Rotterdam reveals 15 contenders for 2010 Tiger awards

The competition, which is open to first and second features, includes five world premieres and its first contenders from Georgia, Levan Koguashvili’s Street Days, and Costa Rica (Agua Fria De Mar by Paz Fabrega). The films will compete for three prizes of $21,525 (€15,000) and the winners will be announced on February 5.

The competition’s jury has also been revealed and will comprise French actress and singer Jeanne Balibar; Polish-Dutch film-maker Úrszula Antoniak; Philip Cheah, the former director of the Singapore Film Festival; Mexican film-maker Amat Escalante and Ugandan actor and activist Okello Kelo Sam.

IFFR 2010 will open on January 27 with a screening of Park Chan-ok’s Paju. This year the festival is expecting to play host to about 250 film-makers, more than 2,500 industry professionals and 350 journalists. The full programme will be revealed on January 21.

The festival has already confirmed that it has lost two of its main sponsors, Robeco, asset management company, and telecoms provider KPN. Meanwhile, some of its remaining sponsors and suppliers have lowered their contributions in the wake of the recession. The festival’s budget remains at $10.7m (€7.5 million), which is roughly the same as last year. Festival sources say that the main programme has not been affected by the loss of the sponsors.