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29 Jan – 8 Feb 2026

Art Directions at IFFR 2026

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Celebrating thirty years since IFFR’s Exploding Cinema ignited a dialogue between digital technology and cinematic language, Art Directions continues to shape the cultural landscape, nurturing bold experiments that stretch far beyond the screen. Discover the lineup for 2026 now.

Art Directions is IFFR’s transformative programme that presents cinema beyond the traditional screening room – through immersive media, performances, installations and exhibitions.

Originally named Exploding Cinema, Art Directions is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026. For the second year running, Katoenhuis will be the main venue and partner for Art Directions, hosting installations, immersive media and for the first time – the industry extension of the programme, Lightroom, which will unite projects in development and works-in-progress together with a symposium.

As well as a programme of installations and immersive media at Katoenhuis, work is found at cultural spaces across Rotterdam, including Luuk Van Raamsdonk’s My Sweet Elora at FENIX Museum of Migration, Jacco Gardner’s immersive installation performance Alterity at Brutus and a co-developed experience by Elsemarijn Bruys at V2_The Lab for the Unstable Media.

Eva Langerak, Curator and Coordinator of IFFR’s Art Directions & Lightroom programme, commented: “This year’s constellation of artists and filmmakers explores different dimensions and uses of film: as catharsis, as memory’s vessel, as a map of the subconscious, as a call to awareness. Celebrating thirty years since IFFR’s Exploding Cinema ignited a dialogue between digital technology and cinematic language, Art Directions continues to shape the cultural landscape, nurturing bold experiments that stretch far beyond the screen. With Lightroom, IFFR renews that spirit of inquiry, forging a space where film, art and emerging technologies converge, allowing new forms of storytelling to emerge and take shape.”

Katoenhuis will host four Art Directions installations showcasing IFFR’s commitment to visual and sensory exploration. The works include:

Film still: The World Came Flooding In

Immersive works selected for the Art Directions programme, which will be presented in Katoenhuis, include: 

Immersive Media:

Film still: It’s too cold for the spirits to live here

The sound//vision showcase at WORM also returns, offering a series of live audio-visual performances that merge music with film, celluloid, and light – fully co-curated by IFFR and WORM. The performances will run over three nights from Friday 30th January to Sunday 1st February, with two performances per evening. 

New and ongoing Art Directions partnerships

For 2026, IFFR is glad to welcome both returning and new Art Directions partners and collaborators, both in Rotterdam and beyond.

Further works in the Art Directions programme include My Sweet Elora by Luuk Van Raamsdonk, which will be hosted at the FENIX Museum of Migration in Rotterdam.

Film Still: 3 Scenes from a Marriage

Additionally, IFFR has inked a partnership with Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen to programme the Kijkmodule together in Rotterdam Central Station. The video artwork at Rotterdam Station will be programmed in collaboration with Boijmans and Mandy El-Sayegh, who is presenting her solo show Figure, Field, Grid in the Depot of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. The announcement of the artist for the Kijkmodule will be announced at a later moment. 

For 2026 V2_The Lab for the Unstable Media, the interdisciplinary centre for art and media in Rotterdam, will once again collaborate with IFFR on the development of a work that ventures into new creative directions within the crossover between filmmaking and media arts. This year, V2_ and IFFR will co-develop a new site-specific experience by Rotterdam-based artist Elsemarijn Bruys that functions between sculpture and architectural intervention.

IFFR and Brutus will once again collaborate on bringing a performance back into the festival. For this year, IFFR will present Alterity, the first immersive installation performance by multi-instrumentalist and media archeologist Jacco Gardner (2026, Netherlands, World Premiere). 

Additionally, from 2026 IFFR has entered into a new collaboration with the Han Nefkens Foundation, as a partner for the Han Nefkens Foundation – South East Asian Video Art Production Grant, which supports Southeast Asian video artists in expanding their international practice. In 2027, IFFR will proudly present a newly produced work in collaboration with partnering institutions. This new collaboration underscores the IFFR’s ongoing commitment to artistic exchange and the promotion of contemporary video art. 

The Han Nefkens Foundation – South East Asian Video Art Production Grant is a collaboration with IFFR; Museion, Italy; Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan; Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Denmark; Rockbund Art Museum, China; The Outpost, Vietnam and Nottingham Contemporary, UK.

IFFR is grateful to its subsidisers, foundations, and the many local, national and international partners and private donors for their long-term engagement and indispensable support of the festival. The 2026 Art Directions programme is made possible through the generous support of these key partners: 

Contact: IFFR@ddaglobal.com 

  • 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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