13 Bombs In Jakarta

Source: IFFR

‘13 Bombs In Jakarta’

Marco Müller, who headed International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) from 1989-1991, is returning as part of the 2024 Tiger international competition jury. 

He is being joined by Bosnian-Dutch filmmaker Ena Sendijarević,producer, industry expert and founder of Easy Rider Films, Nadia Turincev; Hong Kong filmmaker Herman Yau; and LA Rebellion film movement figure and filmmaker Billy Woodberry, whose title Mário will have its world premiere in the Harbour strand.

They will choose the winners of the Tiger award, worth €40,000, and the special jury awards, worth €10,000. The line-up will be announced on December 18. 

IFFR, which will take place from January 25 until Feburary 4, 2024, has also unveiled the line-ups for its Limelight strand, which includes Indonesian action thriller 13 Bombs In Jakarta, as well as the Harbour, Cinema Regained and Focus programmes.

The Limelight line-up represents cinematic highlights from the year’s festival circuit, with 13 Bombs In Jakarta having its first play at the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival in Indonesia. The film is loosely inspired by the biggest financial fraud in Indonesian history.

A host of world premieres have been added to the Harbour strand, which according to IFFR, “offers a safe haven to the full range of contemporary cinema that the festival champions”.

This strand includes IFFR veteran and New German Cinema trailblazer Alexander Kluge’s Cosmic Miniatures, a fusion of AI-generated space images; Lev Kalman and Whitney Horn’s riff on a 1990s TV crime drama Dream Team; Leonardo Mouramateus third IFFR outing Greice; Alexandra Gulea’s exploration of ethnic group (mainly found in Albania, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania) the Aromanians, Maia – Portrait With Hands; and Daniel Hui’s examination of Singapore’s iron-fisted policy towards dissent, Small Hours Of The Night.

The first titles in Cinema Regained, IFFR’s programme of living film history, have been set, featuring films from Clemens Klopfenstein, Antoinetta Angelidi, Yamamoto Satsuo and the European premiere of the restored version of Hair Piece: A Film for Nappyheaded People, an animated satire on the self-image of Black women by Ayoka Chenzira.

The Robby Müller Award, that acknowledges the craft of an outstanding image maker, goes to Belgian cinematographer Grimm Vandekerckhove, whose credits include Ghost Tropic and Here.

Career focus

Further IFFR highlights include a focus programme featuring all 10 of the films of Hong Kong filmmaker and pioneer of Asian queer cinema Danny Cheng Wan-Cheung, otherwise known as Scud, including the world premiere of his swan song Naked Nations – Tribe Hong Kong. There’s also a retrospective of Scottish artist Rachel Maclean’s work, including the world premiere of her film and installation Duck.

A focus titled ‘Chile in the heart’ will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the coup that marked the start of Augusto Pinochet’s 17-year dictatorship, paying tribute to the work of the likes of Sergio Castilla and Raúl Ruiz, and featuring 25 features and shorts.

Radical, avant-garde Colectivo Los Ingrávidos from Tehuacán, Mexico have produced more than 500 films over 12 years. A special programme will screen 11 of these short films. Italian duo, Marco and Antonio Manetti, known as the Manetti Bros, will also be celebrated.

Rotterdam feature line-up 2023 (as of Dec 12)

*indicates world premiere

Limelight

13 Bombs In Jarkata (Indo)
Dir. Angga Dwimas Sasongko

Stormskerry Maja (Fin)

Dir. Tina Lymi

Voy! Voy! Voy! (Egy)
Dir. Omar Hilal

Harbour

‘Lolo & Sosaku’ The Western Archive (Sp)*
Dir. Sergio Caballero

Cosmic Miniatures (Ger)*
Dir. Alexander Kluge

Dream Team (US)*
Dirs. Lev Kalman, Whitney Horn

Elegies (HK)
Dir. Ann Hui

Greice (Bra)*
Dir. Leonardo Mouramateus

Head South (NZ)*

Dir. Jonathan Ogilvie

Maia – Portrait With Hands (Ger)*

Dir. Alexandra Gulea

Mário (Port)*
Dir. Billy Woodberry

Small Hours Of The Night (Sing)*
Dir. Daniel Hui

So Unreal (US)
Dir. Amanda Kramer