Intl Film Festival Rotterdam 2011

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Friday, 04 February 2011 17:39

Written by L E Shannon

The 40th Annual International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is being held January 26 - February 6, 2011 all over downtown Rotterdam, The Netherlands. From its start with an audience of 17 people in 1972, through the 1973 festival which hosted over 7,000 visitors, IFFR grew to be one the largest audience driven film festivals in the world.  

IFFR 2011 presents a special Jubilee program, XL, referring not only to the Festival’s 40th year but also to “extra locations”. Between IFFR’s longtime venue LantarenVenster and Groot Handelsgebouw, the Maritime Museum, the Kunsthal and Focuskliniek Eye Hospital, among others, something Festival-related is happening everywhere, be it film showings, video installations or arts exhibitions.

This year IFFR also introduces Not Kidding, a “playful location and program suitable for kids from 4 years and up.”

The Festival features three main sections with components ranging from feature films to art installations:

Bright Future presents idiosyncratic and adventurous new work by novice makers, usually their first or second films, which are eligible for the Tiger Awards Competition.  

Spectrum comprises new and recent work by experienced film makers and artists who provide “an essential contribution to international film culture”. The Shorts section includes some 400 films.

Signals presents thematic programs and retrospectives, and this year’s filmmakers include
F.J. Ossang (France), post-punk filmmaker/writer/musician; latest film is Dharma Guns
Agusti Villaronga (Spain), director/screenwriter/actor whose latest film is Pa negre
Nathaniel Dorsky (USA), classic avant-garde filmmaker

The theme programs include:

• Red Westerns – westerns produced between 1924 and 1980 in the USSR and former countries of the communist Bloc.
• Out of Fashion – films spotlighting the interaction between fashion designers and independent filmmakers.
• Raiding Africa – Chinese-African relations, including new works filmed in China by African filmmakers.
• Water Tiger Inn – a combination of Chinese martial arts (wuxia) films and a themed festival location, the Water Tiger Inn tavern in Rotterdam. Films range from silents out of China, such as The Swordswoman of Huangjiang, to early sound films from Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taiwan to the latest fare from John Woo and Wong Kar Wai.

As before, the Festival is a feast of riches with assorted films and special presentations from all over the world.

Bicycle riders, Rotterdam is your kind of town:  the XL Festival pass is also good for a year-long subscription to the Dutch public transport bicycle scheme (OV-fiets) and includes the use of a bicycle for two days for free.

For more information and locations, go to www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com.

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)
January 26 - February 6, 2011

Festival Headquarters:
De Doelen, Kruisplein 40
Rotterdam, The Netherlands