The International Film Festival Rotterdam has announced the first five titles lined up for its Tiger Awards Competition 2012. To compete, films must be first or second works, and all five of these are narrative feature debuts.
Huang Ji's Jidan he shitou (Egg and Stone), a world premiere from China. IFFR: "Huang Ji shot her feature début drama in her Hunan province hometown with a cast of non-professional actors. Like numerous others in China, the 14-year-old protagonist is living with relatives because her parents are working a big city. She has few friends, and at home she tries to keep her door shut."
Anka and Wilhelm Sasnal's Z daleka widok jest piekny (It Looks Pretty from a Distance) (site), an international premiere from Poland and the US. IFFR: "In their debut feature film, renowned visual artists and painters Anka and Wilhelm Sasnal explore the dark and antisocial sides of life on the beautiful Polish countryside, where in a hot summer everything seems to fall apart."
Midi Z's Gui lai de ren (Return to Burma), a European premiere from Burma and Taiwan. IFFR: "Filmmaker Midi Z, born in Burma and raised in Taiwan, shot his debut feature film in his native country, working with non-professional actors. A realistic and authentic portrayal of daily life in the least known and least accessible Southeast Asian country."
Eduardo Nunes's Sudoeste (Southwest), a European premiere from Brazil. IFFR: "Eduardo Nunes made several successful short films, three of which were screened at IFFR. A tale of fantasy and mystery shot in stunning black-and-white, his fiction feature debut Sudoeste is situated in a sleepy Brazilian coastal village. Here, a baby, a girl and a woman named Clarice seem to live their (or is it her?) life in one single day."
Park Hong-min's Mulgogi (A Fish), an international premiere from South Korea. IFFR: "Park Hong-min's first feature film A Fish will be the first 3D film in the Tiger Awards Competition. Produced for only about 100,000 euros, A Fish tells a tragic absurdist tale of a professor who travels South in search of his wife who apparently has deserted him to become a shaman."
Rotterdam expects to add ten more titles to the Competition; the 41st edition of the IFFR runs from January 25 through February 5.
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