News

New festival director IFFR 2021

01 July 2019

News

New festival director IFFR 2021

01 July 2019

Bero Beyer to leave IFFR after 49th edition

After the 49th edition in 2020, Bero Beyer will leave IFFR, taking up the position of director at the Netherlands Film Fund from 1 March 2020 onwards. At this date, Beyer will have served five years as festival director. IFFR will announce the details of the application process for a new festival director in the coming weeks.

Beyer comments: “During my years at IFFR I have done all that I could to express my love for film in its many forms: short, long, fiction, documentary, episodic, animated, accessible and experimental. I am very much looking forward to continue doing this as director of the Netherlands Film Fund after the 49th edition of IFFR. I will fight for Dutch film that inspires and connects with people, knowing that film is an amazing, influential and relevant medium, which thrives thanks to a healthy cinema culture.”

Pieter Broertjes, chairman of IFFR’s supervisory board : “This is an important step for the festival and a great opportunity to move into a new decade with a new festival director, starting with the festive 50th edition. In this constantly shifting and competitive film-festival landscape, new insights and ideas can further solidify the international position of IFFR.”

Marjan van der Haar, managing director IFFR: “During IFFR 2019, I witnessed first-hand Bero’s incredible enthusiasm for cinema. We put on a wonderful 48th edition together with the team. I look forward to working with Bero on the 49th edition and looking ahead at the anniversary edition of 2021.”

Beyer joined International Film Festival Rotterdam as the new festival director in 2015. He innovated the festival’s programme in several ways. He divided all films into four umbrella sections to ease navigation of the programme and he streamlined the Tiger Competition to a more select number of films. The festival heavily expanded the Talks & Masterclasses programme which has grown to become a substantial and not-to-be-missed part of IFFR, and over the years, visual arts got an equally prominent place under the title Art Directions.

In March 2020, after five years at the helm, Beyer will leave the festival. His successor is to lead the festival into a new phase, starting from the festive 50th edition in 2021.