Hear from the filmmakers: Big Screen Competition
Each year, IFFR’s Festival Director Vanja Kaludjercic speaks with the filmmakers behind the films screening in our Big Screen Competition. These interviews are made available throughout the festival. Below you can find videos from previous editions – watch to hear from the filmmakers about the inspiration behind their stories, creative process, themes, and other insights into their works. Please note some interviews include English translation provided by interpreters.
2025
-
The Assistant
Wilhelm Sasnal, Anka Sasnal | 124′ | Poland | World premiere
A bookbinder becomes an inventor’s assistant, navigating ambition, servitude, and the machinations of contemporary neo-liberal society. -
Back to the Family
Sharunas Bartas | 91′ | Lithuania | World premiere
A magnetising and quietly devastating portrait of family life defined by regret and recrimination. -
Bad Painter
Albert Oehlen | 80′ | Germany | World premiere
A knowing portrait of painter Albert Oehlen, in the near future, by the painter himself. -
¡Caigan las rosas blancas!
Albertina Carri | 123′ | Argentina | World premiere
A transgressively funny and radically queer road movie that challenges the mainstream queer agenda. -
Gowok: Javanese Kamasutra
Hanung Bramantyo | 130′ | Indonesia | World premiere
A tale of sexual awakening from one of Indonesia’s most acclaimed filmmakers. -
De Idylle
Aaron Rookus | 99′ | Netherlands | World premiere
A life-affirming drama about the members of one family seeking meaning in their lives. -
Macai
Sun-J Perumal | 105′ | Malaysia | World premiere
A drug dealer trying to save his neck finds his world spinning out of control. -
Orenda
Pirjo Honkasalo | 117′ | Finland | World premiere
A beautifully restrained drama and portrait of two women grappling with guilt and the possibility of redemption. -
L’oro del Reno
Lorenzo Pullega | 90′ | Italy | World premiere
Channelling the carnivalesque spirit of Fellini, this is the story of a lesser-known, Italian Rhine. -
Our Father – The Last Days of a Dictator
José Filipe Costa | 108′ | Portugal | World premiere
A fading dictator clings to illusions of power as his world quietly collapses around him. -
The Puppet’s Tale
Suman Mukhopadhyay | 120′ | India | World premiere
An urbane doctor struggles with his destiny in a classical, deeply felt period drama. -
Raptures
Jon Blåhed | 108′ | Sweden | World premiere
A searing portrait of religious extremism, inspired by a movement in 1930s Sweden. -
Soft Leaves
Miwako Van Weyenberg | 94′ | Belgium | World premiere
A tender, coming-of-age story of a young girl facing up to the realities of life. -
Yasuko, Songs of Days Past
Negishi Kichitaro | 128′ | Japan | World premiere
A rapturous portrait of a pivotal moment in the life of Japanese poet Nakahara Chūya.
2024
-
Aire: Just Breathe
Leticia Tonos Paniagua | 91′ | Dominican Republic | World premiere
In the near future, a scientist races against time to change humanity’s fate. -
Children of War and Peace
Ville Suhonen | 65′ | Finland | World premiere
A nation’s chilling desire for war and the toll it took on its children. -
Confidenza
Daniele Luchetti | 136′ | Italy | World premiere
Revered teacher Pietro has an affair with one of his students in this exquisite thriller. -
Eternal
Ulaa Salim | 100′ | Denmark | World premiere
A deeply moving sci-fi drama of the heart that ruminates on ‘what if?’ -
Milk Teeth
Sophia Bösch | 97′ | Germany | World premiere
In a dystopian near-future, a young girl has to choose between servitude or freedom. -
The Old Bachelor
Oktay Baraheni | 192′ | Iran | World premiere
An Iranian-set family drama of Shakespearean proportions which explores the corrosiveness of patriarchy. -
Portrait of a Certain Orient
Marcelo Gomes | 92′ | Brazil | World premiere
A potent parable of religious intolerance and cultural difference, about Lebanese migrants living in Brazil. -
Seven Seas Seven Hills
Ram | 135′ | India | World premiere
An immortal and an everyman meet in this irresistible mix of melodrama, comedy and spectacle. -
Steppenwolf
Adilkhan Yerzhanov | 102′ | Kazakhstan | World premiere
A visceral, absurdist revenge thriller, embracing elements of the Western, set across the Kazakh steppes. -
Tenement
Inrasothythep Neth, Sokyou Chea | 88′ | Cambodia | World premiere
A manga artist experiences terrifying visions when visiting her ancestral home in Phnom Penh. -
The Worst Man in London
Rodrigo Areias | 127′ | Portugal | World premiere
Art lover. Rogue. Blackmailer. A fascinating portrait of Victorian art dealer Charles Augustus Howell. -
Yohanna
Razka Robby Ertanto | 85′ | Indonesia | World premiere
A nun’s search for her car leads to crisis in this enthralling neorealist-tinged drama.