Rima Das wins International Feature Film Competition with VILLAGE ROCKSTARS 2

Audience Award by Sparkasse Dortmund goes to documentary SUDAN, REMEMBER US

The Festival presented altogether five film prizes worth 22.000 euros at the award ceremony.

International Feature Film Competition 2025
The International Feature Film Competition, endowed with 15.000 euros, goes to VILLAGE ROCKSTARS 2 by Indian director Rima Das. Her feature film tells the story of a young woman who dreams of becoming a musician.

The international jury members consisted of the African-American directing icon Julie Dash, the German director Yasemin Şamdereli and Hei-rim Hwang, programme director of the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival.

The Jury statement:
»We had the pleasure of watching eight brilliant films and the agony of only choosing one. The eight directors in the competition juggled, explored and surprised us with different narrative styles: Documentary and fiction, comedy and drama, reality and fantasy, while playing with and widening genre and cinematic language. It was truly amazing to witness this broad spectrum of excellent film making of contemporary women film makers. Thank you to each of the film makers for taking us on this wonderful journey of the worlds you have created.
The film we chose is one where we fell in love, were seduced and embraced by an amazing cinematic achievement in film production and courageous story telling.  This award goes to a filmmaker who has impressed us with her extraordinary talent for visual storytelling. This award recognizes a woman who has independently developed her artistic voice and practice without training from a film school. Over a period of seven years, she has mastered the Herculean task of capturing the lived realities of her protagonists with incredible tenderness, precision and courage. In this process, she shows us the brutality and unpredictability of nature as well as the struggle that small landowners must wage against large companies. As a director, producer, screenwriter and director of photography, she portrays part of her heritage and the bond she has to the Assam region and its people. Our enormous thanks to Rima Das and the wonderful cast of Village Rockstars 2.«

The other award winners at IFFF Dortmund+Köln 2025

ECFA Short Film Award goes to HANNAH & THE CROCODILE by Lore Mechelaere

Female Gaze – CineOne & sPOTTlight Young Talent Award for Women Directors of Photography in NRW goes to Zoe Dumas

SHOOT – KHM & IFFF Dortmund+Köln Award for Emerging Female Artists of the Academy of Media Arts Cologne Award 2025 goes to Lisa Bühl

Audience Award by Sparkasse Dortmund goes to documentary SUDAN, REMEMBER US

The 42nd edition of the IFFF Dortmund+Köln was a great success with its highly political film selection. Across all sections, more than 100 films brought urgent political, social, queer-feminist and ecological issues to the screens and formed the starting point for intensive discussions. The festival once again proved to be a safe place of solidarity and togetherness for audiences and filmmakers alike.

The 43rd edition of the IFFF Dortmund+Köln will take place from 21 – 26 April 2026 with the main programme in Cologne.