IFFR 2023: Official campaign launch & partners

IFFR 2023 Trailer

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“Tigers will take over the city again’’

The last two editions of IFFR have been restricted to digital showcases and select live events, but not anymore. Inspired by the vision of our Festival Director, Vanja Kaludjercic , designer Rens Muis wanted to create a campaign that could signify and celebrate the reunion of onsite IFFR with Rotterdam. 

The process to create this design began with a collective brainstorming and drawing exercise; creatives, designers, and illustrators from the studio gathered, contributing to a mixed medium, large A2 hand drawn illustration of every and any type of tiger that you can imagine running rampant through the streets of Rotterdam. The designers were inspired to reimagine the IFFR tiger in new ways and commemorate our return to live events and the opportunity to reconnect with Rotterdam. 

We asked Rens to tell us something about his idea and here is what he had to say.

‘’Finally, after two years of physical absence and online editions only, we’re looking forward to a year where the film-tigers will take over the city again’’

‘’We wanted to show that during the screening of hundreds of films at many well-known Rotterdam locations, it means that the entire city is immersed in a festival atmosphere. People from all over the world come together for the annual meeting of like-minded cinefiles. In the cold, sparse and empty winter days, the festival brings colour to the streets and squares. This tradition is really part of the typical Rotterdam vibe. 

I hope this collage invites you to draw or colour tigers yourself and add to the design because there is not one particular style or handwriting used for it. All kinds of drawing styles mixed together create a unified image for the festival. The festival exists because of the activities and contributions of everyone in the city; from a volunteer to a snack-truck, from a DJ to a journalist, we all contribute in our own way to the festival atmosphere and vibe that can only be found in Rotterdam. 

‘’The festival and this image is not about perfectly styled drawing or neatly colouring within the lines, but it's about a collage of many different interests and visions reflected in the programme and an ongoing unfinished search for what film and a film festival can be.’’

The original illustration is overflowing with easter eggs for the viewer to discover. Like an exercise in Where's Wally?  more is revealed the longer you search. Hand crafted, complex, and uplifting, this piece of artwork will provide the basis for the campaign design of IFFR 2023.

Street posters featuring the visuals from the campaign will display different segments from the tiger city, allowing the viewer to take a closer look at every inch of this campaign image. Familiar characters from the poster will be found on our social media profiles and as always, stay tuned to our social media channels for 3D tours of the tiger city, merchandise release, and cartoon tigers in real life!

Read more about IFFR 2023

Thanking our partners

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our partners who are so important in the production and realisation of our festival, with a special mention for the long lasting collaboration with our main partners, such as…

Main Partners

Volkskrant: 

IFFR celebrates a very special and continuous collaboration with the Volkskrant for de Volkskrantdag, the popular annual event on the last Sunday of the festival that presents a cross-section of the best that IFFR has to offer. The IFFR Volkskrantdag 2023 will take place on the last day of the festival, February 5. The start of ticket sales for Volkskrantdag 2023 will be announced at the beginning of December 2022.

Read more about the collaboration with de Volkskrant

Stichting Droom en Daad:

The Droom en Daad Foundation drives dreams forward – including ours at IFFR! As a main partner since 2017, Droom en Daad enables the festival to strengthen its international position as a leading festival for independent film which also puts Rotterdam in the spotlight as a vital meeting point for filmmakers.

Read more about the collaboration with Stichting Droom en Daad

Fonds21

The collaboration between Fonds 21 and IFFR goes way back and focuses on artistic quality, programming that is current and urgent, and reaching a large, broad and diverse audience always with the goal to add meaning to our society. Fonds 21 renewed their partnership in 2022 and will be a main partner for the upcoming two editions of IFFR with a special emphasis on education for children and youngsters.

Read more about the collaboration with Fonds21

VriendenLoterij

We are celebrating ten years of partnership between IFFR and The VriendenLoterij! As a main partner, the VriendenLoterij has been an indispensable source of support. The VriendenLoterij Instant Favourite screening, is a special event for the VriendenLoterij VIP-kaarthouders and IFFR Audience and screens a film to instantly fall in love with.

Read more about the collaboration with VriendenLoterij

Extra Thanks to Our Other Partners and Subsidiaries

vfonds

Vfonds mission is to increase knowledge about war and conflict and the appreciation of the democratic constitutional state next to increasing skills to actively contribute to a peaceful society. The newly developed vfonds Freedomline creates space to explore gripping and in-depth narratives in line with their mission through film, curated by our own Festival Director, Vanja Kaludjercic. 

Read more about the collaboration with the vfonds

de Doelen 

‘De Doelen’ partners with IFFR every year for the festival and throughout the year for other social events. This year we extend a special thank you to ‘de Doelen’ which sponsors us not only in kind but by co-producing our closing party for 2023.

Read more about the de Doelen

This year we extend a special thank you to ‘de Doelen’ which sponsors us not only in kind but by co-producing our closing party for 2023.

We would also like to thank:

• Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap
• Creative Europe 
• Gemeente Rotterdam
• NL Film Fonds
• Ammodo
• Rotterdam Festivals
• VPRO
• Houthoff
• Veenman+
• iO
• Jean Mineur Mediavision
• Eye Filmmuseum 
• LantarenVenster
• Kaapse Brouwers

Check all our partners

Finally, IFFR would like to thank all our donors, major donors, and fellows.