Rotterdam 2016: Niche Benelux Cinema
El placer es mío, Elisa Miller (2015)
"Why does it have to be so big? Do they think we're blind?"
- The Garbage Helicopter
Alright, Sundance—we know you think you're great. But it's arguably in this Benelux city of immigrants where the more daring discoveries are made. The International Film Festival Rotterdam premieres works from some of the freshest faces in contemporary world cinema, and Variety and THR don't even show up to cover it.
Championing works by first and second-time directors, Rotterdam has earned its reputation as an incubator and launch-pad for emerging voices, especially from the developing world. The festival's Hubert Bals Fund and CineMart supported ten of this year's eighty-eight Foreign Language Oscar submissions; both El abrazo de la serpiente and Mustang went on to be nominated.
Below are Filmatique's Top Discoveries of the 2016 IFFR - International Film Festival Rotterdam:
The Garbage Helicopter, Jonas Selberg Augustsén
A Good American, Friedrich Moser
The Land of the Enlightened, Pieter-Jan De Pue
Land of Mine, Martin Zandvliet
Mammal, Rebecca Daly
Much Loved, Nail Ayouch
Les ogres, Léa Fehner
El placer es mío, Elisa Miller
Radio Dreams, Babak Jalali
The Shell Collector, Tsubota Yoshifumi
Il Solengo, Matteo Zoppis & Alessio Rigo de Righi
La última tierra, Pablo Lamar
The Land of the Enlightened, Pieter-Jan De Pue (2016)