Clockwise: Bong Joon Ho, Terence Nance, Marion Hänsel, Jenn Nkiru, Pedro Costa, Beth B

49th International Film Festival Rotterdam

22 January – 2 February 2020

Rotterdam, 8 January 2019

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) brings together adventurous filmmakers and audiences. The Talks & Masterclasses programme of the 49th edition is filled with panel discussions, partner collaborations and of course: many conversations with the creative minds of cinema.

In eight Masterclasses, filmmakers expand on their vision of the medium. South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho discusses his Golden Palm-winning Parasite and the unique black-and-white version of this film screening at IFFR 2020. Portuguese filmmaker and IFFR regular Pedro Costa presents his new film Vitalina Varela. And Mexican cinematographer Diego García, winner of the inaugural Robby Müller Award, talks about his camerawork for the likes of Weerasethakul, Reygadas and Refn.

Talks & Masterclasses zooms in further on non-directorial aspects of filmmaking. Screenwriters Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson will discuss with filmmaker Sarah Gavron the creation of the film Rocks, which screens at IFFR 2020 within theme programme Synergetic. In addition, there will be masterclasses by Brazilian editor Eduardo Serrano (editor of Bacurau and Swinguerra, both of which screen at IFFR 2020), and film composer Howard Shore, who discusses his long career as well as the musical score he made for David Cronenberg’s Crash (1996), which will be performed live by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

The two filmmakers honoured in retrospectives, New York underground filmmaker Beth B and Belgian filmmaker Marion Hänsel, will also give talks. Filmmaker Nina Menkes will give a lecture entitled Sex and Power in Visual Language in which she asks how depictions of women by directors like Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee and Sofia Coppola have influenced how we think.

From left to right: Sarah Gavron, Diego García, Nina Menkes

The Collective Space is a programme with workshops and masterclasses for local talent and students from international film programmes to exchange ideas and to create new work. The masterclasses and talks by renowned professionals are also open for the audience to attend. Two members of The Ummah Chroma will give a masterclass in this context: filmmaker and artist Terence Nance (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, Random Acts of Flyness) and artist and music-video director Jenn Nkiru (Black to Techno, Apeshit). Other speakers include Lauri Faggioni (director and production designer for music videos for Devendra Banhart, Bright Eyes, and Iron & Wine, among others) and Charm La’Donna (choreographer for Rosalía, Kendrick Lamar and Pharrell Williams, among others). There will also be talks on 'Blackness and Our Rituals Towards the Realities of Belonging' and 'Asian Stereotyping in Western Media'.

IFFR’s Frameworks programme features individual talks by all artists involved: the Quay Brothers (Frameworks Masters), and their respective Acolyte, French multidisciplinary artist Patricia Allio. The Karrabing Collective from Australia will also give a talk. Within Deep Focus Short, IFFR hosts two Artist Talks: one by French filmmaker Pauline Curnier Jardin, whose Bled Out – Ausgeblutet screens in Bright Future Short; and one by American filmmaker Zachary Epcar, who presents his film Billy in Bright Future Short.

IFFR 2020 will host two talk shows: Kermode on Film, with UK film buffs Mark Kermode and Jack Howard, and Girls on Film Live! with Anna Smith. There will be panel discussions within the theme programmes Ordinary Heroes (on the cinema of Hong Kong), The Tyger Burns (on the careers of female veteran filmmakers), and Sacred Beings (on Asian gender-fluidity). And there will be a number of talks hosted in collaboration with other organisations, including a talk by philosopher Timothy Morton (in collaboration with De Dépendance), an ‘offline episode’ of TV series De kijk van Koolhoven by filmmaker Martin Koolhoven (in collaboration with VPRO), and a discussion around artificial intelligence and creativity with filmmaker Lawrence Lek, artist Cécile B. Evans, artist Marie Caye and cognitive scientist Wijnand IJsselsteijn (in collaboration with STRP).

The full Talks & Masterclasses lineup is available upon request and will be published on IFFR.com on 15 January.

Talks & Masterclasses is created with the support of Stichting Droom en Daad. The exhibition with The Ummah Chroma is created in partnership with and hosted by Het Nieuwe Instituut. The Robby Müller Award is a collaboration with the Netherlands Society of Cinematographers.