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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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
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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! -
Pussy
Renata Gasiorowska | 8' | Poland | No premiere
A modern animation classic, Pussy is a rollicking romp about self-love. -
Rødstrømper – en kavalkade af kvindefilm
Mette Knudsen | 35' | Denmark | No premiere
A history of modern Danish women’s cinema, presented as a collage of excerpts from some twenty activist works. -
She-Bop
Joanna Priestley | 8' | USA | No premiere
An intriguing animated film about goddesses, power and directing one’s own destiny. -
Skittish Brothers
Hermína Týrlová | 9' | Czechoslovakia | No premiere
Hermína Týrlová crafts a tender, cheerful film with animated yarn and simple objects. -
The Stitches Speak
Nina Sabnani | 12' | India | No premiere
An animated documentary about a community of artists who use Suf embroidery to tell their tales. -
Three Ways of Returning
Mania Akbari, Xiaolu Guo, Andrea Luka Zimmerman | 81' | China | World premiere
A rich three-part essay film portraying attempts at reconnecting with often traumatic pasts, spanning China, Germany and Iran.