglianone, Italy, 2004

SANCTUARY
HO Yu-hang, Malaysia, 2004

PARADISE GIRLS
Fow Pyng HU, The Netherlands, 2004

4
Ilya Khrzhanovsky, Russia, 2004

BOGINYA: KAK YA POLYUBILA (GODDESS)
Renata Litvinova, Russia, 2004

HAWAII, OSLO
Erik Poppe, Norway, 2004

ARU ASA SOUP WA (THE SOUP, ONE MORNING)
TAKAHASHI Izumi, Japan, 2003

FRAKCHI (SPYING CAM)
WHANG Cheol-Mean, South Korea, 2004

Cinema of the Future: Sturm und Drang
Cinema of the Future: Sturm und Drang promotes innovation and new filmmakers.

VATERLAND - A HUNTING LOGBOOK
A Czech thriller and international premiere about a hunt with decidedly odd rules.

HOTEL
An Austrian mystery set within an empty hotel that is somehow eerily too respectable.

Los Muertos and My Summer of Love are also in this section.

Cinema of the World: Time & Tide
The festival attempts to take the planet’s pulse here with films that look around, reflect on social processes, tell personal stories or adopt a position on what fascinates them, taking viewers on journeys to cities, landscapes, borders, homes and their stories.

LES REVENANTS
French zombie satire where upon reviving, the dead demand social care and employment much like other minority group.

UN DÍA SIN MÉXICANOS
A Mexican mockumentary where the disaster facing California is the sudden and mysterious absence of the entire Latino population.

VOORLAND
A fitting documentary for this festival – one that watches the development of a meadow between a dike and a river.

Dead Man’s Shoes, The Edukators, Enduring Love, A Hole in my Heart, Turtles Can Fly and Yasmin are all also in this section.

Film makers & Artist in Focus
Three film makers are honoured by Rotterdam - Benoit Jacquot (France), the video artist Anri Sala (Albania/France) and most tantalising of all Yevgeni Yufit (Russia) the 'necrorealist'. Necrorealism, a part of Russian Parallel Cinema (see below) that came into being around the fall of the Soviet Union concerned with a central theme of death as a physical reality. Yufit who trained in biomechanical engineering later worked with Alexander Sokurov before making his own films. A retrospective of his films is being shown at the festival including the world premiere of BIPEDALISM – a title which alone promises dark delights from a director with a background in biomechanics.

Near Past and Near Future: Russian Parallel Cinema
This strand presents a series of features and short films made by the generation of film makers connected to the disintegration of the former Soviet Union. Yevgeni Yufit’s films are part of this movement.

PS Homefront USA
In a postscript to a segment in the 2004, the festival present several new films reflecting on the present political and cultural climate in the United States.

OCCUPATION: DREAMLAND
A documentary following a squad of US soldiers stationed near Falluja before the offensive.

GIULIANI TIME
A documentary that tries to put 9/11 New York Major Rudy Giuliani in context.

Endnote
The 34th International Film Festival Rotterdam is so vast that this article barely unearths it. For more information see the official website at www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com.