Rotterdam unveils initial Signals programme focusing on ‘contemporary reality.’

The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has unveiled the first two parts of its Signals programme, which will address the theme of “contemporary reality” through four sections.

They are:

  • 24/7: the attention economy and how we consume information
  • Everyday Propaganda: the constant exposure to propaganda in our daily lives
  • What The F?!: a range of feminist ideologies
  • Really? Really: surrealism’s comeback

As part of Everyday Propaganda, documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis [pictured] will present his new film Bitter Lake, which is described as about “why the narratives and explanations we are fed by the media and politicians have stopped making sense.” The programme also includes No Country For Young Men by Oleg Mavromatti and PO98, Broken Land from Stéphanie Barbey and Luc Peter, Made In China by Kim Dong-hoo and War Book from Tom Harper plus a selection of short films from Pacho Velez.

Kevin Jerome Everson’s Park Lanes, an eight-hour observation of factory workers, will screen as a world premiere in 24/7.The rest of that section will be short films screening in hotel rooms.

The selections in Really? Really will include Roy Andersson’s A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting on Existence, Veronika Franz’s Goodnight Mommy, Shinya Tsukamoto’s Nobi, Quentin Dupieux’s Reality, Franco Maresco’s Belluscone: Una Storia Siciliana and the world premiere of German Angst, by Jorg Buttgereit, Michal Kosakowski and Andreas Marschall.
 
What The F?! selections include To The Editor of Amateur Photographer by Luke Fowler and Mark Fell, and Dolares De Arena by Laura Amélia Guzman and Israel Cardenas.

Festival director Rutger Wolfson said: “This program examines one of the most interesting and challenging subjects: the here and now, or, to put it another way, the complex and often confusing reality we live in today. Without the benefit of hindsight this programme looks beyond the hype of daily news cycle and identifies themes that affect us all as well as typify the times we live in. The work selected for the programme will no doubt captivate the audience and promote debate and discussion well beyond the end of the Festival.”

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