International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) offers a high quality line-up of carefully selected fiction and documentary feature films, shorts films and media art. The festival’s Tiger Awards Competitions, Bright Future and Spectrum sections contain recent work only, among which many world premières. In its Signals section, IFFR presents retrospectives and themed programs. The IFFR actively supports new and adventurous filmmaking talent through its co-production market CineMart, its Hubert Bals Fund, Rotterdam Lab and Industry Office activities.
IFFR is one of the largest audience and industry driven film festivals in the world. During twelve festival days, hundreds of filmmakers and other artists present their work to a large audience (2012: 274.000 admissions) and 2.700 film professionals. The festival’s Official Selection includes some 220 feature films and 320 short films out of 60 countries.
The 43rd edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam takes place from Wednesday 22 January till Sunday 2 February 2014.
IFFR's Programme: Highlighting the bright and the beautiful
The festival programme consists of two competitions and three non-competitive sections, and includes works supported by IFFR's
Hubert Bals Fund or launched as projects at
CineMart:
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Hivos Tiger Awards Competition: fifteen first or second feature films compete for three equal Tiger Awards.
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Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films: some twenty short films (length up till 60 minutes) compete for three equal Tiger Awards for Short Films.
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Bright Future presents idiosyncratic and adventurous new work by novice makers. The section consists of first or second feature films only.
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Spectrum comprises new and recent feature length work by experienced filmmakers and artists who provide, in the opinion of IFFR, an essential contribution to international film culture. Within Spectrum,
Spectrum: Shorts presents some 200 recent short films, covering a broad area of fictional, documentary and experimental works of up to sixty minutes. Shorts takes place from Thursday 23 January 2014 to Monday 27 January 2014.
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Signals presents a series of thematic programs and retrospectives offering insight in topical as well as timeless ideas within cinema.
IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund & CineMart: Supporting independent cinema
IFFR actively supports independent filmmaking from around the globe. The festival is a recognized international platform in Europe for launching new films and talent from Asia, Africa, Middle and Eastern Europe and Latin America.
CineMart, IFFR's co-production market for small and medium scale film projects, takes place within the festival from 26 to 29 January 2014. The festival's
Hubert Bals Fund contributes financially to film projects from developing countries. Each year, the festival programme contains a rich harvest of Hubert Bals Fund-supported films. IFFR promotes training and talent development within its Rotterdam Lab for young film producers and the IFFR Trainee Project for Young Film Critics.
IFFR's Film Office: Facilitator
The
Film Office facilitates contacts between representatives of films in the official programme, festival programmers and international buyers present at the festival. Together with IFFR's Programme department, the Film Office ensures that distributors and buyers are fully informed about and able to view the newly completed films in the festival programme, and pursue to enhance the potential for film acquisitions by animating contacts between buyers and filmmakers or producers who represent a film in the festival selection.
IFFR’s Releases: The online, VOD and DVD output
IFFR’s
YouTube Channel contains a growing catalogue of freely accessible short films and features screened at Rotterdam. Within the Benelux, IFFR releases films from earlier festival editions simultaneously online as in
VOD and on
DVD under IFFR's long running DVD label Tiger Releases, in the special series: 10 to Watch.
The online and DVD selection comprises works – in original versions with Dutch subtitles and often English subtitles – from IFFR's Bright Future section, Tiger Award winners as well as films supported by the IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund. In 2012, films released on these two platforms include festival hits like
De jueves a domingo,
Mondomanila,
Grandma Lo-fi and
Clip.
Please also check
itunes.com/iffr for ex-IFFR titles, distributed in the Benelux countries, like Shame, The Descendants and Juno. New films will be put in the collection throughout this year.
IFFR and CineMart Awards: Praising the winners
Reflecting the ambitions of IFFR towards supporting upcoming cinematographers,
main prizes handed out during the festival go to films as well as to film projects.
Eligible films are feature length works selected in the
Hivos Tiger Awards Competition for first and second films (three equal Hivos Tiger Awards of each €15.000) and short films selected in the
Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films (three equal Tiger Awards for Short Film of each €3.000).
Other juried prizes are the
FIPRESCI,
KNF,
NETPAC and
MovieSquad Awards, given to respectively Best Première in the Bright Future, Best Film not yet acquired for Dutch distribution, Best Asian Film and Best Young People’s Film. One of the competing short films will become the Rotterdam Short Film Nominee for the European Film Academy 2013.
Audience votes decide which filmmakers will be distinguished with the
UPC Audience Award (€7.500 for Best Film in Official Selection) and the
Dioraphte Award (€10.000 for Best Hubert Bals Fund-supported film in Official Selection).
Film projects selected for CineMart 2013 may be distinguished with the
Eurimages Co-Production Development Award (€30.000) or the
ARTE France Cinéma Award (€10.000).
Curaçao IFFR: Conquering the Caribbean
International Film Festival Rotterdam and the Fundashon Bon Intenshon co-organise the four-day
Curaçao IFFR in Willemstad from Thursday 4 to Sunday 7 April 2013. Curaçao IFFR's main location will again be The Cinemas, the six-screen complex in the Otrobanda area of Willemstad. The first edition in 2012 attracted a large and enthusiastic audience of about 7.000 people.
Short Historic Profile
Famously, seventeen people attended the opening night of the first Film International Rotterdam on 28 June 1972. An initiative of the Rotterdam Arts Foundation, Film International (later: International Film Festival Rotterdam) showcased films purchased for distribution to the newly established circuit of art house cinemas in the Netherlands. A driving force, famous figurehead and inspirational director until his early death in 1988, Hubert Bals gave the festival its solid reputation of commitment to and active support of independent cinema as well as of a welcoming meeting place for filmmakers, audiences, film professionals and film critics. Under the subsequent directorships of Anne Head (1989), Marco Müller (1990-1991), Emile Fallaux (1992-1996), Simon Field (1996-2004), Sandra den Hamer (2000-2007) and Rutger Wolfson (2008-present), IFFR grew out to become one of the largest audience and industry-driven film festivals in the world, while maintaining its focus on innovative filmmaking by talented newcomers and established auteurs as well as on presenting cutting edge media art. Successful IFFR initiatives like its co-production market for film projects CineMart and its Hubert Bals Fund for filmmaking in developing countries became roles models for many festivals worldwide. The 43rd IFFR edition takes place from 22 January till 2 February 2014.
Funders and Business Partners
International Film Festival Rotterdam is subsidized by Dutch national and Rotterdam’s local governments. For theme sections, collaborations with other Rotterdam cultural institutions and special projects, the festival receives donations from private funds. Ultimately, the festival would not be possible without its large festival audience, hundreds of volunteers and support from its main business partners
UPC,
VPRO,
de Volkskrant, Curaçao IFFR,
Hivos and
BankGiro Loterij as well as many other partners and suppliers.
Locations, Screening Schedule, Box Office
The IFFR main screening venues are 'de Doelen' (also the location of CineMart, Delegates & Press Centre and Film Office), Pathé Schouwburgplein multiplex, Cinerama, LantarenVenster, Oude Luxor and Rotterdamse Schouwburg. Exhibition venues are to be announced.
The full programme schedule of the 43rd International Film Festival Rotterdam will appear on Thursday 16 January 2014 as an IFFR Special insert in Dutch national newspaper de Volkskrant and simultaneously online at www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com. The online box office (www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com) opens for Tiger Friends on Thursday 16 January 2014 at 20:00 hrs and for all other visitors on Friday 17January 2014 at 20:00 hrs.