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Tiger, Big Screen and Tiger Short competition lineups revealed for IFFR 2026

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During today’s press conference we revealed the lineup of films selected across the Tiger, Big Screen and Tiger Short competitions, alongside the opening and closing films, for the festival’s upcoming 55th edition, running from 29 January – 8 February 2026. 

Vanja Kaludjercic, Festival Director at IFFR, said: “The 2026 edition of IFFR unites new voices and returning artists whose works explore belonging, reinvention, humour, fear, beauty and the persistent human effort to understand our place in a changing world. Today’s announcement spotlights the competitions – the beating heart of the festival – with an array of titles that speak to our mission of audience discovery and championing filmmakers forging new paths in cinema. We’re also delighted the festival will open with João Nicolau’s Providence and the Guitar – a generous and witty film which places the present alongside echoes of the past, while Rémi Bezançon’s Bazaar (Murder in the Building) will close the festival with style, intelligence and a sense of fun. Across the programme, we hope every audience member will find a film that speaks to them – or challenges them – in a meaningful way.”

Opening film

IFFR 2026 will open with the world premiere of the Portuguese feature Providence and the Guitar by João Nicolau. Inspired by a short novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, the film follows Leon and Elvira, two performers trying to keep their stage careers afloat. Providence and the Guitar also marks the acting debut of Salvador Sobral, one of Portugal’s most beloved musicians and the winner of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. 

Film still: Providence and the Guitar

Closing film

The festival will close with the World Premiere of crime comedy Bazaar (Murder in the Building) from French filmmaker Rémi Bezançon and starring Laetitia Casta, Gilles Lellouche and Guillaume Gallienne. The film follows an enthusiastic Hitchcock scholar who becomes convinced that the neighbour across the courtyard has murdered his wife. With her husband, a successful thriller novelist, she launches an investigation that is by turns risky, absurd and revealing.

Film still: Bazaar (Murder in the Building)

Tiger Competition

At the heart of IFFR, the Tiger Competition showcases emerging voices from across the globe, with 12 world premieres from filmmakers who reshape the familiar from within, adjusting perspectives to reveal what often goes unnoticed.

As previously announced, Soheila Golestani, Marcelo Gomes, Ariane Labed, Kristy Matheson and Jurica Pavičić make up the Tiger Competition Jury for 2026 and are set to choose the winners of the Tiger Award, worth €40,000, and two Special Jury Awards, worth €10,000 each. The films selected are: 

Big Screen Competition

A multifaceted competition that bridges popular, classic, and arthouse cinema, the Big Screen Competition is dedicated to supporting the distribution of nominated films in the Netherlands.

The 12 titles examine how lives are shaped by inherited stories, with many of the films revisiting the past – personal, political or historic – to understand its pull on the present. 

The winning filmmaker(s) will be awarded the Big Screen Award along with €15,000 in prize money. Additionally, IFFR offers €15,000 to the Dutch distributor that acquires the film’s distribution rights, incentivising local distribution. The jury comprises of Sara Ishaq, Loes Luca, Chris Oosterom, Mila Schlingemann and Jan-Willem van Ewijk, and the films selected are: 

Tiger Short Competition

The 22 titles in the Tiger Short Competition will celebrate the power and range of short and mid-length filmmaking, with films exploring unstable memory, trauma and healing, grappling with topics such as cognitive decline, sexual violence, and generational burdens, alongside works focusing on marginalised communities and hidden histories.

The short films which have been selected and will each have their world premiere at IFFR 2026 are:  

Displacement Film Fund

The Displacement Film Fund was established to champion and fund the work of displaced filmmakers, or filmmakers with a proven track record in creating authentic storytelling on the experiences of displaced people. An initiative spearheaded by actor, producer and UNHCR Global Goodwill Ambassador, Cate Blanchett, the pilot scheme was announced at the 2025 edition of the Festival and IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund is the Management Partner. 

Five short film production grants of €100,000 each were bestowed to Maryna Er Gorbach (Ukraine), Mo Harawe (Somalia-Austria), Hasan Kattan (Syria), Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran) and Shahrbanoo Sadat (Afghanistan), who will world premiere their completed works at IFFR 2026:  

The Founding Partners of the Displacement Film Fund’s pilot scheme are MASTER MIND, UNIQLO, Droom en Daad, the Tamer Family Foundation and Amahoro Coalition whose generous contributions enabled the scheme. The HBF is the Management Partner and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is Strategic Partner. 

  • About IFFR 

    International Film Festival Rotterdam’s (IFFR) upcoming 55th edition of the festival will take place from 29 January – 8 February 2026. IFFR presents a leading international film festival and year-round programme and actively supports new and adventurous filmmaking talent through its co-production market CineMart, its Hubert Bals Fund, Rotterdam Lab and other industry activities.

    IFFR seeks to expand, enrich and challenge people’s views of the world and each other through film and audiovisual arts. IFFR’s programme deepens appreciation of cinema in all its forms, broadens and diversifies audiences, and creates opportunities for independent filmmakers and artists from around the globe.

    Through IFFR’s visionary programming and forward-looking  initiatives, we create a haven for the plurality of voices, audiovisual formats and diverse storytelling. We are an essential destination for film professionals and film lovers. We support filmmakers and artists with funding and development opportunities and advance the impact of their work in the world. We are accessible to everyone. Through screenings, talks, exhibitions, education, professional initiatives and funding schemes we bring people from all backgrounds together, enabling discovery, recognition dialogue, learning and development. We look where others don’t and we open a space for ideas, pushing creative boundaries that have the power to transform.

    IFFR is supported by partners including Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap (OCW), Gemeente Rotterdam, Rotterdam Festivals, Creative Europe Media, NL Film Fonds, Fonds 21, de Volkskrant and VriendenLoterij.

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