The International Film Festival Rotterdam has announced the first three films in its VPRO Tiger Awards competition. They are How Is Your Fish Today' by Xiaolu Gao (China/UK), Love Conquers All by Tan Chui Mui (Malaysia) and Ex-drummer by Koen Mortier (Belgium).

The competition jury will include Summer Palace director Lou Ye and Toronto International Film Festival director Piers Handling.

Themed programmes for the 36th Rotterdam festival (Jan 24-Feb 4) will include the changing position of film festivals in the Happy Endings strand and the Speed Of Light programme exploring the role of light and projection.

The artist in focus will be Knut Asdam.