Focus: the Future Is NOW
Programme IFFR 2026
IFFR is proud to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of NOW (National Organisation for Women), a major moment in the history of the Civil Rights movement as well as Second Wave Feminism. The Future Is NOW will explore women's cinemas from different periods, confronting early hopes with later developments – classics and world premieres will meet, generations talk. We'll stress authors and practices less commonly explored, with a special emphasis on animation. Subjects like education, communities and histories will be as much a part of this dense mix as will sex, religion and cinema itself. A curious and joyful programme for everybody!
Overview of films
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Hra
Iryna Hurvych | 9' | Ukrainian SSR | No premiere
Hra uses scraps of cloth and yarn to craft a metaphorical tale about resilience. -
I Like Life a Lot
Katalin Macskássy | 9' | Hungary | No premiere
Roma children narrate, draw and animate the ups and downs of their lives. -
Interview
Caroline Leaf, Veronika Soul | 14' | Canada | No premiere
A justly venerated masterpiece. A double portrait of two friends and filmmakers combining documentary and various kinds of animation techniques. -
Jugend und Sexualität
Tula Roy, Madeleine Hirsiger, Marianne Jäggi, Ellen Meyrat, Lili Sommer | 56' | Switzerland | No premiere
Documentary about a pioneering project in sexual education for schoolchildren. -
Lake Monsters
Mizushima Hiné | 3' | Canada | No premiere
Alt-rock folk art: an embroidered music video for They Might Be Giant’s ‘Lake Monsters.’ -
Let’s Make a Film
Yvonne Anderson | 13' | USA | No premiere
Students of the Yellow Ball Workshop cleverly craft charming and witty animated stories. -
The Light Fantastic Picture Show
Lillian Somersaulter Moats, JP Somersaulter | 7' | USA | No premiere
A jazzy experimental film that highlights how art is made with various animated methods. -
Lotus
Signe Birkova | 117' | Latvia | Dutch Premiere
A fantasy about Latvia’s first female director. Filmmaking as visual witchcraft – 24 spells per second. -
La Mort n’a pas voulu de moi – Portrait de Lotte Eisner
Carole Roussopoulos, Carine Varène, Michel Célémenski | 24' | France | No premiere
A commemorative portrait of film critic, historian and long-time Cinémathèque française curator Lotte Eisner. -
Nine Lives
Karen Aqua | 7' | USA | No premiere
A journey of metamorphosis through images of women as witches, goddesses, artists and more. -
Ombres de soie
Mary Stephen | 62' | France | No premiere
A sensual essay on hybridity in defiance of purist ideas about ethnicity and gender. -
The Passionate Stranger
Muriel Box | 97' | United Kingdom | No premiere
A female pulp writer’s creative struggle as a meditation on the different virtues found in fantasy and real life!