Three Set For Rotterdam’s 2010 Competition

A scene from Ben Russell's "Let Each One Go Where He May." Image courtesy of IFFR.

Ben Russell’s “Let Each One Go Where He May,” Anocha Suwichakornpong’s “Mundane History” and Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio’s “To the Sea” have been announced as part of the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s VPRO Tiger Awards Competition 2010. The festival additionally announced that the 2010 festival jury will include Argentinean filmmaker Lucrecia Martel, French actress Jeanne Balibar and Singapore International Film Festival director Philip Cheah. Two further jury members will be announced later.

“Let Each One Go Where He May” is the feature debut of Chicago-based filmmaker Ben Russell. As described by the festival: “The film, portraying contemporary Saramaccan life, traces the journey of two brothers who venture from the outskirts of Paramaribo, Suriname, on land and through rapids, past a Maroon village on the Upper Suriname River. Their journey reflects the voyage undertaken by their ancestors, who escaped from slavery at the hands of the Dutch 300 years earlier.” The film, is written, directed and produced by Russell.

“Mundane History” (Jao Nok Krajok), is the first feature by Thai filmmaker Anocha Suwichakornpong and is described by the fest as “a family drama about a paralyzed son, an elusive father and the male nurse hired to take care of the wheelchair-bound patient.” In its early developing stages, “Mundane History” received script support from Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund.

“To the Sea” (A la mar), “delicately portrays the relationship between a father and son spending a summer on Chinchorro reef on the Mexican-Caribbean coast, where the father is a fisherman,” the fest describes. The sophomore film by Mexican director Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio was produced by Jaime Romandia for Mantarraya Producciones that previously produced films by Carlos Reygadas and Amat Escalante.

The 39th International Film Festival Rotterdam takes place from January 27 to February 7, 2010.

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posted on October 26, 2009 |Share