The 54th edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) begins January 30, screening over 400 films across Rotterdam through February 9. We have rounded up the science and technology-themed features to look out for – primarily documentaries and hybrid formats – with descriptions excerpted from the festival’s programmers.
Highlights include the world premiere of the Sloan-supported film JOHN LILLY AND THE EARTH COINCIDENCE CONTROL OFFICE, directed by Sloan grantees Michael Almereyda (TESLA) and Courtney Stephens. Narrated by Chloë Sevigny, the film explores the life and ideas of counterculture neuroscientist John C. Lilly, inventor of the sensory deprivation tank. A contemporary of Timothy Leary, Lilly’s experiments with dolphins made him a pioneer in the scientific study of human-animal communication, though his later experiments with psychoactive drugs would lead him to more controversial, theosophical ideas. Check out the trailer below.
COLLECTIVE MONOLOGUE. Dir. Sarah Jessica Rinland. Dutch Premiere. “This sensitive and intimate documentary, set in Argentinian zoos and rescue centers, observes the everyday interactions and strong affective bonds between animals and those who take care of their needs with disarming attention and devotion.”
D IS FOR DISTANCE. Dirs. Christopher Petit, Emma Matthews. World Premiere. “A heartbreaking, but ultimately hopeful, account of the epilepsy of Louis Petit as documented by his parents, filmmakers Christopher Petit and Emma Matthews. Alongside the struggle within Britain’s ailing national health care system, a far-reaching essay-collage on technology, capitalism and the human mind.”
ELECTRIC CHILD. Dir. Simon Jaquemet. Dutch Premiere. “A man looks to a super-intelligent AI to save his terminally ill child in this sci-fi thriller. What could go wrong? Navigating this line between hard science fiction and emotional family drama, ELECTRIC CHILD vividly unpacks what’s at stake behind questions of AI ethics.”
Still from ELECTRIC CHILD. Courtesy of IFFR.
GAAMI. Dir. Vidyadhar Kagita. Dutch Premiere. “A melancholic ascetic on an odyssey for a mythical cure, a captive adolescent subject to inhuman scientific procedures, a young child struggling against trafficking. Three fragile beings, divided by geography are united by destiny, in this operatic, larger-than-life mix of fantasy, sci-fi and melodrama.”
I SHALL SEE. Dir. Mercedes Stalenhoef. World Premiere. “When 17-year-old Lot loses her eyesight in a freak accident, her world comes to an abrupt halt. Sent to a rehabilitation center for visually impaired people, she experiences the triumphs and tribulations of life without her sight.”
IM HAUS MEINER ELTERN. Dir. Tim Ellrich. World Premiere. “A therapist whose interests lie in alternative ways to help the sick and infirm is forced to balance the demands of her professional life with those of her ageing parents and older brother, in Tim Ellrich’s sensitive but uncompromising drama.”
THE TREE OF AUTHENTICITY. Dir. Sammy Baloji. World Premiere. “Photographer and visual artist Sammy Baloji’s fascinating film essay explores the Democratic Republic of Congo’s colonial history and its ecological significance. Drawing on research from the 1930s, the film highlights the Congo Basin’s vital role in consuming carbon dioxide and shaping global environmental balance over a century.”
Still from THE TREE OF AUTHENTICITY. Courtesy of IFFR.
THE RHINE GOLD. Dir. Lorenzo Pullega. World Premiere. “The Reno, or Italian Rhine, may lack the fame of its Teutonic sibling, but it holds its own magic. . . In his flamboyant debut, Lorenzo Pellega reimagines the tradition of anthropological documentary, crafting a portrait of a place that feels suspended in time – a custodian of traditions resisting the pressures of globalization.”
LAST BREATH. Dir. Costa-Gavras. Dutch Premiere. “Costa-Gavras’ heart-wrenching yet pragmatic look at death is stripped of taboo, and instead consists of cleverly placed reminders that life is present even in death. . .Based on the book of the same name, LAST BREATH is a sobering account of human life and its end, shown through an intriguing discourse between a renowned writer, Fabrice Toussaint and a palliative care doctor, Augustin Masset.”
PANORAMA. Dir. Amie Siegel. “PANORAMA examines the journey of natural history specimens from field collection to museum display. Using archival footage and contemporary footage, Amie Siegel reveals how Western scientific expeditions extracted, preserved, and transformed cultural materials, bringing out shifting narratives of value, power, and representation in museum practices.”
PRIMITIVE DIVERSITY. Dir. Alexander Kluge. World Premiere. “Filmmaker Alexander Kluge loves to use the expression ‘primitive diversity’ in relation to the origins of his art: the first films that were made, their genres, motives and moods. With the development of AI, Kluge asks, what could its primitive diversity look like? . . . In this new age of image-making, Young German Cinema paragon Alexander Kluge finds himself experimenting with this latest tool of image creation.”
Still from PRIMITIVE DIVERSITY. Courtesy of IFFR.
SPERMAGEDDON. Dirs. Tommy Wirkola, Rasmus A. Sivertsen. Dutch Premiere. “In this colorful and outrageous animated musical, an awkward teenage boy navigates his first sexual experience – meanwhile, inside his scrotum, a nervous sperm prepares to embark on the journey of a lifetime. A gleefully gross, deceptively sweet coming of age story with a difference.”
STORM ALERTS. Dir. Bergur Bernburg. World Premiere. “Is a world obsessed with medical diagnostics and pharmaceutical prescription ready for the vivid testimony of Marteinn Helgi Sigurðsson, who defies the label of ‘bipolar disorder’ to give us a glimpse into his shaman-like wisdom? This inventive docu-drama takes us right inside complex mental experiences.”
THE GREY MACHINE. Dir. Péter Lichter. World Premiere. “Péter Lichter’s most recent essay used found footage to tell the story of a machine, conceptualized from the texts of poet Edgar Allan Poe who was obsessed with and used scientific thinking, to bring to life a machine that never existed.”
Still from THE GREY MACHINE. Courtesy of IFFR.
THE SHROUDS. Dir. David Cronenberg. Dutch Premiere. “Karsh (Vincent Cassel), a grieving widower, invents a piece of new technology so the bereaved can watch the decaying corpses of their loved ones. But when the grave of his wife (Diane Kruger) is desecrated, he goes in search of the culprit.”
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