International Film Festival Rotterdam
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The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is one of the larger film festivals in Europe (arguably in the Big Five, alongside Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Locarno). It is held every year around the end of January in various film theaters in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The festival uses a tiger as its mascot.
The first festival -- then called 'Film International' -- was organized in June 1972 under the inspired leadership of Hubert Bals. From the beginning, the festival has profiled itself as a promotor of alternative, innovative and non-commercial films, with an emphasis on the Far East and developing countries. Despite financial difficulties in the mid-1980s, the festival has grown steadily, reaching 345,000 visitors in 2001.
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 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, became director of the festival. In 2004 Sandra den Hamer took over as director of the festival.
The IFFR Exploding Cinema festival sidebar has been one of the most prominent showcases of emerging digital film and video. Programming has included experimental animation, web-based entertainment forms, and music video. onedotzero has been invited to be part of this event since 1997 with screening programmes and speaking on panels.
The film screenings are without trailers or other commercials.
The filmfestival is not only famous for the unique variety of international films (it's hard to find such a diverse festival). It is also famous for being a visitorfriendly one. No red carpets for the filmmakers and directors, but mingling with the crowd is the motto. No screenings with guests only, but 90% of the tickets (or more) are sold to the regular crowd (who cue for a long time to be able to get in). In the evening the afterparties of the festival attract loads of cultural lovers from all over the Netherlands and abroad.
