THESE ARE THE AWARD WINNERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM 2026
words by SONNY NGO
As we are reaching the end of this year’s packed IFFR, the winners of the festival’s main competitions have been announced at de Doelen on Friday evening. The coveted and trademark Tiger Award celebrating innovative and up-and-coming filmmakers has been awarded to South African feature documentary Variations on a Theme, directed by Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar. The Big Screen Award focused on bridging popular, classic, and arthouse cinema, was won by Rezwan Shahriar Sumit’s Master. During the ceremony, the winners of the The Tiger Special Jury, FIPRESCI, NETPAC, and Youth Jury awards were also announced.
image courtesy of IFFR
Variations on a Theme follows an elderly goat herder in South Africa’s Kamiesberge. As she is lured into a scam that offers long overdue reparations for her father’s unpaid service during the second world war, her daily rituals are disrupted. Structured in a lyrical manner, the film showcases slight variations of a gentle, poetic portrait. It’s the directors’ second feature film, following their debut Carissa which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2024.
In a unanimous decision, the Tiger Competition jury – consisting of The Seed of the Sacred Fig’s lead actress Soheila Golestani, Brazilian director Marcelo Gomes, Greek-French actor-director Ariane Labed, BFI Festivals director Kristy Matheson, and Croatian writer Jurica Pavičić – stated about the film: "Possessing a deep poetic language, we found this to be a thoughtful and moving portrait of a community living under the spectre of colonial legacies and familial bonds in this world and the next.”
Two special jury awards in the Tiger Competition were given to La belle année by Angelica Ruffier, an intimate depiction of a woman dealing with grief and getting in touch with her first feelings of love and desire, and Supporting Role by Ana Urushadze, a film about a once-popular actor having to come to terms with his fading starpower. The latter was also given the FIPRESCI award by a jury of international film journalists.
image courtesy of IFFR
The Bangladeshian Master is a political drama tracing a teacher drawn into local politics, and won The Big Screen Award. “This is a universal story about a person striving to hold on to their moral compass, only to be reshaped by the persuasive and destructive forces of power and capitalism. What begins as a seemingly straightforward tale of idealism versus corruption unfolds into something far more complex and layered,” stated the jury.
Additionally, the NETPAC Award highlighting feature films from the Asia and Pacific regions was awarded to i grew an inch when my father died by P.R. Monencillo Patindol, a story about two brothers processing the complexities of crime as their abusive father was murdered by a neighbour. The jury lauded the film for being able to “move us all,” moreover stating that the film “is filled with hope that language of cinema can still be re-invented.” A special jury mention went to The Seoul Guardians by Kim Jong-Woo, Kim Shin-Wan and Cho-Chul Young, a documentary following the night South-Korea was imposed martial law by then-president Yoon Suk Yeol.
Lastly, the Youth Jury Award was given to Ah Girl by Ang Geck Geck Priscilla, which is about a young girl caught in a war between her separated parents. The jury panel, consisting of young and aspiring film critics, stated that “the film is crafted with a refined eye and tells the stories of our main character brilliantly.”
image courtesy of IFFR