Today, the International Film Festival Rotterdam will start its annual ten-day run. During that time, there will be many shorts, live acts, expositions and art installations, but the main bulk of the festival will be dedicated to hundreds of feature films.
In reply to criticism of earlier editions of the festival, there are actually somewhat less films this year. People complained about drowning in a vast sea of total unknown no-budget films, so the festival organization has focused a bit more on a smaller selection with more familiar names. Nevertheless, that means there is still a lot to choose from, even among the known titles.
Here is a selection of films which popped up out of the programme schedule: recommendations of what we've seen, and anticipations for what we haven't! Check out the gallery below: click on the edge of the images to go to the next slide, or in the center to get a bigger version. And please use the comments to chime in with your own recommendations and anticipations!
War Book
The opening film of this year's festival is a closed-chamber drama, in which a group of experts examine a "what if" scenario: how will the world react after terrorists have successfully used an atom bomb? What measures would have to be taken? Opinions are divided and soon, tempers flare.
Director is Tom Harper, who was a co-director on festival favorite This Is England '86.
When Marnie Was There
Ten years ago, the festival still showed anime, including Miyazaki Hayao's Howl's Moving Castle. Alas, it's been a while since we've had an anime feature here, but this year Rotterdam scooped up what may be the last feature film by Studio Ghibli, at least for the immediate future.
In his review, Christopher called it "a touching story that is beautifully told", and I'm looking forward to see this with a huge audience present.
German Angst
A German horror anthology with three stories about sex, death and Berlin, one of which is directed by Nekromatik director Jörg Buttgereit. Oh goody...
Fires on the Plain
Tsukamoto Shinya presents his own unique take on Ooha Shohei's famous novel, about World War Two being a hell on Earth in South East Asia.
The Tribe
Director Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy has a few things to say about humanity, and prefers to do so without words, with his entire film The Tribe using only un-subbed sign language. Call it a gimmick, but his drama about young criminals surviving in a school for the deaf-and-dumb made many of our 2014 Top-10 lists.
The World of Kanako
Nakashima Tetsuya has delivered several brilliant films already (Confessions comes to mind...), and his latest, about a deranged cop trying to find his missing daughter, carries a reputation for being nasty and... well, bat-shit crazy.
Kurt called it "Gloriously irresponsible filmmaking" in his review, and I cannot wait to see it with my own eyes...
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
Mark Hartley made the very funny film documentaries Not Quite Hollywood and Machete Maidens Unleashed, and this time he casts his loving eye on the story of the rise and fall of Cannon Films in the 1980s.
James reviewed it back in September, when it premiered at Toronto, and liked it a lot.
As the Gods Will
Miike Takashi is a long-time friend to the Rotterdam festival, and even when he isn't present in person there will be always at least one his films in the programme. This year there are two, and As the Gods Will is one of them. A manga adaptation about a classroom full of students, who are forced to participate in a deadly competition of lethal puzzles, this looks to be Miike in crazy mode!
Girlhood
Celine Sciamma's film tells the story of a girl dropping out of school and joining a girl gang in France. Which may not sound too special, but Girlhood carries a buzz for being original, surprising, challenging, and not totally without hope.
La La La At Rock Bottom
Yamashita Nobuhiro is famous for Linda, Linda, Linda, and last year he visited the Rotterdam festival with Tamako in Moratorium. He must have liked it in Rotterdam, because his latest film has its world premiere here this week. A pop group takes an amnesiac singer under its wing, only to discover, once his voice has made them famous, that he used to be a yakuza gangster.
Far From Men
A French western taking place in the mountains of Northern Africa, at the onset of the Algerian war for independence, based on a story by Camus, starring Viggo Mortensen, with music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.
And yes, it's as good as that sounds.
Over Your Dead Body
And here we have the second Miike Takashi film at this festival. A theater group performs a play with an ill reputation, and tensions rise on several levels. Quoting our very own leader Todd: "...once the slow burn takes hold it burns hot for one of the most intriguing, surprising and satisfying films of Miike's long and unpredictable career. Very much recommended."
You can (and are advised) to check out his full review here...
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
It's been making the rounds for a while already, but finally we here in the Netherlands can check out Ana Lily Amirpour's well-received Farsi-spoken vampire flick.
Ben Umstead was a bit lukewarm, as mentioned in his review, but many others were much tickled by this film.
River of Exploding Durians
Malaysian director Edmund Yeo is no stranger to Rotterdam. This is his latest film, based on the true story of about a small Malaysian town shaken up by a very toxic nearby factory.
Tokyo Tribe
Miike Takashi and Nakashima Tetsuya add their portion of crazy to the festival, and Sono Sion joins them with his gleefully glamorous over-the-top hip hop yakuza musical. Reviews are all over the place for this baby, running from hate, to love, to the ecstatic, like Jaime's review!
Gluckauf
One of the Tiger Award nominees this year, the Dutch drama thriller Gluckauf tells the story of a criminal father-and-son team who get into violent trouble in Limburg.
Check out its damn good-looking trailer: this one seems to be solid and heavy.
Man on High Heels
Jang Jin is one of this year's guests of honor at the festival, and there is quite a selection of his films playing in Rotterdam. Among them is this thriller about a tough cop, battling a criminal gang while secretly preparing for a sex change operation.
Buzzard
A comedy slacker drama thriller which is being described as "Albert Camus meets Freddy Krueger"? Yes, Joel Potrykus film Buzzard, about a petty criminal who gets more disturbed by the minute, has our attention.
Peter Martin already had a run-in with the film, and you can read his opinion here.
Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
In 2013, the legendary Japanese animation factory Studio Ghibli released not one, but two films, each directed by one of its founding fathers. Miyazaki Hayao made The Wind Rises, and Takahata Isao made The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Both films turned out to be very special, and thankfully a documentary crew covered this hectic year within the famous studio, offering a rare peek at the work of two different geniuses.
The Inseminator
When Kim Quy Bui's film played at the Busan festival, it was suddenly banned in her home country of Vietnam, and it was doubtful if it would ever resurface. Well, it is playing here in Rotterdam, and you can go see for yourself what the Vietnamese Censorship board had against it. In a remote mountain village, a patriarch is obsessed with the continuation of his family line through his mentally handicapped son. Meanwhile, his daughter has surreal dreams of marriage and sex...
Inherent Vice
Yep, Paul Thomas Anderson arrives in the Netherlands, and while it will make its way into arthouse cinemas later this year, this is a chance to watch it on some really big screens, surrounded by movie lovers only.
Set Me Free
In Kim Tae-Yong's partly autobiographical debut feature, a teenage boy reaches the age where he must leave his Catholic foster family. Unwilling to leave, he fakes a surge of religious fervor, hoping to be able to stay longer if he trains to become a priest. When his lies catch up with him, he is forced into more desperate acts.
Goodnight Mommy
Austrian directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala have made a horror thriller, in which two twin boys get increasingly convinced that the bandaged woman who came back from the hospital is not actually their mother, but an evil impostor. And they decide to act upon it.
In his review, Pierce called it "...an involving nightmare you won't soon forget". Brrrr...
Haruko's Paranormal Laboratory
Lat year, Lisa Takeba turned heads with her weird and quirky film The Pinkie. This year, she follows it up with the world premiere of a film that seems to be at least as weird and quirky: a woman talks to her television, and after a while it changes into a man, and they fall in love. Mayhem and martial arts ensue.
Ehm... you know, Japan just might get itself a bit of a reputation, judging from the films in this list...
A Most Violent Year
J. C. Chandor's new film closes off the festival, and this drama/thriller has already divided opinions everywhere it played, it seems. Jim Tudor really liked it, and you can read why in his review.