49th International Film Festival Rotterdam

22 January – 2 February 2020

Rotterdam, 2 February 2020

With the screening of Marielle Heller’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood on 1 February 2020, International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) closed off its 49th edition. The festival’s 574 films, including 145 world premieres, were curated within four sections: Bright Future, Voices, Deep Focus and Perspectives. The Art Directions and Talks & Masterclasses programmes gave extra depth to the festival lineup. IFFR welcomed 2,691 film professionals from 89 different countries, including 346 filmmakers.

Outgoing festival director Bero Beyer: “This edition of IFFR has been a dream, and an amazing finale to my five years as festival director. Once again Rotterdam was the place where emerging talent – such as the brilliant Tiger Award winner Zheng Lu Xinyuan – and legendary filmmakers came together to create a truly unique celebration of cinema.”

Managing director Marjan van der Haar: “It was a joy to see the city teeming with film lovers: enthusiastic audience members, school kids and industry professionals alike. Exceeding all expectations, we counted 340,000 visits this year, an increase of 13,000 compared to last year. This includes over 28,000 visits in the context of education. I want to thank our partners for making this festival possible.”

New festival director Vanja Kaludjercic: “My festival experience has been wonderful and productive in equal parts. The first preparations for IFFR’s festive 50th edition have already been set in motion. I look forward to realising our many plans for next year together with our brilliant team.”

Visits

340,000

Films

273 feature films (65 world premieres, 43 international premieres and 17 European premieres)

301 short and mid-length films (80 world premieres, 21 festival world premieres, 46 international premieres, 14 European premieres)

37 Talks & Masterclasses open to the public

84 out of 203 films eligible for the BankGiro Loterij Audience Award scored an audience rating of four out of five or higher

Art Directions

21 art installations

13 performances

Guests

2691 guests from the film industry

including:

346 filmmakers

670 CineMart guests

354 journalists (101 Dutch journalists and 253 international journalists)

Education

Over 28,000 visits by school children, students and teachers.

IFFR 2021

The 50th edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam will take place from 27 January to 7 February 2021.

Left: Bero Beyer, right: Crash with live musical score

Goodbye, Bero Beyer

IFFR 2020 was the last festival with Bero Beyer at the helm. The edition included memorable highlights, among them a screening of Crash with live musical score by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and a special black-and-white screening of Parasite by Bong Joon Ho, who also graced the festival with an insightful masterclass.

Left: Tiger Award winner, right: Ammodo Tiger Short Award winner

Tiger Award winner 2020

Zheng Lu Xinyuan's The Cloud in Her Room takes home the festival's main prize.

Read more about all the winners here

Ammodo Tiger Short Awards

Winners are Ismaïl Bahri, Maïder Fortuné & Annie MacDonell, and Dorian Jespers.

Read more here

Left: IFFR Pro Awards, right: Bong Joon Ho's Masterclass

IFFR Pro Awards

Six awards were handed out to the most promising projects in the making.

Read about the winners here

Talks & Masterclasses

Many of IFFR 2020's talks have been recorded. Watch them online!

Watch here

Left: IFFR podcasts, right: Still from Nasir by Arun Karthick

Listen to some IFFR podcasts

IFFR 2020 featured a dedicated radio & podcast corner. Several partners recorded their podcasts there, including Little White Lies and VPRO Cinema.

Listen here

IFFR Unleashed

Streaming platform IFFR Unleashed has been integrated into IFFR.com, with new titles including Tiger Competition films Nasir and Piedra sola.

Read more here

IFFR Memorabilia

Heb jij een bijzonder IFFR-object met een mooi verhaal?

Voor de 50ste editie van IFFR zoeken we objecten van IFFR-bezoekers waar een mooi festivalverhaal bij hoort: memorabilia dus. Het jij een uniek festivalobject? Maak in 2020 een afspraak op ons kantoor.

Read more here

Click here to download film stills and festival photos