Rotterdam Film Fest Adds ‘The Misconceived’ and Absurdist Musical Road Movie Whose Title Is Way Too Long for This Headline

The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) on Thursday revealed further selections for the Harbour and Bright Future strands of its 2026 edition, including world and international premieres, and the first titles for its Limelight program, which showcases highlights from the past year’s festival circuit. IFFR also unveiled its two Shorts Focus programs for its upcoming 55th edition, running Jan. 29-Feb. 8.

The newly picked features set for IFFR 2026 include the world premieres of experimental 3D-rendered comedy The Misconceived from James N. Kienitz Wilkins (The Plagiarists), debut features IAI from Sakai Zenzo and Why Do I See You in Everything? from Rand Abou Fakher, and the performance-based film from the Chto Delat collective with this title (take a breath!): Songs of Hope and Despair. Performed by Bundschuh, Fish, Fox Tail, Rainbow, Dead Drummer, Muse-Leaving Germany and by Other Agencies. 

Among the international premieres will be Paul Urkijo Alijo’s dark Basque fairy tale Gaua and Gamer Girls from directors Veronica Bassetto and Sophie Yang.

The shorts Focus programs will centre on the ensemble of Belgian and Congolese artists in the Collectif Faire-Part and the Japanese multidisciplinary artist Tetsuya Maruyama.

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Collectif Faire-Part explores “Belgium’s colonial history, contemporary power dynamics and collective resistance rooted in decolonization,” organizers said. “Through a multidisciplinary practice encompassing film, photography and performance, founding members Anne Reijniers, Paul Shemisi, Nizar Saleh and Rob Jacobs seek to articulate new narratives about Kinshasa, Brussels, and the complex ties that continue to bind them.” Maruyama, based in Rio de Janeiro, works mostly in analogue film, but his works range from performance to installation and text to found sound compilations.

“At IFFR, we want every audience member to feel welcome and inspired to explore fresh perspectives. This new selection of premieres and shorts reflects the creative energy and curiosity that define our festival,” said Vanja Kaludjercic, festival director at IFFR. “The two Shorts Focus programs each open up their own space: one through Tetsuya Maruyama’s tactile, analogue approach to performance and image-making; the other through Collectif Faire-Part’s ongoing reflections on how we address colonial histories and the questions they continue to raise. Both offer bold, distinctive voices that we’re proud to bring to Rotterdam.” 

Find the new feature film selections for IFFR 2026 and more about them below.

HARBOUR

“Echoing Rotterdam’s port city identity, Harbour offers a safe haven to the full range of contemporary cinema that the festival champions.”

Gaua (International Premiere)
Director: Paul Urkijo Alijo
Spain
This dark Basque fairy tale is a witches’ brew of macabre fantasy, folk horror and sexual liberation. Kattalin is caught between duty and desire, people and parish – at the mercy of judgments both sacred and profane.

The Misconceived (World Premiere)
Director: James N. Kienitz Wilkins
United States 
A failed filmmaker turned single dad tries to make a living while retaining his sense of self, in James N. Kienitz Wilkins’ experimental 3D-rendered home renovation comedy, which doubles as an acidic treatise on working conditions for the contemporary creative.

Ripples in the Mist (European Premiere)
Director: Clara Law
Australia 
With an independent spirit, Clara Law’s new film is an essayistic observation of grief, friendship and artistic regeneration, through the parallel stories of two Hong Kong women in exile. A melange of cinematic styles – including documentary, stage performance and opera – permeates both form and content in this impressively understated drama.

Isan Odyssey (International Premiere)
Director: Thunska Pansittivorakul
Thailand
Isan, the largest and most impoverished region of Thailand, has long been a thorn in the kingdom’s flesh with its legacy of pro-democratic movements. Isan Odyssey takes viewers on an enlightening, music-filled journey through the forgotten pages of Thailand’s political history.

Mergen (International Premiere)
Director: Chingiz Narynov
Kyrgyzstan
In this atmospheric neo-noir, a police officer investigating a death in the snowy Kyrgyz mountains uncovers a web of violent corruption in a remote former gold-mining town. As the plot thickens, personal demons, Soviet legacies and local superstitions collide with devastating consequences.

Songs of Hope and Despair. Performed by Bundschuh, Fish, Fox Tail, Rainbow, Dead Drummer, Muse-Leaving Germany and by Other Agencies (World Premiere – Festival)
Director: Chto Delat
Germany
A group of strangely costumed heroes set out on a journey to find a miracle in this absurdist lo-fi musical road movie by the politically engaged art collective Chto Delat. Their experimental flashmob, staged in the former German mining town of Hettstedt, channels the political anxieties of our times.

BRIGHT FUTURE
“Bright Future is a selection of feature-length debuts characterised by original subject matter and an individual style, representing the cutting edge of contemporary filmmaking.”

IAI (World Premiere)
Director: Sakai Zenzo
Japan
After her father’s death, Kana returns home to care for her ailing mother. Soon, she begins experiencing vivid dreams and strange premonitions, suggesting a dark curse looms over her family. With masterfully built suspense, this debut feature balances psychological horror and family drama.

Why Do I See You in Everything? (World Premiere) 
Director: Rand Abou Fakher
Belgium
Two lifelong Syrian friends, Qusay and Nabil, spend a day in their Berlin apartment, drifting through dreams, archival footage and present-day events to confront the shifting faces of political violence. Together, they hold on to love and care as the most radical acts of resistance.

Gamer Girls (International Premiere)
Director: Veronica Bassetto, Sophie Yang
Hong Kong 
They thought rebuilding their all-female esport team would be the toughest thing to do. Now, the Gamer Girls face the gaming authority and must find a way to restore all Hong Kong players’ accounts just a few weeks before team trials.

LIMELIGHT
“Limelight features avant-premieres and cinematic highlights of this year’s festival circuit: eagerly anticipated audience favourites and international award-winners.”

Tokyo Taxi (European Premiere)
Director: Yamada Yoji
Japan
With the audience as his passengers, Yamada Yoji’s Tokyo Taxi takes us on a ride of reminiscence and realization. Our guides are a cabbie and his 85-year-old customer, who helps reframe the troubled driver’s hardships through her own journey through the Japanese capital.

Quezon (European Premiere)
Director: Jerrold Tarog
Philippines
As the Philippines prepares for independence from American rule, suave, smooth-talking politician Manuel Quezon ascends to presidential office through persuasion and propaganda. With irreverence and biting wit, Quezon dissects a myth, revealing the timeless thirst for power animating a hallowed historical figure.

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