The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

held at the end of January in various locations in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental filmmaking by showcasing emerging talents and established auteurs. The festival also places a focus on presenting cutting edge media art and

arthouse An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

film, with most of the participants in the short film program identified as artists or experimental filmmakers. IFFR also hosts CineMart and BoostNL, for film producers to seek funding. The IFFR logo is a stylized image of a tiger that is loosely based on Leo, the lion in the

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

logo.

History

The first festival — then called ''Film International'' — was organized in June 1972 under the leadership of

Huub Bals Hubertus Bernardus "Huub" Bals (February 3, 1937 – July 13, 1988) was the first director and creator of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), formerly named Film International. IFFR started small in the Calypso cinema and film thea ...

. The festival profiled itself as a promoter of alternative, innovative and non-commercial films, with an emphasis on the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

and developing countries. Around 1983, the festival founded CineMart to serve as a "regular film market," and later modified the business model to serve instead as a "co-production market", which helps a selected number of film producers connect with possible co-producers and funders for their film projects. After the festival founder's sudden death in 1988, a fund was initiated and named after him ( Hubert Bals Fund), used for supporting filmmakers from developing countries. The non-competitive character of the festival changed in 1995, when the ''

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for , ) is a Dutch public broadcaster, which forms a part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. Founded in 1926 as a liberal Protestant broadcasting organization, it gradually became more soc ...

Tiger Awards'' were introduced—three yearly prizes for young filmmakers making their first or second film. The next year, Simon Field, formerly Cinema Director at the London

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...

, became director of the festival. In 2004 Sandra den Hamer took over as director of the festival, and from 2007 to 2015 the director was Rutger Wolfson. Film producer

Bero Beyer Bero Beyer (born 12 November 1970Ingrid Smits Zo Ben Ik Groot Geworden: Bero Beyer 27 January 2016 (in Dutch)) is a Dutch film producer. Born to a Dutch seafaring captain and a German mother, he moved with his family to Capelle aan den IJssel ...

was the next director and in 2020, Vanja Kaludjercic was appointed as the new director.

Festival screening locations

The IFFR screens films at multiple locations, including the

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

cinema at Schouwburgplein,

De Doelen De Doelen is a concert venue and convention centre in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was originally built in 1934 but then destroyed in 1940 during the German bombardment of Rotterdam in May 1940 at the outset of World War II. It was rebuilt in 19 ...

Cinerama Cinerama is a widescreen process that originally projected images simultaneously from three synchronized 35mm projectors onto a huge, deeply curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. The trademarked process was marketed by the Cinerama corporati ...

WORM Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wor ...

, Oude Luxor Theater, Theater Rotterdam Schouwburg, KINO and Lantaren Venster.

Tiger Award winners

The Tiger Award has had various sponsors over the years. In the years leading up to and including 2010 it was sponsored by the

. In 2011 the award was presented by the

Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds The Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds was founded by Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands in London in 1940 during World War II in order to buy war material for the British and Dutch Governments. It continued after the war as Stichting Prins Bernhard Cultu ...

and since 2012 by

Hivos Hivos ( nl, Humanistisch Instituut voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking, Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation) is an international cooperation organization, with its global office in The Hague, The Netherlands. Hivos provides support to civil ...

.Hivos Tiger Awards Competition
. IFFR.

History

Festival screening locations

Tiger Award winners

See also

References

External links