The IFFR has always endeavoured to expand, enrich and challenge people's view of the world and each other through film and audiovisual art. IFFR's programme deepens the appreciation of cinema in all its forms, expands and diversifies audiences and creates opportunities for independent filmmakers and artists from around the world.

The German production IM HAUS MEINER ELTERN by Tim Ellrich will be taking part in the IFFR’s upcoming Tiger Competition. The drama follows a spiritual healer who takes care of her brother suffering from schizophrenia and her ageing parents. While trying to finally bring about some kind of change in her family, she is then confronted by a man who refuses any kind of help.

The Big Screen Competition, another competition category, will feature BAD PAINTER by Albert Oehlen. The futuristic drama has the German actor Udo Kier portraying Albert Oehlen, the most successful and glamorous artist of his time, in the Los Angeles of 2034. While the film, on the one hand, shows philosophising about painting and adoration for the artist, a tension also develops between Oehlen and his girlfriend Charlie that takes on dramatic proportions.

The third German competition title is LES RITES DE PASSAGE by Florian Fischer and Johannes Krell in the Tiger Short Competition. In their new experimental short film, the filmmakers are aiming to sharpen our perception of what is happening in and with the environment. Close-ups of tree bark and scorched earth alternate with mystically staged ritual performances, supported by a suggestive and impressive soundtrack.

The Bright Future section features the German production RED STARS UPON THE FIELD (ROTE STERNE ÜBERM FELD) by Laura Laabs. The historical thriller revolves around a skeleton that baffles the inhabitants of a small village in Mecklenburg. A journey into the past begins, passing  through 100 years of German history and ending in the present.

Echoing Rotterdam’s port city identity, the Harbour section offers a safe haven at the festival to the full range of contemporary cinema. Six German majority productions and co-productions will be screening there, including THE INVESTIGATION (DIE ERMITTLUNG. ORATORIUM IN 11 GESÄNGEN) by Rolf Peter Kahl about the Auschwitz trials, HAPPY HOLIDAYS by Scandar Copti, which had already attracted attention in Venice, PRIMITIVE DIVERSITY by Alexander Kluge, an ironic journey through the history and future of image technology and AI, THE NEW JEWS (DIE NEUEN JUDEN) by Amir Steklov, a documentary following the lives of Israeli Jews in Berlin, THE NIGHT IS DARK AND COLDER THAN THE DAY (DIENACHT IST DUNKEL UND KÄLTER ALS DER TAG)by Christina Friedrich about children’s fears, and THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG by Mohammad Rasoulof, the German entry for the 97th Oscars®.

These German majority productions will be screening on other sections: ROCK'N ROLL RINGO by Dominik Galizia, FABULA by Michiel Ten Horn, MARIA by Pablo Larraín and SEPTEMBER 5 by Tim Fehlbaum in Limelight, as well as A THOUSAND WAVES AWAY by Helena Wittmann, GERHARD by Ulu Braun and CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG by Zhou Hao in Short & Mid-Length.