Planet IFFR closes with exceptionally high audience ratings.
06 February 2017
This weekend, IFFR closed its 46th edition with the European première of 20th Century Women by filmmaker Mike Mills. The festival screened 484 films this year, of which 105 world premières, and attracted more than 314,000 visits. IFFR welcomed 316 filmmakers and 1,910 film professionals from all over the world. A record number of 63 feature films were rated at an average of 4 (out of 5) or higher in the audience award.
The festival opened on 25 January with the international premiere of Lemon, in the presence of filmmaker Janicza Bravo, actors Brett Gelman and Judy Greer. On Friday, 27 January, IFFR welcomed King Willem-Alexander onto the red carpet for the world premiere of Double Play by filmmaker Ernest Dickerson. Many of the international cast and crew were also present. On Monday 30 January Rotterdam received dignitaries from all over Europe, who together with Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science Jet Bussemaker put their signatures to the revised Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-production – spontaneously christened the 'Rotterdam Treaty'. Barry Jenkins chose IFFR as the platform for the Dutch premiere of his film Moonlight, which has received eight Oscar nominations. The filmmaker also gave a well-attended masterclass in KINO, the livestream of which also attracted many views on IFFR's Facebook page. The many international guests praised the hospitable, lively and remarkably relaxed atmosphere both in the city of Rotterdam and at the festival.
"It is exceptionally good to see our challenging programme being so well received by the audience. Not only did people find the films that were right for them, but they were also moved by the attractive masterclasses, talks and workshops that were not afraid to tackle the themes of the day", according to festival director Bero Beyer.
The exceptional Black Rebels programme section with feature films, short films, drama, (music) documentaries, experimental films, science fiction and video art received a great deal of media attention and exceptionally positive responses from both audiences and film professionals.
Film industry
This year, IFFR was attended by more than 1,900 guests from the film industry. The 34th edition of CineMart offered a platform to 26 new projects and welcomed 688 guests. 14 Hubert Bals Fund-supported titles screened at this festival edition, including Rey by Niles Atallah, which picked up the Special Jury Award in the Hivos Tiger Competition. A select band of producers from all over the world underwent an intensive five-day programme during Rotterdam Lab.
Propellor and VR Days
IFFR is combining forces with Dutch and international co-production markets to offer filmmakers even better and more sustainable support and put them in touch with experts from different sectors. The Propellor Film Tech Hub, a cooperation between IFFR’s CineMart, Berlinale’s EFM, CPH:DOX and Cinemathon that brings together innovators from parallel industries to investigate how the film industry can be improved, enjoyed a successful launch at IFFR 2017. Thanks to the cooperation with VR Days Europe, four makers also got the chance to pitch their VR project ideas at CineMart 2017.
