Programme for expanded audiovisual practices at IFFR 2026
January 29–February 8, 2026
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) presents Art Directions, its programme for expanded audiovisual practices, as part of the festival’s 55th edition. Marking 30 years since Exploding Cinema initiated a sustained engagement with digital technologies and cinematic language, Art Directions continues to explore how cinema operates across exhibition formats, live performances and immersive environments. Developed in collaboration with artists, filmmakers and interdisciplinary partners, the programme foregrounds works that operate between cinema, visual art, performance and emerging technologies. For the second year running, Katoenhuis will be the main venue and partner for Art Directions, hosting installations and immersive media.
Installations
Carlos Casas presents Krakatoa, a film and sensory installation responding to the 1883 volcano eruption, described as the loudest sound ever recorded. Combining moving image, sound and vibration, the work approaches cinema as a physical and spatial experience. During the opening weekend, Krakatoa will be presented as a one-time live performance by Casas and Academy Award-winning sound designer Nicolas Becker.
Silvia Gatti presents Preludio, a video and sound installation conceived as a sensory architecture in which subconscious states surface. In Café Kuba: Who Dared to Awaken the Dead Memory, David Shongo deploys a mobile coffee cart in public spaces in Kinshasa, activating collective memory and informal modes of resistance. Artist duo Leopold/Emmen (filmmaker Nanouk Leopold and visual artist Daan Emmen) develop 3 Scenes from a Marriage, a new installation that examines what cinema might become when conventional coordinates of time and space dissolve.
Focus programmes and sound//vision
The Focus shorts programmes centre on Belgian–Congolese ensemble Collectif Faire-Part and Japanese multidisciplinary artist Tetsuya Maruyama, who will also present a retrospective of his work. Maruyama will take part in sound//vision, a three-night programme of live audiovisual performances at WORM, Rotterdam. Additional participating artists include VJ Emmy, Cinzia Nistico, Nan Wang, Chiemi Shimada and Jamie Man, and Tosca Schift.
Immersive media
Immersive Media is IFFR’s programme dedicated to virtual, augmented and expanded reality, where artistic practice and technological experimentation converge. Works presented include After the Game by Jana Stallein (2026, Germany, world premiere); The World Came Flooding In by Isobel Knowles and Van Sowerwine (2025, Australia, international premiere); If You See a Cat by Atsushi Wada (2025, Japan, Dutch premiere); The Great Escape by Joren Vandenbroucke (Belgium/Luxembourg, Dutch premiere); The Great Orator by Daniel Ernst (2025, Netherlands, Dutch premiere); and Cycle by Matunda Groenendijk and Amit Palgi (2026, Netherlands, work in progress).
Collaborations
Further installations include My Sweet Elora by Luuk van Raamsdonk, presented at Plein, Fenix Museum of Migration. In collaboration with Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, IFFR presents the Kijkmodule in the main hall of Rotterdam Central Station, featuring Raftsmen and Canoeists by Jonathas de Andrade. Mandy El-Sayegh’s solo exhibition Figure, Field, Grid will be on view at the Depot of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Homecoming by Mark Dorf is presented in collaboration with Nieuwe Instituut.
V2_ Lab for the Unstable Media partners with IFFR on the development of a site-specific work Reflection 2.0 by Rotterdam-based artist Elsemarijn Bruys. IFFR continues its collaboration with Brutus, presenting Alterity, the first immersive installation performance by multi-instrumentalist and media archaeologist Jacco Gardner.
From 2026, IFFR enters a new collaboration with the Han Nefkens Foundation as partner for the Han Nefkens Foundation—Southeast Asian Video Art Production Grant. The grant supports Southeast Asian video artists in expanding their international practice. A newly commissioned work will premiere at IFFR in 2027, in collaboration with partner institutions including Museion (Bolzano), Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Rockbund Art Museum, The Outpost (Vietnam) and Nottingham Contemporary.
The 2026 Art Directions programme is made possible through the generous support of our key partners: Ammodo Art, The Mondriaan Fund and Rotterdam Festivals.
International Film Festival Rotterdam takes place from January 29 to February 8, 2026. IFFR presents feature and short films alongside exhibitions, performances, talks and industry programmes. Ticket sales begin January 16, 2026.
More information: iffr.com
