Eva Ionesco’s Une jeunesse dorée, with Isabelle Huppert and Melvil Poupaud, also has its international premiere in Voices. Catalan filmmaker Isaki Lacuesta returns to Rotterdam with his film Entre dos aguas in which he revisits the characters from his 2006 film La leyenda del tiempo, which was selected for the Tiger Competition.

Voices Short

In addition to the previously announced salt, pepper to taste by Azerbaijani filmmaker Teymur Hajiyev, IFFR announces three more short films to world premiere in Voices Short, the festival’s programme for narrative-driven short films. These are Acid Rain by Tomek Popakul (Ziegenort), Souvenir by Miriam Gossing and Lina Sieckmann and Ombligo de agua by Laura Baumeister. Baumeister will also be present at CineMart 2019 to present her project La hija de todas las rabias in the BoostNL programme.

The full Voices programme will be announced later.

Voices

• "I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians", Radu Jude, 2018, Romania

Idealistic theatre-maker discovers that not everyone wants to be reminded of Romania’s kick-off of the Holocaust.

• Belmonte, Federico Veiroj, 2018, Uruguay/Mexico/Spain

At the age of 43, painter Javier Belmonte can no longer camouflage his fear of life and insecurity with bohemian bravura.

• BNK48: Girls Don't Cry, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, 2018, Thailand, European premiere

Behind the scenes of a popular Thai girl band lurks a hyper-competitive world dominated by popularity and social media followers.

• Carelia: Internacional con monumento/Karelia: International with Monument, Andrés Duque, 2019, Spain, world premiere

Trauma, culture and politics in Russian Karelia, where we hear echos of Pan, god of nature, and panic.

• Cities of Last Things, Ho Wi Ding, 2018, Taiwan/China/USA/France, European premiere

Dizzying drama in which it becomes clear in three chronologically-told parts over three decades what and who drove a man to his desperate act.

• Entre dos aguas/Between Two Waters, Isaki Lacuesta, 2018, Spain

Twelve years after La leyenda del tiempo, two Roma brothers are reunited in Isaki Lacuesta's Golden Shell winning follow-up.

• Genèse/Genesis, Philippe Lesage, 2018, Canada

Three first loves, three broken hearts. But also three kids who give it everything they’ve got, defying all the conventions.

• De geniale vriendin/My Brilliant Friend, Saverio Costanzo, 2018, Italy/USA

Eight-part series about two best friends in 1950s Naples, based on Elena Ferrante's novel of the same name.

• Une jeunesse dorée/A Golden Youth, Eva Ionesco, 2018, France/Belgium, international premiere

At the height of disco, two young lovers from Paris are taken under the wing of a bourgeois-hippy couple.

• Knife + Heart, Yann Gonzalez, 2018, France/Mexico

Playful homage to the Paris homoerotic porn circuit circa 1979, where a masked serial killer is murdering the actors in Anne's films.

• Luciérnagas/Fireflies, Bani Khoshnoudi, 2018, Mexico, international premiere

A gay Iranian refugee ends up exiled in Veracruz, where new relationships force him to confront his past and future.

• Memories of My Body, Garin Nugroho, 2018, Indonesia

Modern politics, traditional Indonesian dance and an exploration of sexual identity fuel this critical-poetic coming-of-age story.

• The Mountain, Rick Alverson, 2018, USA

Grimly sober impression of America in the 1950s. Young orphan Andy sees all forms of humanity surgically removed.

• Nos vies formidables/Our Wonderful Lives, Fabienne Godet, 2018, France, international premiere

Excellent ensemble performance in gripping drama about drink and drug addicts who try to get their lives back on track.

• The River, Emir Baigazin, 2018, Kazakhstan/Poland/Norway

Tablet, television and video games infiltrate the timeless landscape of Kazakhstan in this tranquil portrait of farm boys who choose technology over tradition.

• Rosie, Paddy Breathnach, 2018, Ireland

 A young mother from Dublin struggles to find temporary lodging while living in her car with her family.

• Tehran: City of Love, Ali Jaberansari, 2018, United Kingdom/Netherlands/Iran, international premiere

Melancholy and dry humour characterise the stories of three characters looking for love, who don’t fit the norms in Tehran.

• Todos somos marineros/We're All Sailors, Miguel Ángel Moulet, 2018, Peru/Dominican Republic, European premiere

Assured debut about three Russian sailors stranded in an unfamiliar South American country. How to carry on when life comes to a standstill?

• Vulnerable Histories (A Road Movie), Koki Tanaka, 2018, Japan, world premiere

The troubling rise of racist sentiment in Japanese society is the subject of a series of conversations between two young people.

• Widow of Silence, Praveen Morchhale, 2018, India, European premiere

Colourful, poetic film about a woman in Kashmir who takes up the fight against corruption for her family and missing husband.

Voices Short

• Acid Rain, Tomek Popakul, 2019, Poland, world premiere

A teenage girl runs away from her depressing small town and forms a progressively weirder friendship with a drug dealer.

• Ombligo de agua, Laura Baumeister, 2019, Nicaragua/Mexico, world premiere

Young, well-off overachiever Alina seeks solace in the arms of people who’ve had less luck in life.

• I GOT MY THINGS AND LEFT, Philbert Aimé Mbabazi Sharangabo/Simone Soleil Späni, 2018, Rwanda/Switzerland, international premiere

In memory of Eric, his friends spend a night together. Their conversations provide a charming impression of their deceased friend.

• salt, pepper to taste, Teymur Hajiyev, 2019, Azerbaijan, world premiere

A young woman seeks to escape the suffocating atmosphere at home and wanders the streets of Baku, portrayed as a wonderful blue-grey city.

• Souvenir, Miriam Gossing/Lina Sieckmann, 2019, Germany, world premiere

Lives affected by the sea, presented through images of collected souvenirs and personal stories about love, loss, distance and loneliness.