Projects by directors including Morad Mostafa, Toshihiko Tanaka, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige are among the 2026 line-up for CineMart, the co-production market of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).
CineMart, part of the festival’s IFFR Pro offering, has revealed 21 feature film projects for its upcoming 43rd edition, which runs from February 1-4, 2025. Meanwhile, IFFR Pro’s work-in-progress strand Darkroom will present 10 feature projects.
Scroll down for full line-up
The CineMart line-up includes Egyptian filmmaker Morad Mostafa’s second feature Animals, following Aisha Can’t Fly Away which premiered this year in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
Lebanese filmmakers and artists Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige present Beirut Baby, with their previous works including Berlinale 2021 competition title Memory Box and Cannes Un Certain Regard 2008 film I Want To See.
Toshihiko Tanaka, who won Rotterdam’s top Tiger Award prize in 2024 for Rei, will present Shumari, set in Japan’s remote northern frontier.
Vietnamese filmmaker Lê Bảo comes with Hearing, following his Berlinale Encounters special jury prize-winning Taste from 2021.
The 2026 CineMart selection includes the urban comedy The Dispute by debut US directors Andrea Ellsworth and Kasey Elise Walker, acquired by Riley Keough’s Felix Culpa and Donald Glover’s Gilga for feature development, alongside the exploration of trans friendship Worse Together by Canadian filmmaker Luis De Filippis, winner of the IFFR youth jury award in 2023 for Something You Said Last Night.
Additional selections include the fifth feature from Spanish filmmaker Lois Patiño, whose Samsara played in Berlinale Encounters in 2023.
Darkroom selections include Brazilian filmmakers Laís Santos Araújo and Pethrus Tibúrcio, whose Tell Her What Happened To Me played at IFFR last year. They co-direct the Hubert Bals Fund-supported and CineMart-presented coming-of-age drama Marina. Meanwhile, Èlia Gasull Balada and Matteo Norzi’s hybrid documentary The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs, and Costa Rican filmmaker Neto Villalobos’s tropical dystopia Amor Es El Monstruo are also in the Darkroom line-up.
New for 2026, six of the CineMart titles have been selected for the inaugural CineMart x HBF lineup – a curated strand of projects previously awarded development support by IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund.
This year’s immersive media projects will be presented under Lightroom, IFFR’s new industry platform for immersive storytelling. The full selection of Lightroom projects will be announced in December.
Cinemart and Darkroom line-up 2026
Cinemart
Adarna (Sp)
Dir. Lois Patiño
Prod. Elástica Films, Matriuska Producciones
after the night, the night (Neth-Switz)
Dir. Naomi Pacifique
Prod. Grom Productions, Lemming Film, GoldenEgg Production
Animals (Egy-Fr)
Dir. Morad Mostafa
Prod. Bonanza Films, Wrong Films
Beirut Baby (Leb-Fr)
Dir. Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige
Prod. Abbout Productions, Haut et Court
Hearing (Sing-Viet)
Dir. Lê Bảo
Prod. E&W Films, Sensory Ocean Films
Kingdom of the Insomniacs (Chin)
Dir. Kang Bo
Prod. Rediance
LUX (Den)
Dir. Thomas Elley
Prod. Frau Film
Neon Phantom (Bra)
Dir. Leonardo Martinelli
Prod. Duas Mariola Filmes
Noodles, Our Love Was Instant and Forever (Phil)
Dir. Whammy Alcazaren
Prod. Daluyong Studios, Two Fold
Pale Faces (Neth-SAf)
Dir. Chantel Clark
Prod. BALDR Film, Cadence
Portuguese Man O’ War (Ind)
Dir. Ridham Janve
Prod. Bombay Berlin Film Productions, The Film Cafe
Shumari (Jap)
Dir. Toshihiko Tanaka
Prod. ColorBird, No Saint. & Bloom
The Dispute (UK-US)
Dir. Andrea Ellsworth and Kasey Elise Walker
Prod. Felix Culpa, Watermark Media, Gilga
The Poet’s Son (Bel-Fr-Ger)
Dir. Nicolas Graux
Prod. Tarantula, Petit à Petit Production, Yellow Blackbird, Clin d’Œil
When the Goats Came (NZ-UK-Gr)
Dir. Arthur Gay
Prod. In Two Minds Productions, Exa Films, Ossian International
Worse Together (Can-Switz)
Dir. Luis De Filippis
Prod. JA Productions Inc., Cloud Fog Haze Pictures
Cinemart x HBF Selection
Birdwoman (Ind-Fr)
Dir. Lipika Singh Darai
Prod. Salt For Sugar Films
Coumba (Sen-Fr)
Dir. Mamadou Dia
Prod. Maayo, Les Films du Bilboquet
Daughters of the Sea (Phil-Sp)
Dir. Martika Ramirez Escobar
Prod. This Side Up, Arkeofilms, Alba Sotorra Cinema Productions
Golden Balls (Bra-Uru)
Dir. Lillah Halla
Prod. Manjericão Filmes, Cimarrón Cine, Arissas
Neon Phantom (Bra)
Dir. Leonardo Martinelli
Prod. Duas Mariola Filmes
Vika (Geo-Neth)
Dir. Tamar Shavgulidze
Prod. Nushi Film GEO, GoGoFilm
Darkroom
Amor es el monstruo (CR-Per-Pan-Chi)
Dir. Neto Villalobos Brenes
Prod. La Sucia Centroamericana, Cine Infinito, Expansiva Cine, Clara Films
Get Up Stand Up (Neth-Gr)
Dir. Mari Sanders
Prod. The Film Kitchen, Neda Film
Làstima (It-Switz)
Dir. Mario Piredda
Prod. Articolture, DOK MOBILE
LFD Hope (UK-Hun)
Dir. Joshua Loftin
Prod. Sea Fox Films, Lorenz Films, Gallivant Film, Good Kids Productions
Marina (Bra)
Dir. Laís Santos Araújo and Pethrus Tibúrcio
Prod. Aguda Cinema, Carnaval Filmes
Sea, Star, Woman (Fr-Kor)
Dir. Jeunghae Yim
Prod. 5à7 Films, Seesaw Pictures
Sugar (Neth-Bel)
Dir. Amira Duynhouwer
Prod. Studio Ruba, Mirage Film
The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs (Per-US-Sp-Chi)
Dir. Èlia Gasull Balada, Matteo Norzi
Prod. Shipibo Conibo Center, Desfase Films, Funicular Films, Pista B
The Outside (Sp-Bel)
Dir. Víctor Moreno
Prod. KV Films, Womack Studios, Transit Transat
Uchronia: Parallel Histories of Queer Revolt (Gr-Neth)
Dir. Fil Ieropoulos
Prod. FYTA Films, GROM Productions
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