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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

  • Gavagai

    Ulrich Köhler | 89' | Germany | Dutch Premiere

    A complex look at racial tensions and filmmaking, set against an adaptation of Medea in Senegal.

  • Hi-Five

    Kang Hyeong-cheol | 119' | South Korea | Dutch Premiere

    After an organ transplant, five ordinary people discover strange tattoos and some newly acquired unique superpowers.

  • The History of Sound

    Oliver Hermanus | 128' | USA | Dutch Premiere

    A bittersweet chronicle of the relationship between two music students in the early 20th century, starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor.

  • I Swear

    Kirk Jones | 121' | United Kingdom | Dutch Premiere

    Robert Aramayo leads filmmaker Kirk Jones’s moving portrayal of one man’s life with Tourette syndrome.

  • The Kidnapping of a President

    Samuli Valkama | 82' | Finland | World premiere

    The kidnapping of Finland’s first president as a comedy full of merrily dark laughter.

  • Late Fame

    Kent Jones | 90' | USA | Dutch Premiere

    Willem Dafoe shines in this finely observed, sensitive, wry portrait of New York’s poetry scene.

  • Life Is Life

    Riccardo Milani | 118' | Italy | Dutch Premiere

    A Sardinian shepherd takes on a hardheaded Milanese businessman in this charming David and Goliath story.

  • Il Maestro

    Andrea Di Stefano | 125' | Italy | Dutch Premiere

    Against the backdrop of sunsoaked 1980s Italy, a teenage tennis prodigy strikes an unlikely friendship.

  • Mi amor

    Guillaume Nicloux | 113' | France | World premiere

    A DJ searches the Canary Islands for her missing friend and uncovers something sinister, set to a pulsing techno score.

  • My Daughter Is a Zombie

    Pil Gam-Sung | 114' | South Korea | Dutch Premiere

    A father tries re-educating his teenage zombie daughter, while protecting her from a hostile world.

  • No Hit Wonder

    Florian Dietrich | 118' | Germany | Dutch Premiere

    An emotionally rich comedy about a failed rock star in hospital, tasked with setting up an all-patients choir.

  • No Other Choice

    Park Chan-wook | 139' | South Korea | Dutch Premiere

    To regain his dream life, Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) gets deadly creative in Park Chan-wook’s absurd, macabre comedy.