Taking place from January 26 through February 6, 2022, the 51st edition of the International Rotterdam Film Festival is in full swing, along with Canada’s presence at this exciting event, known for its indie angle.
While the fest usually takes place in the Netherlands, it’s being held virtually this year! You won’t want to miss our Canadian projects, screening online through February 14 as part of IFFR’s Press & Industry Selection 2022!
Among the more than 200 projects in the 2022 Official Selection, Canada’s got some fantastic offerings: A narrative feature in the fest’s signature Tiger Competition race; a documentary feature; a short; a coproduction; and a VR work (not available online). As well, four Canadian producers are participating in the Rotterdam Lab. And last but not least, we’ve got a UK-Canada VR project in the Immersive section of CineMart, the festival’s coproduction market.
Here’s your Canadian Rotterdam roundup:
IFFR 2022 Official Selection
Tiger Competition
- Ana Tapia Rousiouk’s and Renaud Després-Larose’s The Dream and the Radio (Le rêve et la radio)
Making its world premiere is this story about a couple who befriend a young homeless woman and meet the chief of an activist group who wants to take over radio waves.
Harbour
Pierre Hébert’s Mount Fuji Seen From a Moving Train (Le mont Fuji vu d’un train en marche)
Part of his Places and Monuments series, this feature-length animated documentary by Pierre Hébert — whose current work as an indie filmmaker follows an illustrious career at the National Film Board of Canada — is a poetic exploration inspired by Japan.
Short & Mid-length
- Rita Ferrando’s and Lily Jue Sheng’s Ikebana
Flower arranging is the subject of this short doc, a poetic ode to the expressiveness, movement, language of plants as living entities.
- Maïder Fortuné’s and Annie MacDonell’s OUTHERE (For Lee Lozano)
Diaries, archives, and performance merge to create a documentary portrait of 20th century American painter Lee Lozano, in this France-Canada coproduction. A France-Canada coproduction.
Art Directions
- Ziad Touma’s The Passengers (VR Installation)
Four passengers, each facing inner and outer journeys, are at the heart of this Canada-France coproduction that is an animated VR experience where viewers help move the story forward and are asked to empathize with each of these passengers by accessing their private, innermost thoughts.
Rotterdam Lab
Telefilm Canada partnered with the Rotterdam Lab (organized by IFFR Pro & CineMart) to support the participation of four emerging Canadian producers working on their second and third features, and looking to delve into international coproduction! With 70 producers from more than 40 countries, this workshop is a great chance to network and learn about international financing, sales, and distribution.
Selected after a call for entries, meet our four selected producers who participated in the 2022 Rotterdam Lab, held online from January 24 to February 6!
- Jason Arsenault – Who’s Yer Father?
- Shant Joshi – Queen Tut
- Julie Groleau – Carcajou
- Alysha Seriani – The Narrow Edge
CineMart
The 39th edition of IFFR’s CineMart coproduction market wrapped up February 2, and a UK-Canada VR coproduction was among the projects in its Immersive section.
- Sandra Rodriguez’s and Alexander Whitley’s Future Rites
Dance is at the heart of this UK-Canada VR experience, which reimagines the ballet The Rite Of Spring through an AI experience, using real-time animation and inviting visitors to incorporate their bodies and movements to engage in the narrative.
