The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) regularly presents Slovak films in its programme, and the upcoming 54th edition (30 January – 9 February 2025) will be no different. Audiences will have the opportunity to encounter Slovak cinema through the films Perla, Wishing on a Star, Video Kings and Inbetween Worlds.
Alexandra Makarová’s fiction film Perla will have its world premiere in the main Tiger Competition at IFFR. This Austrian-Slovak co-production follows the story of Perla, a Czechoslovak emigrant living in Vienna in the early 1980s, who must face the demons of the past that have caught up with her in her new homeland. This is the second feature film by Makarová, who herself is based in Vienna.
The documentary film Wishing on a Star by award-winning Slovak director Peter Kerekes has been included in the Harbour section, which focuses on the best of contemporary filmmaking. The film, which had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in 2024 and has since been showcased at various festivals, will have its Dutch debut at IFFR. Consciously referencing Italian cinema, it combines fiction with documentary realism to “weave charming entertainment,” as described by the festival.
Slovak-Czech documentary film Video Kings (dir. Lukáš Bulava), screened as part of the Focus: Hold Video in Your Hands retrospective, has won the favour of more than just fans of VHS tapes since its domestic distribution premiere in 2020. In the section, focusing on the golden age of video rental stores and the subculture that developed around them, it recalls the Czechoslovak practice of “speed-dabbing”. The festival described the film as “celebration of cinephilia and transformation told through an extraordinary micro-history”.
Finally, the Czech-Slovak co-production Inbetween Worlds (dir. Diana Cam Van Nguyen) will be showcased in the CineMart selection at IFFR’s co-production market. The festival describes the feature as “a poignant romantic drama blending collage animation with live action”.
Screening dates for these films are available on the official festival website: https://iffr.com/en/
