Varsha Bharath’s Tamil coming-of-age drama Bad Girl bagged the NETPAC award, exclusively given to groundbreaking films from the Asia Pacific region, at the 54th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) on Friday.
Presented by Anurag Kashyap and Vetrimaaaran, the film stars Anjali Sivaraman and follows the journey of a young woman from high school to college as she navigates societal perceptions of female desire. The protagonist candidly expresses her emotions during her teenage years, only to be met with criticism and judgment. Male classmates shame her while her female friends label her as desperate. As she enters college and experiences a relationship, she encounters deep-rooted misogyny.
The cast of Bad Girl also includes Shanthi Priya, Saranya Ravichandran, Hridhu Haroon, TeeJay Arunasalam, and Sashank Bommireddipalli. The film marks the Tamil debut of National Award-winning music director Amit Trivedi, who has composed six songs for the film. Cinematography is handled by Preetha Jayaraman, Jagadeesh Ravi, and Prince Anderson, with editing by Radha Sridhar.
At IFFR 2025, Igor Bezinović’s Fiume o morte! won the Tiger Award for best film. The hybrid documentary revisits the occupation of Rijeka by Italian nationalists after World War I. The film also received the FIPRESCI Award, presented by international film critics. Jon Blåhed’s Raptures, a film exploring a 1930s apocalyptic cult in Sweden, won the Big Screen Award and is the first feature shot in Meänkieli, a minority language in Sweden.
The Tiger Special Jury Awards were presented to Sammy Baloji’s The Tree of Authenticity, which examines Congo’s colonial past and ecological significance, and Tim Ellrich’s Im Haus meiner Eltern, a drama about an alternative therapist balancing professional responsibilities with family obligations.
The Youth Jury Award was given to The Visual Feminist Manifesto, directed by Farida Baqi.
The Rotterdam Audience Award is yet to be announced. The festival, which began on January 30, will conclude on Sunday.
