Meet the IFFR 2024 Young Selectors
15 January 2024
The IFFR Young Selectors are back! A whole new team of creative and ambitious local young people will guide you through this year’s edition of IFFR. From side-programming to production to marketing: these Young Selectors decide everything themselves! On Thursday 1 February they will organise an evening-long programme in KINO around a screening of Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry. Who are the Selectors and what drives them? Let them introduce themselves:
Elliot
Hi! This is Elliot, I'm a Chilean-Korean recent graduate from the communication and media programme at EUR. Embarking on this Dutch adventure three years ago has brought me closer to the fun world that is film festival reporting. Through every film and interview with young directors coming from corners of the world far away from the hegemonic hubs of production, I not only confirmed my passion for moving images, but it showed me that becoming a filmmaker, regardless of where you stand on the compass, was in fact a reachable possibility. I would like to bring this cinematic realisation to more young people in Rotterdam and across the Maas – and to show that films and our "young naiveté" are in fact capable of meaningful societal change.
I cannot wait for us to all come together on 1 Feb and explore these ideas further. See you soon! 🛰️🗺️🌌
Julia
I am a Jewish Russian storyteller and dreamer with a passion for exploring unknown territories. Rotterdam has been my home base for the past three years and I am continuously amazed by the creatives, innovators and freedom fighters that inhabit it. Because staying present in today’s state of affairs is sometimes difficult, I like to imagine worlds where what we have in common matters more than our differences. And I believe in our collective responsibility to transform reality and move forward towards openness and acceptance. To this end, stories can be used as they have the power to create bridges between different experiences and bring us closer to feeling the interconnectedness of all. Curating an event for IFFR is a way for me to highlight films that foster compassion and remind us of what it means to be human.
Yasemin
I just graduated from an audio-visual design bachelor and was looking for more experience in the film industry when I found IFFR Young Selectors. I'm very happy to be part of a festival that is so vibrant and eccentric. I've always been fond of cinema and art that dares to be challenging, disturbing or weird and IFFR offers a place for that. As a starting filmmaker I set out to create a path for myself and other filmmakers to keep making these types of films that are sometimes not directly appreciated, but nonetheless important.
Zonne
I am Zonne, a Dutch/Surinamese creative mostly invested in music and audio-visual projects. I fell in love with film because of my curiosity about the world. I tend to lose myself in other people's narratives when watching. It makes you think about your individual peculiar life. I am always interested to know what drives people's behaviour individually but also in groups.
I am very excited to be a part of the IFFR Young Selectors! I would love to bring people together through documentaries and films that educate and evoke a wide variety of emotion within ourselves that we possibly forgot we had in us. Subjects I am passionate about are sexism, racism, decolonisation, cultural/indigenous stories and stories of authentic human beings/artists who dare to choose an unconventional way of living.
Thursday 1 February – IFFR Young Selectors: Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry
The IFFR 2024 Young Selectors, present a self-curated and evening-long programme in KINO. With a screening of Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry by Georgian filmmaker Elene Naveriani, and a soon to be announced side programme.
