News 2012-2013   


02 February 2013 Matterhorn and Wadjda win audience awards »
The audience of IFFR 2013 has voted: Diederik Ebbinge's debut film Matterhorn takes home the UPC Audience Award for the highest rating, while runner-up Wadjda by Haifaa Al Mansour wins the Dioraphte Award for best Hubert Bals Fund-supported film.
01 February 2013 And the winners are… »
A Hubert Bals Fund-supported film gets a lot of love at this year's Hivos Tiger Awards, which goes to films from Slovakia, Austria and Iran. Furthermore, the inaugural Big Screen Award goes to an Italian 'celebration of life'.
01 February 2013 Violently happy »
Park Chan-Wook, maker of IFFR closer Stoker, talks about the experience of working in Hollywood. By Sietse Meijer.
01 February 2013 Test ground »
Despite tough times, IFFR will continue to provide a space to be adventurous, says festival boss Rutger Wolfson. By Geoffrey Macnab.
31 January 2013 Fire starter »
Directed by Agnieszka Holland, Burning Bush explores an iconic moment in recent Czech history. By Geoffrey Macnab.
31 January 2013 Conversation pieces »
Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf still believes that cinema can change the world. By Jutta Sarhimaa.
31 January 2013 First person singular »
For her new documentary, Nina Davenport turns the camera on herself. By Nick Cunningham.
31 January 2013 News from CineMart »
Dutch auteur Alex van Warmerdam is enjoying a reunion with some old friends; David Verbeek's thriller is close to completing its financing; and three CineMart awards were presented at the closing party.
30 January 2013 Sympatico »
CineMart chief Marit van den Elshout looks back on a busy edition. By Nick Cunningham.
30 January 2013 Three winners CineMart prizes awarded »
Hats off to the winning CineMart projects of the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, the ARTE International Prize and the WorldView New Genres Fund Development Award. Find out more.
29 January 2013 Land of hope »
Subject of a major IFFR retrospective, German director Dominik Graf discusses his career with Mark Baker.
29 January 2013 Crossing borders »
Ricky Rijneke's debut feature is a dreamlike portrait of a distressed young woman. By Geoffrey Macnab.
29 January 2013 Balancing act »
Binger chief Gamila Ylstra is in Rotterdam not only to oversee the Lab's IFFR activities but also to build on relationships with Dutch and international institutions alike, as she tries to firm up the Binger's financial future. By Nick Cunningham.
29 January 2013 Hideous histories »
In a roundabout way, the credit for IFFR presenting the world premiere of Nakata Hideo's The Complex must go to the English weather. By Ben Walters.
28 January 2013 Impossible angles »
Leonard Retel Helmrich's new film is to be shot in English in the US. Nick Cunningham reports.
28 January 2013 Curaçao IFFR launches Yellow Robin Award »
The Caribbean version of IFFR introduces in its second edition a new competition for emerging film talent from the Caribbean and neighbouring Latin American countries: the Yellow Robin Award.
28 January 2013 Short films awarded »
The first winners of IFFR 2013 are here: Beatrice Gibson's The Tiger's Mind, Zachary Formwalt's Unsupported Transit and Erik van Lieshout's Janus are the winners of the Canon Tiger Awards for Short Films.
28 January 2013 Life cycle »
Tiger entrant Dummy Jim recreates an epic bike ride in the 1950s. By Edward Lawrenson.
28 January 2013 Going the distance »
Tiger-winning director, wine grower, musician, sound artist and filmmaker Sergio Caballero is roaring back into Rotterdam to pitch his new project which (the Spanish director jokes) is a true 'blockbuster'. By Geoffrey Macnab.
27 January 2013 Gimme shelter »
Attending IFFR yesterday to discuss an upcoming summit on local film finance, Holland's new Culture Minister found time to talk to the Daily Tiger. By Geoffrey Macnab.
27 January 2013 Persistence of memory »
Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit's Tiger competitor 36, a delicate mood piece about the transience of memory, was inspired by a note about a lost memory stick in a Berlin hostel. By Edward Lawrenson.
27 January 2013 Top 10 UPC Audience Award »
The daily top 10 of the UPC Audience Award of Sunday 27 January.
26 January 2013 A room of its own »
Further details have been revealed of IFFR In The Cloud, the new gateway for festival filmmakers to reach international audiences via iTunes. By Geoffrey Macnab.
26 January 2013 Practical effect »
IFFR Head of Industry & CineMart Marit van den Elshout emphasises that programmes such as Boost! and Art:Film point the way ahead in these financially challenging times. By Nick Cunningham.
26 January 2013 Is it art? »
A new initiative has been launched in Rotterdam to support artistic cinema and the visual arts. By Geoffrey Macnab.
26 January 2013 Beyond the clouds »
Mexican director Eduardo Villanueva’s Penumbra finds a mystical power in the traditional hunting rituals of its elderly hero. By Edward Lawrenson.
25 January 2013 Escaping from the shadow »
Tiger entrant Fat Shaker has its roots in its director's family background. By Geoffrey Macnab.
25 January 2013 Making a difference »
The Hubert Bals Fund plays an important role supporting filmmakers from the developing world. By Geoffrey Macnab.
25 January 2013 Notes from the underground »
Legendary Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci, in Rotterdam this week to present his new feature Me and You (screening in Spectrum), was in playful and reflective mood as he looked back over his career. By Geoffrey Macnab.
25 January 2013 Ceremony Lions Film Award on 30 January »
On 30 January, Lions Club L'Esprit du Temps will give the Lions Film Award to a promising filmmaker whose film has been supported by IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund and show clear involvement in societal and political issues.
24 January 2013 Remote control »
This year's Hivos Tiger Awards Competition jury meetings will have a twist: one of the most high-profile jurors is many miles away, in a compound in Beijing.
24 January 2013 Day of the dead »
A fascination with illness underpins Sebastian Hofmann's striking Tiger entrant Halley. He talks to Edward Lawrenson.
24 January 2013 Peer pressure »
A new competition strand sees ten IFFR titles compete for guaranteed distribution.
24 January 2013 Meant to be »
A strong showing for Dutch cinema and two new prizes are among the new features of IFFR 2013. Festival director Rutger Wolfson talks to Edward Lawrenson.
24 January 2013 Portrait of a hoodlum »
Cartoonist-turned-debut-director Guido van Driel's The Resurrection of a Bastard is a stylish adaptation of his own graphic novel.
24 January 2013 Resurrection of an industry »
After years of struggle, Dutch cinema is connecting with local audiences and festival programmers.
23 January 2013 Opening night IFFR 2013 in pictures - Wednesday 23 January »
The first night of the 42nd edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam in pictures.
23 January 2013 IFFR 2013 welcomes filmmakers from all over the world »
From yesterday onwards, 2.200 visiting directors, CineMart representatives and other special guests from all over the world have been flying in for IFFR 2013. Here are eight of them and their whereabouts at the festival.
23 January 2013 IFFR offers iTunes distribution to filmmakers »
IFFR introduces an exciting new way of distribution for filmmakers: IFFR in the Cloud, on iTunes Benelux within the itunes.com/iffr collection.
21 January 2013 Oshima and the Art of Transgression »
Interesting and provocative, radical and moving, the world loses one of the greatest Japanese film directors, Oshima Nagisa, who died in Tokyo on 15 January.
21 January 2013 A Programmer's Picture Diary »
To find films and research for IFFR, festival programmer Gertjan Zuilhof travels extensively through Asia and Africa, where he meets old friends and makes new ones. He's collected enough to show and enough to talk about.
18 January 2013 Rotterdam Lab welcomes 74 film producers in 2013 »
From 26 to 31 January, 74 Rotterdam Lab participants will present their companies and projects, and receive feedback on how to proceed and expand their network in an effective way.
15 January 2013 Park Chan-Wook's Stoker closes IFFR 2013 »
The international premiere of Stoker will close IFFR 2013 on Saturday 2 February. The much anticipated English debut of South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-Wook (Oldboy, Thirst, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) is a psychological drama/thriller.
15 January 2013 CineMart and CPH:DOX's Art:Film connects visual arts and cinema »
CineMart is not just about film. The co-production market of IFFR and CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, combine forces in the Art:Film initiative, which connects visual art to cinema.
10 January 2013 Hubert Bals Fund presents leader 2013 »
HBF is honoured to have Thai director Anocha Suwichakornpong produce the one-minute leader that will precede each HBF Harvest film screened at IFFR 2013. Here is the result.
09 January 2013 Nominations for The Big Screen Award Competition announced »
IFFR has nominated ten films for the first edition of The Big Screen Award Competition. These films, from the Spectrum and Bright Future sections, are in the running for both The Big Screen Award and the KNF Award.
09 January 2013 The Bright Future 2013 selection is complete »
IFFR presents the complete selection of Bright Future 2013, the section at the festival where fresh filmmakers are given the chance to shine with their first or second feature films. Eleven films in the section have been supported by the Hubert Bals Fund and five were launched as projects at CineMart.
08 January 2013 Nominees and jury for Tiger Awards 2013 announced »
Among the sixteen nominees are five Hubert Bals Fund-supported films and three realised CineMart projects. The three winners of the Hivos Tiger Awards will be chosen by a jury of five, among them celebrated filmmaker Ai Weiwei.
07 January 2013 Shorts at IFFR: nominations and programmes »
IFFR 2013 will not be just about feature-length films: shorts will feature prominently at IFFR too. For example, 23 shorts will compete for the three equal Canon Tiger Awards for Short Films, and Spectrum Shorts comprises 186 short and medium-length films.
07 January 2013 All premieres of Spectrum 2013 announced »
The Spectrum programme will consist of 36 world, international or European premieres, of which seven have been supported by the Hubert Bals Fund.
04 January 2013 Sixth Signals programme: Regained, down movie memory lane »
Regained, the sixth and annually returning Signals programme at IFFR, is dedicated to the memory of film from a particular and contemporary viewpoint. Regained 2013 welcomes Michael Snow and Tony Conrad, seminal figures of the avant-garde cinema, for special screenings and performances.
04 January 2013 Distributor Cinéart celebrates anniversary at opening CineMart 2013 »
The festive event will be led by the world premiere of one of their distributed films, Matterhorn.
27 December 2012 First stills of HBF Leader 2013 »
The one-minute leader by Thai director Anocha Suwichakornpong is not ready to be presented till mid-January, so in the meantime, here's a little tease.
24 December 2012 Peculiar Vacation and Other Illnesses: enabling the discussion of female pleasure »
Women talking about sexual pleasure and orgasms proves to be taboo throughout most of Indonesia, so demonstrates filmmaker Yosep Anggi Noen in the romantic drama Peculiar Vacation and Other Illnesses, which will be screened at IFFR 2013.
21 December 2012 The impact of the Hubert Bals Fund on Dominga Sotomayor »
Chilean director Dominga Sotomayor comes from a broken home and used a Hubert Bals Fund grant of €10.000 to relive her own past for the story that would become the award-winning film De jueves a domingo.
19 December 2012 New Signals: Changing Channels and a tribute to Kira Muratova »
Two more programs are added to Signals, IFFR's section of thematic and topical programs. The festival honours Soviet and Ukrainian director Kira Muratova with a full retrospective of her features and shorts, and Changing Channels shows episodic storytelling featuring television work and web-based series directed by filmmakers.
18 December 2012 New audience and CineMart prizes at IFFR »
International Film Festival Rotterdam introduces a new competition: The Big Screen Award Competition, aimed at supporting the distribution of films in Dutch cinemas. With the competition comes a new award, the Big Screen Award. Nominated for this prize are ten very recent films with no Benelux distributor confirmed, and an audience jury will choose its winner.
17 December 2012 First selections in Bright Future and Spectrum »
Here they are: the first selections for IFFR's main sections Bright Future and Spectrum. Among the many world and international premieres are new works by famous directors Bernardo Bertolucci, Ulrich Seidl, Olivier Assayas, Nakata Hideo and Kim Ki-Duk and by numerous young talents.
12 December 2012 The CineMart 2013 selection is complete »
Make way for the 32 new projects of CineMart 2013. Besides reputed filmmakers like Kobayashi Masahiro, David Verbeek and Yorgos Lanthimos, make sure to keep an eye on promising newcomers at CineMart 2013.
12 December 2012 HBF Plus selects three projects from Brazil, China and Serbia »
It's raining winners these days: congratulations to the three projects that have been selected for Hubert Bals Fund Plus. Gabriel Mascaro’s Bull Down!, Weng Shou-ming’s Du, Zooey, and Ma and Nikola Ljuca's Humidity will receive support from The Netherlands Film Fund.
11 December 2012 Five Young Film Critics 2013 selected »
IFFR presents: the five new Young Film Critics of 2013. They will travel to Rotterdam in January next year and cover the festival on their IFFR blogs and their own affiliations.
05 December 2012 The impact of the Hubert Bals Fund on Aditya Assarat »
To go Thai, or not to go Thai. When it comes to funding for his kind of movies, Thai director Aditya Assarat knows very well what not to do: go Thai. 'If you're not making a horror film or a comedy in Thailand, it's almost impossible to fund your film with Thai money.'
04 December 2012 Dutch projects selected for CineMart 2013 »
The five Dutch winners have been selected for next year's CineMart and will be given the chance to present their new film projects.
02 December 2012 First nominees selected for Hivos Tiger Awards Competition 2013 »
Great news! The first seven films are selected for the Hivos Tiger Awards Competition 2013. Among these seven nominees, four have been supported by IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund.
02 December 2012 IFFR 2013: the festival posters »
With the festival around the corner, IFFR launches a campaign of seven festival posters with script dialogues. Find them on the street, in bars or right here on this page.
30 November 2012 Additional two Boost! projects for 2012-13 selected »
Boost! welcomes another two projects: Strange but True by the Mexican director Michel Lipkes and Days of Cannibalism by the South African filmmaker Teboho Edkins. These two will join the three projects announced earlier this year in a special project support trajectory.
16 November 2012 Every form of art in Iran is a form of protest »
In spite of the limitations the government imposes on the Iranian art world as a whole, the underground art scene in Tehran is flourishing like never before. During IFFR 2013, programme Signals: Inside Iran will be dedicated to aspects of the Iranian film world including underground culture.
16 November 2012 The impact of the Hubert Bals Fund on Helvécio Marins Jr. »
Brazilian film funds passed up his project, but he nevertheless managed to finish Girimunho thanks to IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund. Learn why it was crucial for Helvécio Marins Jr. to hang around in the tropical deserts of Brazil.
14 November 2012 Hubert Bals Fund selects 25 winners in Fall 2012 round »
25 new film projects will receive grants from IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund. Among the lucky ones are IFFR favourites as well as promising newcomers.
13 November 2012 Inside IFFR: Marit van den Elshout about CineMart »
CineMart will once again turn festival centre 'de Doelen' into the hotspot for film professionals during IFFR 2013. In this episode of Inside IFFR, manager Marit van den Elshout tells us about CineMart, the place where filmmakers meet possible financiers for their projects.
07 November 2012 The impact of the Hubert Bals Fund on Marie Ka »
In a series of interviews, a few of directors look back on the ripple effects that the Hubert Bals Fund has had on their careers. In the second one, we present you: the impact of the Hubert Bals Fund on Marie Ka. 'I don't really believe anything is impossible.'
30 October 2012 IFFR and IDFA favourites touring Arab festivals »
The film funds of International Film Festival Rotterdam and International Documentary Festival Amsterdam are expanding their joint travelling film programme Cinema Mondial Tour to Northern Africa and the Middle East this autumn.
24 October 2012 The impact of the Hubert Bals Fund on Nikola Ljuca »
The Hubert Bals Fund has changed quite a number of filmmakers' lives around the world. In a new series of interviews, a few of these directors look back on the ripple effects that the HBF has had on their careers. In the first one, we present you: the impact of the Hubert Bals Fund on Nikola Ljuca. 'I can finally tell the story of my generation.'
01 October 2012 Major Fall 2012 festivals select 13 films supported by Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund and CineMart »
The Venice, Toronto and San Sebastian film festivals have selected thirteen films supported by the IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund or launched as project during CineMart.
15 August 2012 Song Fang awarded at Locarno »
Memories Look At Me by Song Fang, a film supported by the IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund, has been awarded with the Pardo per la migliore opera prima (Leopard for Best First Feature) at the 65th Festival del film Locarno.
24 July 2012 Inside IFFR: Iwana Chronis about the Hubert Bals Fund »
While everyone migrates to Spanish and Italian coasts, at the IFFR office we are busy imagining, contriving and developing. In a series of interviews with employees, we give you a look behind the scenes. This time Iwana Chronis talks about how the Hubert Bals Fund supports filmmakers. 'Moral support sometimes means more than a couple of thousand euros.'
24 July 2012 HBF Award for Zimbabwean filmmaker and producer »
At the Durban International Film Festival our Hubert Bals Fund awarded Rumbi Katedza and Jackie Cahi for their film Live from Zimbabwe. Also three participants have been invited to join trainee project Rotterdam Lab.
06 July 2012 Stephen Dwoskin (1939 - 2013) »
With the sad news that filmmaker Stephen Dwoskin past away, programmer Gertjan Zuilhof remembers the man who was without doubt the most invited guest of IFFR.
12 June 2012 IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund announces Spring 2012 Selections »
The Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has selected nineteen film projects that receive grants for script development, digital production, postproduction or workshops.
11 June 2012 Edwin Carels curates exhibition at London's Drawing Room »
Until 30 June, the London-based gallery Drawing Room shows Graphology, an exhibition curated by IFFR-programmer Edwin Carels.
29 May 2012 Rotterdam-backed films take Cannes awards »
Six films in various Cannes sections were backed by the IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund or were launched at Rotterdam’s CineMart.
09 May 2012 Seyfi Teoman dies at age 35 »
Turkish filmmaker, scriptwriter and producer Seyfi Teoman has passed away May 8 at the very young age of 35 following the consequences of a traffic accident a few weeks ago.
07 May 2012 Six IFFR-backed films in 65th Festival de Cannes »
Six films in various Cannes sections were backed by the IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund or were launched at Rotterdam’s CineMart. The Cannes lineup also includes works by many filmmakers who presented their first and subsequent works in Rotterdam
03 May 2012 IFFR-supported films travel the globe »
For many Hivos Tiger Award competitors and other films that premiered in Rotterdam or were supported by the Hubert Bals Fund or CineMart, their IFFR berth marks the starting point of a trip around the globe.
01 May 2012 From Rotterdam to Cannes: L'Atelier 2012 »
Six out of the fifteen film projects selected for L’Atelier 2012 of the Festival de Cannes were either supported by Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund or presented at IFFR’s CineMart.
25 April 2012 Cannes sidebars select two Rotterdam backed films »
Uruguayan filmmaker Pablo Stoll Ward’s new film '3', launched as project at CineMart in 2009, has been selected for Cannes‘ Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors’ Fortnight).
19 April 2012 Four IFFR-backed films in Official Selection Cannes 2012 »
After launching their film projects at CineMart 2011, the now finished works by Carlos Reygadas and Sergey Loznitsa are competing for the Palme d’Or in Cannes.
17 April 2012 BAL Awards 2012 »
Hubert Bals Fund-supported film projects ‘Leones’ by Jazmín López (Argentina), also a CineMart Project in 2010, and ‘Tanta agua’ by Leticia Jorge & Ana Guevara (Uruguay) have been awarded at Buenos Aires Lab 2012.
17 April 2012 Golden Tulip for The Loneliest Planet »
At the 31st Istanbul Film Festival 2012, the Golden Tulip International Competition Award was given to Julia Loktev’s The Loneliest Planet, launched as film project at CineMart 2008.
02 April 2012 Successful first festival puts Curaçao on the film map »
The well-attended, first ever Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam has put Willemstad well and truly on the map in terms of film watching and filmmaking.
15 March 2012 First Curaçao IFFR opens 29 March 2012 with Marley »
From Thursday 29 March until Sunday 1 April 2012, Curaçao IFFR presents a strong selection of twenty-seven feature length films (both documentary and fiction) as well as eleven short films from around the world in the new six-screen multiplex theatre The Cinemas.