{"id":213323,"date":"2025-11-27T15:13:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T14:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iffr.com\/en\/?p=213323"},"modified":"2026-01-13T09:44:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T08:44:51","slug":"blog-darkroom-selection-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iffr.com\/en\/blog-darkroom-selection-2026","title":{"rendered":"Darkroom work-in-progress selection for 2026 revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Darkroom offers a platform for the international industry to access exclusive previews of recently or nearly completed films seeking completion or gap funding, sales agents and festival selections. 10 feature works-in-progress will be screened in 2026, all presented during CineMart running Sunday 1 to Wednesday 4 February during IFFR 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Each project has either an attached Rotterdam Lab graduate producer or received previous support from CineMart or the Hubert Bals Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, this year\u2019s immersive media projects will be presented under Lightroom: IFFR\u2019s new industry platform for immersive storytelling. Lightroom <\/strong>brings together all XR, VR and interactive projects previously presented across CineMart <\/strong>and Darkroom, creating one unified space for immersive work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about it in our CineMart announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darkroom selection 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Scroll further down to read more details about the selection<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amor es el monstruo<\/strong>, dir. Neto Villalobos Brenes, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, Chile
Produced by: La Sucia Centroamericana, Cine Infinito, Expansiva Cine, Clara Films<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get Up Stand Up<\/strong>, dir. Mari Sanders, Netherlands, Greece
Produced by: The Film Kitchen, Neda Film<\/p>\n\n\n\n

L\u00e0stima, <\/strong>dir. Mario Piredda, Italy, Switzerland
Produced by: Articolture and DOK MOBILE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LFD Hope<\/strong>, dir. Joshua Loftin, United Kingdom, Hungary
Produced by: Sea Fox Films, Lorenz Films, Gallivant Film, Good Kids Productions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina<\/strong>, dir. <\/strong>La\u00eds Santos Ara\u00fajo and Pethrus Tib\u00farcio, Brazil
Produced by: Aguda Cinema, Carnaval Filmes <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sea, Star, Woman<\/strong>, dir. Jeunghae Yim, France, Korea
Produced by: 5\u00e07 Films, Seesaw Pictures<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sugar<\/strong>, <\/strong>dir. Amira Duynhouwer, Netherlands, Belgium
Produced by: <\/strong>Studio Ruba, Mirage Film <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs<\/strong>, dir. \u00c8lia Gasull Balada, Matteo Norzi, Peru, United States, Spain, Chile
Produced by: Shipibo Conibo Center, Desfase Films, Funicular Films, Pista B<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Outside<\/strong>, <\/strong>dir. V\u00edctor Moreno, Spain, Belgium
Produced by: KV Films, Womack Studios, Transit Transat<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The selection in detail<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Brazilian filmmakers La\u00eds Santos Ara\u00fajo (Infantaria<\/strong>, Best Film Berlinale Generation14Plus) and Pethrus Tib\u00farcio (Tell Her What Happened to Me<\/strong>, IFFR 2025) co-direct the Hubert Bals Fund-supported and CineMart-presented coming-of-age drama Marina<\/strong>, where a teenage girl’s dreams for her 15th birthday party come up against structural violence, class difference and racial inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00c8lia Gasull Balada and Matteo Norzi (Icaros: A Vision<\/strong>, Tribeca 2016) present the hybrid documentary The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs<\/strong> on 75-year-old Indigenous artist Sara Flores, as she emerges from the Peruvian Amazon into the global contemporary art scene. The project is produced by Rotterdam Lab graduate Maria Altamirano. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Film still: L\u00e0stima<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Costa Rican filmmaker Neto Villalobos (Rotterdam Lab 2011), whose features All About the Feathers<\/strong> (2013) and Helmet Heads<\/strong> (2018) both premiered in Toronto, presents the tropical dystopia Amor es el monstruo<\/strong>, where a seventy-year-old grandmother defies age and prejudice to save her kidnapped granddaughter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mario Piredda (The Lamb<\/strong>, Italian Golden Globe for Best Young Newcomer 2021), returns with the sun-scorched Sardinian road movie L\u00e0stima<\/strong>, following Vera, a jobless Romanian in her 40s, and Kali, a young Nigerian girl she is forced to traffic from one city to another \u2013 produced by Lab graduate Chiara Galloni. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

V\u00edctor Moreno’s sci-fi The Outside<\/strong>, presented at CineMart 2023 and filmed on Fuerteventura and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, charts the odyssey of an astronaut lost in the desert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two Dutch projects feature in the work-in-progress platform. Mari Sanders (Go Daan Go!<\/strong>, short, 2014; 80% Disabled<\/strong>, short, 2016; Handicapable<\/strong>, series, 2025) returns to themes of disability and belonging with Get Up Stand Up<\/strong>, produced by Lab graduate Lisette Kelder. Vera loses her autonomy after an accident and must reinvent her life in a wheelchair, finding a new perspective through her friendship with Xander, who has been in a wheelchair since birth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kenya-born Dutch filmmaker Amira Duynhouwer (Save It<\/strong>, short, NFF 2021; Beti<\/strong>, short, NFF 2020; Kimya<\/strong>, short, Cinekid 2020), who co-wrote Jim Taihuttu’s Hardcore Never Dies<\/strong>, presents Sugar <\/strong>(produced by Rotterdam Lab graduate Layla Meijman of Studio Ruba) about a hair stylist breaking free from her violent and abusive partner while trying to protect her daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Film still: Sugar<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BAFTA New Talent award-nominee Joshua Loftin’s docu-fiction LFD Hope<\/strong> tells the stories of men from London\u2019s margins, co-produced by Hungarian Rotterdam Lab graduate Patricia D\u2019Intino. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paris-based Korean artist and filmmaker Jeunghae Yim (Entre chien et loup<\/strong>, FIDMarseille, Jeonju IFF) presents Sea, Star, Woman<\/strong>, returning to Korea to recover the memory of her mother, weaving together archival footage, portraits, eye-rehabilitation inspired animation, and re-enacted childhood memories. The project is produced by Rotterdam Lab graduate Martin Bertier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darkroom success in 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Last edition\u2019s projects had a year of wide spread success and acclaim, including: Dry Leaf<\/strong> by Alexandre Koberidze (Special Mention & FIPRESCI prize Locarno 2025, TIFF, BFI), Sorella di Clausura<\/strong> by Ivana Mladenovic (best actress award for lead Katia Pascariu, Locarno 2025; Heart of Sarajevo Award for best film Sarajevo IFF), Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes <\/strong>by Gabriel Azor\u00edn (Giornate degli Autori, Venice, WP 2025; NYFF) and Hiedra<\/strong> by Ana Cristina Barrag\u00e1n (Special Mention, Horizontes Latinos San Sebasti\u00e1n 2025). <\/p>\n\n\n\n\t

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