Bero Beyer at IFFR 2019

49th International Film Festival Rotterdam

22 January – 2 February 2020

Rotterdam, 1 July 2019

On 1 March 2020, after five years at the helm, Bero Beyer will leave IFFR to take up the position of director at the Netherlands Film Fund. IFFR will announce the details of the application process for a new festival director in the coming weeks.

Beyer: "Working for IFFR has been and still is a continuous thrill. It gave me the opportunity to express my love for film in its many forms in the festival: 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. There, I will champion Dutch cinema 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 enthusiasm for art and cinema. Together with our team we are working towards an amazing 49th edition and also looking forward to our celebration year.”

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.