Rotterdam 2016: 30 Recommendations And Anticipations

Editor, Europe; Rotterdam, The Netherlands (@ardvark23)
IFFR-2016-Recommendations-b.jpg (UPDATE: Thirty schmirty, I added two more...)

Next Wednesday, the 45th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam starts, the biggest fest of its kind in the Netherlands. This year, in its ten-day run there will be roughly 250 feature films and 250 shorts on display, over a hundred of which will be world premieres and/or international premieres.

With the full schedule only released one week in advance, and ticket sales starting yesterday, looking through the roster is a mad scramble as always, so we're here to help with a big gallery, telling you what we recommend. Mind, with so many premieres there are bound to be many surprises... but here's what we know. Happy browsing, and let us know what we missed!


Martin Kudlac and Thomas Humphrey contributed to this story.

Neon Bull - Gabriel Mascaro

The Brazilian artist Gabriel Mascaro, who has one leg in visual arts and the other in cinema, has made a riveting film with Neon Bull, netting awards all over the globe. Set against the backdrop of vaquejada rodeos, the filmmaker follows a tight-knit group of cowhands working, traveling and living together. Similarly to some films of Bruno Dumont, the absence of a plot is palpable, though it opens doors to different storytelling modes, with the film sometimes verging on documentary. Mesmerizingly shot by Diego Garcia, Mascaro makes great use of widescreen shots and staging the action in-depth of the frame space. Telling the story mostly from the point-of-view of Iremar - cowhand by day and dressmaker by night – in a hypnotic cycle of mundane rituals.

Neon Bull melds several selling points: great camerawork, storytelling which blends fiction and documentary elements into one cohesive form, a socio-economic situation tackled through the unexpected angle of busting gender stereotypes, an examination of human body in space... and the cherry on the top of the cake: the best sex scene in a long time, brimming with naturalism.

(Martin Kudlac)

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