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DUBAI: Four films from the MENA region are set to have their world premieres at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). The movies are also part of the 16 films selected for the festival’s flagship Tiger Competition, worth $42,000 in prize money. 

Running from Jan. 25 to Feb. 5, the festival is set to return for its first full-scale physical edition since the pandemic. The event will open with “Munch,” an experimental feature biopic of the Norwegian expressionist painter Edvard Munch by Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken. 

This edition’s Tiger Competition films represent countries from Sweden to Sri Lanka. Tunisia, Morocco, Iran and Lebanon are also represented.  

“Geology of Separation,” a film by Tunisian actress-filmmaker Yosr Gasmi and her Italian partner Mauro Mazzocchi, is one of the films showing in the Tiger Competition category of the festival. The film follows the mundane experience of a migrant who fled violence in Libya and is awaiting permission to remain in Italy. Gasmi focusses on this period of limbo for a character who is plagued with indignities that arise from casual racism raining down from various figures of authority. 

Moroccan filmmaker Leila Kilani’s “Indivison” will also show in the same category. The film is set in La Mansouria, near Tangier, the wealthy homestead of the Bechtani family.  The family share their homestead with an abundant forest and villagers who have “squatted” in the area for 40 years. A forthcoming wedding triggers a splitting of paths. 

Also running in the competition will be Iranian filmmaker Amir Toodehroosta’s “Numb.” With a background in advertising and short films, Toodehroosta has frequently used filmmaking to challenge and critique Iranian society. With “Numb,” his second foray into feature-length films, he continues to question his surroundings, this time in a kindergarten setting. 

The fourth and final film from the MENA region competing in the Tiger category is Lebanese filmmaker Karim Kassem’s black-and-white “Thiird.” The film follows the quiet Fouad (Fouad Mahouly) who runs a mechanic’s garage in a village outside Beirut. Born and raised in Beirut, Kassem is an award-winning filmmaker mainly working between the US and Lebanon on films, music videos and commercials. 

Meanwhile, the festival’s honorary Robby Müller Award will go to French cinematographer Helene Louvart. She is best known for her work with director Claire Denis, including the 1999 classic “Beau Travail.”