Variations on a Theme and Master take IFFR 2026’s top awards

The winners of the Tiger and Big Screen Awards for IFFR 2026 have been announced! IFFR’s trademark Tiger Competition celebrates the innovative and adventurous spirit of up-and-coming filmmakers from all over the world, while the Big Screen Competition bridges popular, classic, and arthouse cinema and is dedicated to supporting the distribution of nominated films in the Netherlands. The Tiger Special Jury, FIPRESCI, NETPAC, and Youth Jury Awards were also unveiled during the ceremony. 

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. From the titles presented, the jury granted three prizes: the Tiger Award, worth €40,000, and two Special Jury Awards, worth €10,000 each.

WINNER: Variations on a Theme by Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar (South Africa, Netherlands, Qatar)

The jury stated: “Possessing a deep poetic language, we found this to be a thoughtful and moving portrait of a community living under the spectre of colonial legacies and familial bonds in this world and the next. The jury were unanimous in our decision and have great affection for this film.”

IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund supported the film’s realisation with a €60,000 HBF+Europe: Post-production Support grant in 2024, in partnership with Creative Europe – MEDIA.

Special Jury Awards

WINNER: La belle année by Angelica Ruffier (Sweden, Norway)

The jury stated: “This film is an intimate portrait of a woman dealing with grief and at the same time getting in touch with her first feelings of love and desire. The director, through an amazing craft of acting and directing, gives us a perceptive on womanhood too rarely portrayed in cinema. We give this award to a very unique voice who made us travel through generations charged with loneliness with absolute honesty and radical tenderness.”

WINNER: Supporting Role by Ana Urushadze (Georgia, Estonia, Turkey, Switzerland, United States)

The jury stated: “Relishing in the detail and texture of the city, the beauty of chance encounter and deeply felt emotion of reconciling the past. The jury were impressed by the way this film deftly uses the craft of acting as a lens through which to explore the complexities of how we move through the world.”

The Tiger Competition Jury consisted of Soheila Golestani, Marcelo Gomes, Ariane Labed, Kristy Matheson and Jurica Pavičić.

Big Screen Competition 

The 12 titles in the Big Screen Competition each marked their world premiere at IFFR 2026 and examined 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) were 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.

WINNER: Master by Rezwan Shahriar Sumit (Bangladesh)

The jury stated: “This is a universal story about a person striving to hold on to their moral compass, only to be reshaped by the persuasive and destructive forces of power and capitalism. What begins as a seemingly straightforward tale of idealism vs corruption unfolds into something far more complex and layered. With colourful strokes and surrounded by lively, authentic extras, the main character masterfully embodies this moral ambiguity through a superb leading performance, revealing how power ultimately has its way.”

The jury consisted of Jan-Willem van Ewijk, Sara Ishaq, Loes Luca, Chris Oosterom and Mila Schlingemann.

FIPRESCI Award

A jury of international film journalists from the Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique awarded the FIPRESCI Award to their standout Tiger Competition title. 

WINNER: Supporting Role by Ana Urushadze (Georgia, Estonia, Turkey, Switzerland, United States)

The jury stated: “How many times in our lives do we have the chance to shed our skins and emerge as new people? Through a series of poignant, surreal encounters, this meta-film shows how our sense of self is often in discrepancy with the way others perceive us and embraces the possibility of transformation. The film is held up by a multi-layered performance and it is wrapped up in a cinematography that is especially radiant at night.”

The jury consisted of Jenny S. Li, Dina Pokrajac, Joyce Roodnat, Gustavo Herrera Taboada and Jake Wilson.

NETPAC Award

The NETPAC Award is awarded to the feature film from the Asia and Pacific regions by a jury from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema. NETPAC’s mission is to highlight new talents, and as such the jury considers directors’ first and second features only, with European, International or World premiere status at IFFR. The film selected for this award must be from one of 71 eligible countries in Asia or the Pacific Nations and Islands to be considered. 

WINNER: i grew an inch when my father died by P. R. Monencillo Patindol (Philippines)

The jury stated: “The film moved us all and is filled with hope that language of cinema can still be re-invented, genuinely exciting in its creative expression and its meaningful storytelling potential. In his debut film, the director approached this coming-of-age story with original, striking visual language that suitably expresses intimate life of the characters in their tender age. The film kept surprising us with each further sequence by the director’s distinctive, singular voice.”

NETPAC Jury Special Mention

WINNER: The Seoul Guardians by Kim Jong-Woo, Kim Shin-Wan and Cho Chul-Young (South Korea).

The jury stated: “An intense and gripping film, with a tight, masterfully edited narrative focused on an urgent topic relevant on a global scale, solidarity and democracy.”

The jury consisted of Frédéric Ambroisine, Rada Šešić and Miyuki Takamatsu.

Youth Jury Award

The IFFR Youth Jury Award is selected by a panel of young people for an outstanding festival film of their choice. With the recognition of an aspiring jury of young film critics, the winner goes home with a prestigious award that puts them in the international spotlight.

WINNER: Ah Girl by Ang Geck Geck Priscilla (Singapore)

The jury stated: “On the other side of the world, this film shows how life, and specifically childhood, are really quite the same. The film is crafted with a refined eye and tells the stories of our main character brilliantly. A star performance of the main actresses immediately transports the viewer and the film envelops you like a warm hug from there. Through this film we call upon the world to take our youngest friends more seriously. But, perhaps even more importantly, we point to the universality of human life and that the other side of the world is sometimes really not that different from what they know.”