International Film Festival Rotterdam
 IFFR logo | |
| Location | Rotterdam, Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 1972 (June 1972) |
| Founded by | Huub Bals |
| Most recent | 2025 |
| Awards | Tiger Award |
| Artistic director | Vanja Kaludjercic |
| Website | www |
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, led by founder Huub Bals. IFFR also hosts CineMart and BoostNL for film producers to seek funding.
History
The first festival, then called Film International, was organized in June 1972 under the leadership of Huub Bals. The festival profiled itself as a promoter of alternative, innovative, and non-commercial films, with an emphasis on the Far East 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",[1][2][3] which helps a selected number of film producers connect with possible co-producers and funders for their film projects.[4]
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.[5][6]
The non-competitive character of the festival changed in 1995, when the VPRO Tiger Awards were introduced—three yearly prizes for young filmmakers making their first or second film.
Directors
In 1996 Simon Field, formerly cinema director at the London Institute of Contemporary Arts, 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 was the next director.
In 2020, Vanja Kaludjercic was appointed as the new director.[7]
Description
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 film, with most of the participants in the short film program identified as artists or experimental filmmakers.[8][9] IFFR also hosts CineMart and BoostNL, for film producers to seek funding.
As of 2024, Vanja Kaludjercic is director of the festival.[10]
The IFFR logo is a stylized image of a tiger that is loosely based on Leo, the lion in the MGM logo.[11]
Festival screening locations
The IFFR screens films at multiple locations, including the Pathé cinema at Schouwburgplein, De Doelen, Cinerama, WORM, Oude Luxor Theater, Rotterdamse Schouwburg, KINO, and LantarenVenster.[12]
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 VPRO. In 2011, the award was presented by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and since 2012 by Hivos.[13]
Tiger Short Award Winners
The short films have their own competition at IFFR. What differentiates it from the Tiger Competition for feature-length films is the fact that it's not just for young and upcoming talents; all filmmakers have a chance at winning. Since 2005, The Tiger Short Competition[18] has had various sponsors over the years including Ammodo,[19] an institution in the Netherlands that supports the development of arts, architecture and science. In 2023, 24 shorts competed for three equal Tiger Short Awards, each worth €5,000.
| Year | Film | Original title | Directors | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | A Metamorphosis | အသွင်ပြောင်းလဲမှုတစ်ခု | Lin Htet Aung |  Myanmar |
| Temo Re | თემო რე | Anka Gujabidze |  Georgia | |
| Merging Bodies | Adrian Paci |  Italy | ||
| 2024 | Crazy Lotus | Naween Noppakun, |  Thailand | |
| Few Can See | Frank Sweeney |  Ireland | ||
| Workers’ Wings | Ilir Hasanaj |  Kosovo | ||
| 2023 | Human Nature[20] | Natureza Humana | Mónica Lima |  Portugal |
| Tito[20] | Tito | Kervens Jimenez & Taylor McIntosh |  Haiti | |
| What the Soil Remembers[20] | What the Soil Remembers | José Cardoso |  South Africa | |
| 2022 | Becoming Male in the Middle Ages[20] | Tornar-se Homem na Idade Média | Pedro Neves Marques | Portugal |
| Nazarbazi[20] | Nazarbazi | Maryam Tafakory |  Iran | |
| Nosferasta: First Bite[20] | Nosferasta: First Bite | Bayley Sweitzer & Adam Khalil |  USA | |
| 2021 | Maat[20] | Maat | Foxy Maxy | USA |
| Sunsets, everyday [20] | Sunsets, everyday | Basir Mahmood | Italy | |
| Terranova[20] | Terranova | Alejandro Pérez Serrano & Alejandro Alonso Estrella |  Cuba | |
| 2020 | Apparition[20] | Apparition | Ismaïl Bahri |  France |
| Communicating Vessels[20] | Communicating Vessels | Maïder Fortuné & Annie MacDonell |  Canada | |
| Sun Dog[20] | Sun Dog | Dorian Jespers |  Belgium | |
| 2019 | Wong Ping's Fables 1[20] | Wong Ping's Fables 1 | Wong Ping |  Hong Kong |
| Ultramarine [20] | Ultramarine | Vincent Meessen | Belgium | |
| Freedom of Movement[20] | Freedom of Movement | Nina Fischer & Maroan el Sani |  Germany | |
| 2018 | Mountain Plain Mountain[20] | Mountain Plain Mountain | Araki Yu & Daniel Jacoby | Italy |
| Rose Gold [20] | Rose Gold | Sara Cwynar | USA | |
| With History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 4[20] | With History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 4 | Korakrit Arunanondchai | USA | |
Special Jury Award
| Year | Film | Original title | Director | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Pebbles | PS Vinothraj |  India | |
| I Comete: A Corsican Summer | Pascal Tagnati |  Corsica | ||
| Looking for Venera | Norika Sefa | Kosovo | ||
| 2022 | Excess Will Save Us | Morgane Dziurla-Petit | France | |
| To Love Again | Gao Linyang |  China | ||
| 2023 | Munnel | மணல் | Visakesa Chandrasekaram |  Sri Lanka |
| New Strains | Artemis Shaw, Prashanth Kamalakanthan | United States | ||
| 2024 | Kiss Wagon | Midhun Murali | India | |
| Flathead | Jaydon Martin |  Australia | ||
| 2025 | L’arbre de l’authenticité | Sammy Baloji |  Congo | |
| Im Haus meiner Eltern | Tim Ellrich | Germany | ||
Audience Award
| Year | Film | Original title | Director | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Quo Vadis, Aida? | Jasmila Žbanić |  Bosnia | |
| 2022 | Freaks Out | Gabriele Mainetti | Italy | |
| 2023 | Love According to Dalva | Emmanuelle Nicot | France | |
| 2024 | Green Border | Agnieszka Holland |  Poland | |
| 2025 | I'm Still Here | Ainda Estou Aqui | Walter Salles |  Brazil, France |
Robby Müller Award
This award given since 2020, is a collaborative award between IFFR, the Netherlands Society of Cinematographers and Andrea Müller-Schirmer, Robby Müller’s wife.[23]
- 2020 – Diego García, Cinematographer, Mexico
- 2021 – Kelly Reichardt, American film director and screenwriter.[24]
- 2022 – Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Thai cinematographer.[25]
- 2023 – Hélène Louvart, French cinematographer
- 2024 – Grimm Vandekerckhove, Belgian cinematographer[26]
- 2025 – Lol Crawley, English cinematographer[27]
- 2026 – Yorick Le Saux, French cinematographer[28]
See also
- 75B, Netherlands design studio
References
- ^Abbatescianni, Davide (8 February 2023). "REPORT: IFFR CineMart 2023". Cineuropa. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^"CineMart History"Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. International Film Festival Rotterdam. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^Mundell, Ian (13 January 2009) "CineMart thriving in tough times" . Variety. Retrieved 24 September 2011. (subscription required)
- ^Smith, Nigel M. (17 December 2010). "Rotterdam's CineMart Selects 33 Projects for 2011"Archived 22 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. IndieWire
- ^"About the Hubert Bals Fund". IFFR. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^Sales Ross, Rafa (25 January 2024). "New Head of Rotterdam's Hubert Bals Fund Tamara Tatishvili Vows to 'Revamp and Revise All Schemes'". Variety. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^MacNab, Geoffrey (10 December 2019). "Vanja Kaludjercic to take over as director of International Film Festival Rotterdam (exclusive)". Screen. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ^"Short Film Program IFFR: An Alternative Stage for Artists | ArtSlant". Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^"Shorts Circuit". artforum.com. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^"The Team". IFFR. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^Heijs, Jan Heijs & Westra, Frans (1996). Que le tigre danse. Huub Bals: a biography. Otto Cramwinckel: Amsterdam.
- ^"Locations, Screening Schedule & Box Office". IFFR. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ^Hivos Tiger Awards CompetitionArchived 12 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine. IFFR.
- ^"The Widowed Witch". iffr.com. 22 December 2017. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^Roxborough, Scott (4 February 2023). "'Le Spectre de Boko Haram' Wins Rotterdam Festival". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ^ abcCalnan, Ellie (3 February 2024). "Japanese debut 'Rei' leads Rotterdam winners". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ^Sales Ross, Rafa (8 February 2025). "Igor Bezinović's 'Fiume o morte!' Wins Rotterdam Tiger Award, 'The Tree of Authenticity' and 'Im Haus meiner Eltern' Take Jury Prizes". Variety. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
- ^"Tiger Short Competition | IFFR". iffr.com. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^"About Ammodo". Stichting Ammodo. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ abcdefghijklmnopqr"Tiger Short Competition | IFFR". iffr.com. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^"Tiger Competition | Winners per edition". IFFR. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^"Audience Award | Winners per edition". IFFR. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
- ^"Robby Müller Award | Winners per edition". IFFR. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
- ^Melanie Goodfellow (8 February 2022). "Rotterdam fetes Kelly Reichardt with Robby Müller award". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
- ^Tom Grater (7 January 2022). "Rotterdam Film Festival Reveals Full Program Including Tiger Competition". Deadline. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
- ^Leo Barraclough (12 December 2023). "Belgian Cinematographer Grimm Vandekerckhove to Receive Rotterdam's Robby Müller Award". Variety. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
- ^Scott Roxborough (21 November 2024). "'The Brutalist' DP Lol Crawley to Be Honored With Rotterdam's Robby Müller Award". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
- ^Georg Szalai (2 December 2025). "Rotterdam Fest to Honor 'The Wizard of the Kremlin' Cinematographer Yorick Le Saux, Sets Juries". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
External links
- Official website
- Video on YouTube
- International Film Festival Rotterdam at IMDb
- Epiloog IFFR 2014 (Indebioskoop)
