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29 Jan – 8 Feb 2026

Limelight

Programme IFFR 2026

Bringing the year’s most talked-about cinema and major premieres to Rotterdam, Limelight is a feast for all. From genre gems to award-winners and audience-pleasers, the section offers a vibrant selection that welcomes first-timers and rewards seasoned festivalgoers alike.

Still: The Secret Agent, dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho

Overview of films

  • 100 Nights of Hero

    Julia Jackman | 92' | United Kingdom | Dutch Premiere

    A lady and her maid in a fantastical world find liberation from patriarchy through storytelling.

  • 3 Days in September

    Tudor Giurgiu | 78' | Romania | World premiere

    A volatile blend of romance and despair, charting a seaside wedding’s sudden collapse.

  • Badak

    M. Raihan Halim | 93' | Singapore | European premiere

    Hip-hop and sign language jostle for emotional space in a feel-good, music-driven family drama.

  • Bazaar (Murder in the Building)

    Rémi Bezançon | 106' | France | World premiere

    A crime writer becomes caught in a real-life mystery in this crowd-pleasing comedy thriller.

  • ChaO

    Aoki Yasuhiro | 90' | Japan | Dutch Premiere

    Human and merfolk negotiations capsize, and Stephan finds himself accidentally engaged to a mermaid princess.

  • Dead Man’s Wire

    Gus Van Sant | 104' | USA | Dutch Premiere

    Gus Van Sant’s exhilarating true-tale of a man who stood up against an unjust mortgage system.

  • Deadline

    Kiwi Chow | 118' | Taiwan | International premiere

    A suicide note alarms a prestigious school, raising questions about the price of excellence and enforced obedience.

  • L’étranger

    François Ozon | 120' | France | Dutch Premiere

    Albert Camus’ classic existentialist novel brought dramatically alive by François Ozon as a film noir.

  • Exit 8

    Kawamura Genki | 95' | Japan | Dutch Premiere

    A young man is trapped in an endless loop in the Japanese subway in this existential horror.

  • Fackham Hall

    Jim O’Hanlon | 107' | United Kingdom | Dutch Premiere

    Downton Abbey goes haywire in this irresistibly silly, joke-packed spoof of English country house dramas.

  • Father Mother Sister Brother

    Jim Jarmusch | 110' | USA | Dutch Premiere

    Jim Jarmusch’s intimate elegy on familial relations unfolds across three star-studded vignettes, earning him the Golden Lion at Venice.

  • Fuori

    Mario Martone | 115' | Italy | Dutch Premiere

    Impressionistic portrait of Italian author and fascinating nonconformist Goliarda Sapienza in 1980s Rome.