Art Directions entry

Yes, it is possible to submit your project for more than one section.

Work-in-progress submissions are accepted for Art Directions: immersive media and sound//vision. Please note that all works must be completed by 1 January 2027 in order to be presented at the festival.

If your project is still in development and would benefit from additional support, we encourage you to apply for our CineMart strand, Lightroom. For more information, please visit our Lightroom page.

IFFR Art Directions welcomes unreleased projects, as well as projects that have previously screened or been exhibited at festivals or institutions outside the Netherlands, or that have been shown in a different version.

Please note that IFFR is unable to accept projects that have already had an official presentation in the Netherlands. Preference will be given to projects that have not yet been shown at other events or festivals.

Yes. If your project requires further development in terms of time, resources, scalability or financing, IFFR Lightroom may be the right fit. This strand is designed to support projects at every stage of their creative and financial journey, offering access to potential collaborators, expert feedback and new strategic directions. Find out more about Lightroom here.

Unfortunately, due to the large amount of titles we receive each year, we are unable to provide feedback on your submission.

IFFR offers submission fee waivers to artists residing in countries where international payment restrictions apply to both credit card and PayPal transactions to and from the Netherlands. A list of the countries covered by this policy can be found in our Terms and Conditions.

In addition, IFFR alumni are eligible for a fee waiver when submitting to the Art Directions programme.

You are welcome to submit more than one project, whether in the same category or across different categories within the programme, including both Art Directions and the IFFR film programme. Please note that a separate submission form is required for each project.

There is no duration requirement for Art Directions: immersive media. For sound//vision, IFFR prefers performances with a running time of between 30 and 60 minutes.

We determine premiere status based on whether the work has previously been presented publicly at another festival or in an institutional exhibition context. If an earlier work-in-progress or development version has been shown publicly, the final work will still be considered a premiere upon submission to IFFR.

Firstly, we will process your submission and send you a confirmation email once we have done so. This process may take up to 4 weeks. Your film has then been successfully submitted. Secondly, our programmers will view all the submissions and make a selection.

Art Directions is the space where the festival steps out of the screening room and pushes the limits of what cinema can be. At galleries and artistic spaces across Rotterdam, audiences encounter cinema in surprising forms: immersive media, performances, live music and visual art.

We welcome submissions of immersive media projects, XR experiences,  interactive installations and audiovisual live performances for this section.

The sound//vision programme focuses on performance-based works, including the live activation or reinterpretation of film.

Immersive media, on the other hand, features projects that use digital technologies to shape or transform environments, such as VR, AR or XR experiences.

If your work is selected, the IFFR Art Directions team will be in touch to discuss how your project will be presented. Please note that all works must be completed by 1 January 2027.

You will also be asked to complete our confirmed project form, which enables us to gather all necessary information for inclusion in the annual festival catalogue and on IFFR.com.

IFFR’s Art Directions section is open to immersive media projects and sound//vision performances. We welcome submissions from across disciplines that use emerging media to expand cinematic storytelling, including digital art, immersive experiences (such as VR, AR and MR), audio works, physical installations, and live or hybrid performances.

If you are unsure whether your project fits within the Art Directions programme, please contact us at artdirections@IFFR.com or programme@IFFR.com.

If your film is selected for our upcoming edition, you will receive an official invitation from the Programme Operations team. If our programmers decide not to select your film, we will update you as soon as possible, by mid-December at the very latest.

We invite submissions from artists, filmmakers, collectives, production houses and organisations worldwide whose work engages with the intersections of cinema, visual art and new media. The call is open to both established practitioners and emerging voices, including IFFR alumni as well as those participating in the festival for the first time.