Jazz legend Milford Graves at IFFR 2018

48th International Film Festival Rotterdam

23 Januari - 3 Februari 2019

Rotterdam, 24 May 2018

For its 48th edition in 2019, International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has forged a partnership with Buma Cultuur, a foundation supporting music-related events in the Netherlands. Buma Cultuur will contribute to the festival’s music activities and IFFR PRO Days will feature a special music-themed day bringing together filmmakers and composers. Among the confirmed speakers is composer Cliff Martinez (Drive, Spring Breakers).

IFFR’s managing director Janneke Staarink: “After a successful first collaboration during the 2018 festival edition, IFFR and Buma Cultuur have now forged an official partnership. We want to bring together film professionals and composers of film music to further strengthen our role in supporting international co-productions. This way, we underline the importance of music for our festival.”

Frank Helmink, director of Buma Cultuur: “Our goal is to promote music by Dutch composers and writers. In doing so, we’re always on the lookout for platforms where Buma members will find access to potential buyers. When it comes to film music and a relevant international audience, IFFR is the perfect place.”

Cliff Martinez

Composer Cliff Martinez is one of the invited speakers for the music-themed day during IFFR PRO Days 2019. Martinez has been composing film music for over 20 years for films like Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011) and Spring Breakers(Harmony Korine, 2012) and is the former drummer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

IFFR is known to be a film festival keen to complement its film programme with exciting music performances. Examples include the programmes Scopitone (music documentaries with live music afterwards), sound//vision (visual art with accompanying live music) and EarWORM (a collaboration with WORM during IFFR 2018 featuring three documentaries about doom metal, electronic music and punk, with subsequent live music shows). IFFR 2018 also organised a live performance by jazz legend Milford Graves and a special screening of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread with live music performed by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Buma Cultuur supports and promotes Dutch music copyright in both the Netherlands and key export markets for Dutch music. The aim is to increase the percentage of Dutch music in the Dutch market and foreign markets. One of the events organised by Buma Cultuur is Buma Music in Motion, an annual conference about the use of music in film, games, television and advertisements.