talks & masterclasses
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Purchase tickets online at IFFR.com/talks or at the festival locations 2
Introduction International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) hosts a series of Talks & Masterclasses where artists and audiences share and explore together the art of filmmaking in a wide variety of panel discussions, talk shows, lectures, masterclasses and more. Join the conversation and exchange thoughts with the creative minds behind independent filmmaking from across the globe, and get to the heart of cinema!
IFFR.com/talks 3
Masterclass
Bong Joon Ho Wed 29 Jan 16:00 | Hilton Le Jardin | €9/€6 Bong Joon Ho presented his feature debut Barking Dogs Never Bite in Rotterdam in 2001. At the time, IFFR picked him out as one of the big talents of Korean cinema. Since then, Bong has more than lived up to expectations, becoming a leading light of global cinema, not just in Korea.
Parasite, which interweaves the lives of an extremely wealthy and a poor family, is an astonishing mix of genres: comedy, horror, drama and much more. The film was almost unanimously praised as a masterpiece by the critics. Bong, a huge cinema lover, explains his desire to make a black-and-white version of Parasite in part from his love of Many of his films (Memories of the black-and-white classics of film Murder, The Host, Mother and history. His presence in Rotterdam several shorts) have screened at will not be a one-way street; while IFFR but Bong, who combined the public is invited to question box-office success with artistic Bong, he himself is very curious achievement, was never able to about the impact Parasite will have return to Rotterdam. Until this year. in black and white. “I can’t wait to The festival is thrilled to present listen to Rotterdam audiences after this masterclass, in which the the B/W version is screened”, director will talk in depth about he says. his career and oeuvre. In addition, Bong will be bringing a special treat: a black-and-white version of his most recent film, Palme d’Or winner Parasite.
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Masterclass
Howard Shore Sat 1 Feb 13:00 | de Doelen Willem Burger Zaal | €9/€6 Howard Shore, born in Canada in 1946, can justifiably be called one of the most important film composers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He broke through in the late 1970s with his compositions for the dark, alienating, controversial horror thrillers of Canadian director David Cronenberg (The Fly, Videodrome, Naked Lunch). With his score for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, he determined the sound of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth for countless film lovers across the generations. He also wrote the music for classics such as Se7en, The Silence of the Lambs and Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, The Aviator, Hugo and Gangs of New York.
styles and genres. What’s more, he is also known as a conductor and composer of classical music and opera. He has been nominated for four Oscars, winning three, and received the prestigious Order of Canada. This edition of IFFR pays homage to Shore’s ground-breaking talent for composition with a special screening of Cronenberg’s Crash (1996) in ‘de Doelen’, accompanied live by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Howard Shore will be attending the festival for this exclusive masterclass, in which he will discuss his way of working and oeuvre, his collaboration with directors such as Cronenberg and his views on film music.
Shore’s oeuvre is as extensive as it Moderated by UK film critic Kaleem is diverse, consisting of more than Aftab. 90 titles spanning a huge range of
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Talk
Beth B & Lydia Lunch Mon 27 Jan 15:00 | Hilton Rotterdam | €6/€5 Inspired by her latest film, IFFR invited Beth B to curate a selection of films that tie in with the ideas behind her portrait of Lydia Lunch. Beth B decided upon a combination of earlier work by herself and films by predecessors and contemporaries. The intention behind this cluster of films moves far beyond an evocation of the early 1980s No Wave scene in New York. Beth B’s focus is on female filmmakers and even more importantly, on the emancipation of women. As she firmly states with the title of her latest film: the war is never over. The films in her selection range from a 1918 silent film that already anticipates the Harvey Weinstein case, to the contemporary outrage of a Japanese all-girl band. Besides such classic titles as Lizzie Borden’s Born in Flames, the programme also contains some recently rediscovered gems like Melvie Arslanian’s emblematic Stiletto from 1981.
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With overarching themes of submission, power and manipulation, the films look at the conflicts inherent within the assumed and enforced roles of women defined by societal norms. A lack of evolution can be viewed through the contextual lens of beauty, domesticity and sexuality. Concepts of gender conformity are flipped through the examination of taboos, fears and the degradation inflicted upon women’s bodies. There is a search for identity that erupts in a violent rage and the ultimate need for reinvention. Recurring throughout is the concern for women owning their bodies, owning their voices. A conversation with Beth B and Lydia Lunch, moderated by IFFR’s new festival director Vanja Kaludjercic.
Film + Talk
Par-delà les nuages– In Conversation with Marion Hänsel Thu 30 Jan 17:30 | KINO 4 | €12 With her first film, the rarely seen short Equilibres (1977), Marion Hänsel launched herself into the unknown, just like the main protagonist of her film. With similar courage, she did not hesitate to go through hell on a tightrope. It was a signal that announced a whole body of work yet to come that would explore the fragile line between two worlds: life and death, madness and normalcy, childlike innocence and the wounds of adolescence, truth and lies, love and the end of love. As a filmmaker operating from Belgium, Marion Hänsel often uses writers for inspiration, many of whom enjoy international allure. Her film locations are also to be found in the most eclectic corners of the world: from South Africa to Hong Kong, Italy and the horn of Africa, and from the Pacific to Croatia.
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Through her camera, Hänsel imposes a unique world view on us, filled with curiosity, expectation, freshness, force. She has the look of an adventurer, not just exploring territories but essentially people. Men and women, she wants to get to know them, understand them, appreciate them, discover how different human beings can be: people possessed by an interior world, by madness, by passion above all. This makes her characters so profound, so human, tender and violent, often contradictory and with plenty of hidden scars. Which is also a self-portrait of Marion Hänsel. After the screening of Par-delà les nuages – Le cinéma de Marion Hänsel, film critic Ella Kemp moderates a conversation with Marion Hänsel.
Masterclass
Diego García Mon 27 Jan 17:00 | Hilton Le Jardin | €9/€6 Mexican cameraman Diego García worked as director of photography (DoP) on highly acclaimed films as Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cemetery of Splendour, Gabriel Mascar’s Neon Bull and Nuestro tiempo by Carlos Reygadas. During the past year, he shot the short film Nimic by Yorgos Lanthimos, which screens at IFFR 2020 ahead of Repo Man by Alex Cox.
Following the masterclass, Diego García will receive the inaugural Robby Müller Award, intended for makers of images who with their work have developed an authentic, believable and poignant visual language. The award, a joint initiative by IFFR, NSC and Müller’s widow Andrea Müller-Schirmer, is a homage to the internationally renowned Robby Müller and his trailblazing camerawork. From the García’s work with these directors 1970s, Müller made a significant and the unique visual language of contribution to the success of film his oeuvre form the subject matter auteurs such as Wim Wenders, for this masterclass, organised in Jim Jarmusch and Lars Von Trier. cooperation with the Netherlands Müller-Schirmer explained the Society of Cinematographers decision to present the inaugural (NSC). Moderator Joris Bulstra – award to Diego García as follows: himself a DoP and member of the “Diego’s visual language is conNSC’s Board – will talk with Diego vincing and not constructed; it is in García about his artistic approach, the service of the narrative but also working method and the aesthetic has its own signature. Like Robby, choices he makes as a DoP, using he tells stories through the poetry a number of film clips as examples. of light.” In collaboration with Netherlands Society of Cinematographers.
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Masterclass
Pedro Costa Fri 24 jan 17:00 | Hilton Le Jardin | €9/€6 Pedro Costa is a leading Portuguese director. He uses tight 4:3 aspect ratio framing and chiaroscuro lighting to depict Portuguese lives that would otherwise go unnoticed. He usually focuses on immigrants, workers and the homeless in neglected areas such as Lisbon’s Fontainhas district. Instead of shooting portraits from a distance, as a more traditional documentary director might, Costa immerses himself in the lives of his characters. Through the medium of film, he is able to present their intense experiences of the world and their backgrounds. This results in a unique combination of fiction, film art and documentary.
Vitalina from Cape Verde plays a minor role in that film about the life of Portuguese homeless person Ventura, who also appeared in Colossal Youth (2006). In close cooperation with Vitalina, Costa wrote the screenplay about how she came from Cape Verde to Portugal to discover the secrets of her deceased husband. Vitalina Varela, who played a version of herself in the film of the same title, won Best Actress for the role in Locarno where Vitalina Varela premiered, also winning Costa the festival’s main award, the Golden Leopard. In his masterclass, Costa will talk to the audience about Vitalina Varela and his older works, diving into his rich oeuvre and revealing The idea for Vitalina Varela – which how he creates his films, stories screens at IFFR – arose on the set and visual motifs. of Costa’s Horse Money (2014).
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Masterclass
Screenwriting Rocks Sat 25 Jan 15:00 | Hilton Le Jardin | €9/€6 In Rocks, director Sarah Gavron creates a lively portrait of a group of teenagers in East London. Fifteen-year-old Nigerian-British Shola, aka Rocks, is the focal point, but her story is embedded in those of her girlfriends, who are as diverse as contemporary London itself. However, where these young women come from is not the driving force behind the film, but rather who they are. This is largely thanks to the exceptional way Rocks was made. Gavron recruited a predominantly female crew for the project, and writers Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson spent months working intensively in workshops with the young protagonists and other young women from East London to shape the screenplay. The result is a bleak yet hopeful story cut from the cloth of real life.
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The starting point of the workshops was a story that Ikoko already started to develop, a scenario inspired by the life of her sister, a strong black woman. Ikoko: “What was supposed to be a love story to my sister, became a love story by hundred women to hundred women, and to hundred more. Hopefully it becomes this chain of love.” In this talk moderated by Jenny Mijnhijmer, Sarah Gavron, Claire Wilson and Theresa Ikoko talk about their exceptional, joint writing process. In collaboration with the Dutch Screenwriters Guild.
Masterclass
Eduardo Serrano Sun 26 Jan 15:30 | Hilton Le Jardin | €9/€6 Brazil is under huge political, economic and cultural pressure. The IFFR programme Soul in the Eye (2018) showed that there are many urgent stories being told in today’s Brazil as a result. What does it mean to present the problems of a society through film? And how can you then order these many images into a coherent whole? During IFFR, Brazilian editor Eduardo Serrano will give a masterclass in which he will discuss in greater depth his career and his role within the current Brazilian film world. Serrano edited key Brazilian films such as Neon Bull (2015, Gabriel Mascaro), Aquarius (2016, Kleber Mendonça Filho), Djon África (2018, João Miller Guerra, Filipa Reis) and Divino Amor (2019, Gabriel Mascaro), all socially committed works opposing political abuses and patriarchal, colonial views.
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This festival, the short, politically motivated dance film Swinguerra (Bárbara Wagner, Benjamin de Burca) is screening, on which Serrano also worked as editor. In addition, Bacurau (the latest feature film by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliana Dornelles) has been selected, which screened in competition in Cannes. Using examples from these films, Serrano will engage with the audience about editing and his cooperation with the standard-bearers for a new Brazilian cinema.
Talk
Frameworks – Quay Brothers Fri 24 Jan 14:30 | Hilton Le Jardin | €6/€5 For a number of years the Quay Brothers have been preparing a new feature film, taking their cue from Bruno Schulz’s novel Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass (1937). For IFFR, they will lift the veil a little and introduce a number of motifs, images and objects. The Quay Brothers particularly admire the Polish writer for his notion of the thirteenth ‘freak’ month - the Apocrypha slipped secretly between
the pages and chapters of the great book constituting Schulz’s mythological ‘appendix’. Critic, lecturer and BFI-programmer at large Geoff Andrew will dive into the sanatorium’s labyrinthine ‘limbo of uncertainty’.
Film + Talk
Hunting Scenes – Quay Brothers in Conversation with Patricia Allio Sat 25 Jan 15:30 | LantarenVenster 6 | €12 With her rigorously stylised film Réconstitution d’une scène de chasse, French director, writer, performer, dramatist and philosopher Patricia Allio translates her outspoken ideas to the medium
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of film for the first time. She talks about this experience with the Quay Brothers, who already share her interest in hunting scenes, outsider art and Luis Buñuel.
Talk
Frameworks – Rosa Barba Sun 26 Jan 13:00 | Hilton Le Jardin | €6/€5 With Voice Engine, the German-Italian visual artist and filmmaker Rosa Barba takes her sculptural approach to film to a new level with the addition of live singing. Various Rotterdam choirs will trigger film projectors with their voices, to illuminate a large window facing the city. The evening performances evolve over the consecutive days, while the auditorium can also be visited as an installation during the daytime.
Rosa Barba will expand upon new practices in her work with Erika Balsom, film critic for Sight & Sound, Artforum and Frieze, and author of books such as Exhibiting Cinema in Contemporary Art, Documentary Across Disciplines, and Artists’ Moving Image in Britain Since 1989.
Film + Talk
Day in the Life – In Conversation with Karrabing Film Collective Sat 25 Jan 13:30 | LantarenVenster 6 | €12 Karrabing Film Collective, an Indigenous Australian media group, approach filmmaking as a mode of self-organisation and a means of investigating contemporary social conditions of inequality.
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This session is a world premiere and talk in one: Karrabing present their new film Day in the Life and afterwards discuss their oeuvre with film theorist and curator May Adadol Ingawanij.
Masterclass
Jenn Nkiru Fri 24 Jan 13:00 | Het Nieuwe Instituut | €6/€5 London-born artist and filmmaker Jenn Nkiru has found a unique way of presenting the rich history of black music and culture. She combines footage she has shot herself with archival material and historical references to black culture, allowing her to immerse herself in subcultures and other underrepresented cultural and political expressions. She refers to this working method as “cosmic archaeology”. Her film debut En Vogue (2014) dives into New York’s various vogue and ballroom scenes, while her latest short Black to Techno is an overwhelming audiovisual voyage of discovery that seeks to write back its black historical origins into the popular dance genre. Her cosmic archaeology takes her to the Motor City, Detroit: birthplace of techno.
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Nkiru seeks to blur the boundaries between disciplines and give a platform to black faces, voices and stories. She does this in part through the collective she co-founded, The Ummah Chroma. Their first short film as a collective, As Told To G/D THYSELF , can be seen at IFFR. As an extension of this film, The Ummah Chroma presents their installation at Het Nieuwe Instituut entitled G/D THYSELF: Spirit Strategy On Raising Free Black Children. In her masterclass, Nkiru will discuss her vision and mission, her film work and the cooperation within The Ummah Chroma. In collaboration with the Breitner Academy and EYE Film Institute Netherlands.
Masterclass
Terence Nance Fri 24 Jan 15:00 | Het Nieuwe Instituut | €6/€5 With his feature film debut An Oversimplification of Her Beauty (IFFR 2012), Terence Nance announced himself as a promising, distinctive and inventive artist and filmmaker. His recent, celebrated TV series Random Acts of Flyness more than confirms this. Absurdism and activism go hand in hand in the late night series, which focuses on the black American experience, offering a new perspective on perennial themes such as the patriarchy, white supremacy and sensuality. Nance, born in Dallas in 1982, grew up in a family of artists. He studied art in New York and in 2014 received a Guggenheim Fellowship. His work combines cinema with installations, performances and music. Nance will talk not only about his own work, but in
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this masterclass will also discuss his participation in the collective The Ummah Chroma, of which he is one of the five members alongside cameraman Bradford Young, director Jenn Nkiru, editor Marc Thomas and artist and composer Kamasi Washington. Their first work, the short film As Told To G/D THYSELF, can be seen at IFFR, and as part of the Synergetic programme the collective presents the new installation G/D THYSELF: Spirit Strategy On Raising Free Black Children. Nance came up with the group’s name, a combination of the Arabic word ‘ummah’ (community) and the Greek ‘chroma’ (colour).
For the Record
Staging Realities Thu 23 Jan 19:30 | Het Nieuwe Instituut | €7,5/€3,75 (via HNI) For the Record: Staging Realities examines the role of set and stage design in music videos and live events. Contemporary examples form the basis for a discussion on spatial techniques deployed for reality creation, as well as how
staged live events are optimised for the use of mobile video recording. With production designer Lauri Faggioni and stage designer Chiara Stephenson. Moderated by Shay Kreuger.
For the Record
Music Video as Collective Space Thu 30 Jan 15:00 | Het Nieuwe Instituut | free admission Live radio and video broadcast with conversations and performances on music video as collaborative space for consumerism, activism and emancipation. With
American artist Charm La’Donna, Lagos-based dance collective OWORO, architect and urban theorist Dele Adeyemo, among others.
Talk
Asian Stereotyping in Western Media Sat 1 Feb 15:00 | Het Nieuwe Instituut | €6/€5 In his recent non-fiction book De bananengeneratie (The Banana Generation), author and programme-maker Pete Wu discusses the double lives of the second generation of Chinese
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Dutch. In this lecture and discussion illustrated by film clips, he talks about the stereotyping of Asian characters in cinema. In collaboration with CinemAsia.
For the Record
Charm La’Donna Thu 30 Jan 15:00 | Het Nieuwe Instituut | €7,5/€3,75 (via HNI) This event with American artist, choreographer, and creative director Charm La’Donna will address the role of choreography in music videos and live events. Charm’s choreography has been featured on some of the world’s biggest stages, including the Grammys, Academy Awards, American Music Awards, European Music Awards, and BET Awards, and was recognised globally in 2019 by winning a
VMA for ‘Best Choreography’ for Rosalía’s music video Con Altura. She choreographed Kendrick Lamar’s groundbreaking performance at the 2018 Grammys, while shining brightly beside him as the only female dancer. A few of Charm’s other choreography credits include work for artists such as Selena Gomez, Dua Lipa, Pharrell Williams, Britney Spears, 6lack, Meghan Trainor, Ella Mai and many more.
Talk
Blackness and Our Rituals Towards the Realities of Belonging Sun 26 Jan 11:30 | Het Nieuwe Instituut | €6/€5 Departing from the incantation proposed by G/D THYSELF: Spirit Strategy On Raising Free Black Children, this conversation focuses on the healing power of spiritual practices. Ancestral cosmologies, Afrodiasporic communities engaging with intergenerational traumas, and fragmented identities, reveal ways in which Blackness is involved in daily processes of creating one’s
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own reality. How do communities of African descent, in Rotterdam and elsewhere, use ritual to shape multiple forms of belonging while creating new identities? With Njoki Ngumi from The Nest Collective, Nuno Miranda from Negrume, artist and writer Charl Landvreugd, independent curator and cultural programmer Amal Alhaag and members of The Ummah Chroma. Moderated by Simone Zeefuik.
Kino Climates Talks Mon 27 Jan 10:30-23:30 | WORM In 2010, IFFR hosted Kino Climates, which aimed to provide a map of independent cinemas in Europe in the first decade of the new millennium. Following the closure of a large number of art houses and repertory cinemas in the 1980s and 1990s, it was vital to explore how the independent screening circuit had reorganised itself. An impressive array of alternative practices in film curatorship and programming had emerged over the years, together with a reappropriation of urban spaces and their conversion into new types of hybrid cinemas. Ten years on, Kino Climates is back! In the meantime, it has turned into a permanent network. Still in the process of evolving, Kino Climates aims at sharing information, tools, resources and technical know-how among European independent cinemas and micro-cinemas.
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For its 10th anniversary, Kino Climates presents a one-day, intensive and eclectic programme that reflects the mix of upbeat pulses animating the venues and organisations that make up its network. A lively combination of films, performances and talks. Author Anouk de Clerq talks about Where is Cinema, a book compiled from portraits of film initiatives around the world. Agnès Salson & Mikael Arnal, authors of Cinema Makers, recount their experiences travelling across Europe to meet over a hundred independent cinemas, seeking inspiration for the creation of their own cinema. The book presentations (14:45 hrs) are followed by a debate on community-driven cinemas (17:30 hrs).
Talk
Sex & Power in Visual Language Tue 28 Jan 15:00 | Hilton Le Jardin | €6/€5 Harvey Weinstein didn’t come from nowhere, writes filmmaker Nina Menkes in her fascinating Filmmaker Magazine article about the American film producer accused by dozens of women of sexual intimidation, sexual assault and rape. Behaviour supported and encouraged by a visual culture that underpins the actions of the perpetrators and the shame and silence of the victims.
Using film clips from the likes of Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee and Sofia Coppola, Menkes shows what ideas about women have become unconsciously embedded in our heads by the language of film – lighting, framing, camera angles and movement – and how this contributes to sexual intimidation and discrimination.
Critics’ Choice
Countering Images Tue 28 Jan 13:00 | Hilton Rotterdam | free admission Kevin B. Lee’s video essays have been a major, inspirational part of the Critics’ Choice programme. In 2016-2017, Lee had a residency at the Harun Farocki Institute in Berlin and the three films he made about this period have been selected for IFFR Regained.
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During the closing session, we will be talking to Lee and other guests about how Farocki’s visual analyses can be a source of inspiration for critics, curators and image-makers. Instead of a traditional debate, curators Jan Pieter Ekker and Dana Linssen endeavor to find a means of communal thinking. The three short films will be shown in full.
Talk
The Tyger Burns Sat 25 Jan 13:00 | Hilton Rotterdam | €6/€5 Young talent often attracts more attention than old talent. The Tyger Burns programme turns the spotlights for once not on up-and-coming filmmakers, but on those who have been active since the Rotterdam film festival began, in 1972. However eclectic this group of directors may be, their older eye unmistakably adds value.
This panel focuses on the female filmmakers presenting new work in this programme. What was it like as a woman to make your debut in the 1960s or 1970s? What has changed for them and other female filmmakers in the intervening decades? A conversation with, amongst others, Raquel Chalfi, Mette Knudsen and Annette Apon.
Talk
Ordinary Heroes Tue 28 Jan 16:30 | Hilton Rotterdam | €6/€5 The cinema city of Hong Kong is being shaken to its roots by a political and social upheaval that calls its unique existence into question.
urgent reports from the ground and to use their imagination and artistry to help us better understand the struggle.
This panel discussion, moderated by Clarence Tsui, brings together a group of Hong Kong filmmakers from diverse genres who are working to respond to the situation in cinematic language, to give us
Hong Kong cinema is uniquely valuable as an art form and industrial practice that can teach us what the city thinks, and allow us to experience how it feels.
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Talk
Sacred Beings – On Gendering Sun 26 Jan 14:30 | Het Nieuwe Instituut | free admission The Sacred Beings programme curated by Darunee Terdtoontaveedej provides new context and perspectives for contemporary queer culture. This programme will discuss the shifting view of gender non-conforming people, LGBTQ movements and the false assumption that LGBTQ consciousness is a Western invention between the filmmak-
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ers and artists whose works are part of the programme, such as director Sarnt Utamachote, visual artists WangShui and Tanu Gago, with Mongolian activist Anaraa Nyamdorj. The conversation concludes with a shapeshifting performance by Raoni Muzho Saleh as an invitation to reimagine what our bodies and spirits are capable of.
IFFR x deBuren
Muidhond Mon 27 Jan 20:30 | Hilton Rotterdam | €6/€5 (entirely in Dutch) This Talk centers on the intense feature film Muidhond, in which young paedophile Jonathan tries to control his sexual inclinations. This new film by Flemish filmmaker Patrice Toye is based on the eponymous book by author and forensic psychologist Inge Schilperoord. Film and book delve deep into the emotional life of a man who “can do nothing else”.
Toye and Schilperoord converse with, among others, psychotherapist Jules Mulder and author Ted van Lieshout, who wrote a book about his childhood relationship with an adult. They will discuss the human struggle and the search for a more humane perspective on a socially very delicate and relevant issue.
IFFR x De Dépendance
Timothy Morton Fri 31 Jan 20:00 | KINO 1 | €9/€6 De Dépendance and IFFR invite philosopher Timothy Morton to talk about his latest book Being Ecological. Morton is a cross-disciplinarian who has collaborated with everyone from Björk to Olafur Eliasson and he co-wrote and appears in Living in the Future’s Past, the 2018 film about global warming.
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“The philosopher prophet of the Anthropocene” draws on Kant and Heidegger, popular culture and the history of cinema, to help us understand living in an age of mass extinction caused by global warming. Morton confronts the information overload, explores current ecological styles and offers an invigorated approach to creating a liveable future.
IFFR x STRP
Al & Creativity Sat 25 Jan 18:30 | Hilton Rotterdam | €6/€5 In collaboration with STRP – the festival that operates at the intersection of technology and the arts – IFFR is organising an evening focusing on the questions raised by Artificial Intelligence (AI) art. How is AI influencing the contemporary art world, and how will this develop? Can humans appreciate art made by AI in the same way? In short: how creative is artificial intelligence?
The panel discussion will be supported by presentations from artist and technological adventurer Marie Caye, professor Wijnand IJsselsteijn (Eindhoven University of Technology), and two directors with a film in IFFR’s Bright Future section: Lawrence Lek (AIDOL) and Cécile B. Evans (A Screen Test for an Adaptation of Giselle). Moderated by Annemarie Wisse.
IFFR x VPRO
De kijk van Koolhoven Thu 30 Jan 20:00 | de Doelen Willem Burger Zaal €9/€6 (entirely in Dutch) In the autumn of 2018, director Martin Koolhoven (Brimstone, Oorlogswinter) shared his biggest hobby with TV audiences. The six-part series focused on famous and forgotten masterpieces of genre cinema, and he dissected his favourite film scenes with a maker’s eye and the charm of an entertainer.
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As a foretaste of the long-awaited second season, Koolhoven expounds on his love of Italian genre films. He considers spaghetti westerns “the most beautiful genre there is” and he reveals his love of two other genres from Italian popular cinema: the bloody yet visually spectacular giallo and the grim poliziesco, but also cannibal and war films.
IFFR x De Balie
Paradise Drifters Wed 29 Jan 18:00 | KINO 1 | €12 (entirely in Dutch) Golden Calf winner Mees Peijnenburg makes his debut as a fiction feature director with the hard-hitting road movie Paradise Drifters. The characters in the film are teenagers crying out for help, love or at the very least some attention. Yousef can leave the juvenile detention centre, but has no family
to return to, Chloe is pregnant by her teen pimp and being sent to Spain, while Lorenzo is trying to earn a fast buck smuggling drugs. After the screening, the director, cast and crew of the film will discuss the importance of care for vulnerable young drifters.
Freedom Lecture
Rojava Film Commune Sun 26 Jan 19:00 | Hilton Le Jardin | €6/€5 This year the Freedom Lecture is being given by the Kurdish collective Rojava Film Commune. This non-hierarchical collective emerged in the ‘stateless democracy’ of the Rojava region in northern Syria. They aim to stimulate a new generation of image-makers to make films based on their everyday reality. The End Will Be Spectacular, the first feature film by the collective,
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is screening at IFFR 2020. This war film about the Turkish siege of Sur, the historic heart of the Turkish-Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, is told from the perspective of young resistance fighters defending the historic area in 2015. The Freedom Lecture is an initiative of De Balie and is made possible by Stichting Democratie en Media and vfonds.
Erasmus Tiger College
Little Joe
Wed 29 Jan 19:00 | Cinerama 1 | â‚Ź12 Yogi Hale Hendlin, teacher of theoretical philosophy at the Erasmus School of Philosophy, introduces the film Little Joe with a seminar on the philosophy of plants and bioethics. Little Joe, a
dark thriller about house-plants that spread happiness, gives a commentary on the antidepressants industry, genetically modified products and experimental biomedical innovations.
Talkshow
Studio Erasmus Tue 28 Jan 20:30 | TR Schouwburg Foyer | free admission English-language IFFR edition of Studio Erasmus, the Erasmus University’s monthly talk show on science and current affairs. With a mini seminar by cultural theoretician Tamara de Groot on Afrofuturism and by philosopher
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Tim De Mey on issues in film. Communications expert Delia Dumitricaen will examine the relationship between cinema and activism, and live music will be provided by the Natalia Kharetskaya Trio.
Artist Talk
Pauline Curnier Jardin Mon 27 Jan 12:15 | KINO 4 | €6/€5 Working in painting, sculpture, drawing, installation, performance, film and video, Pauline Curnier Jardin creates ecstatic investigations into the transgressive circus that is human life. In her latest work, Bled Out – Ausgeblutet, Jardin channels Jean Genet’s Un chant d’amour but with post-menopausal women instead of beautiful young men. Blood, wrinkles, flesh and desire
confront the viewer to reclaim the narrative of women often rendered invisible by culture. Jardin will talk about her new work and its context in her oeuvre, as well elaborate on her practice and background. Bled Out - Ausgeblutet makes its international premiere at IFFR in Bright Future Short.
Artist Talk
Zachary Epcar Mon 27 Jan 12:00 | KINO 3 | €6/€5 Through lush cinematography and intimate soundscapes, Zachary Epcar turns the commonplace and banal of everyday life into playgrounds for emotional and psychological deconstruction. According to Epcar, his films are about “staging and mapping flows of desire, anxiety, longing and despair”. His latest film Billy investigates these themes in a domestic
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setting. Combining 16mm film and video footage, the film ‘re-enacts’ a scene from an old episode of Melrose Place to investigate the “horrors of interior decoration and the boundless entanglement of things”. Billy makes its international premiere at IFFR in Bright Future Short.
RTM Talks Fri 24 Jan 10:00 till late | LantarenVenster During RTM, IFFR is putting Rotterdam in the spotlight, showing short and feature-length films, classics, documentaries, video clips and audio-visual experiments by makers from the city on the river maas. This edition devotes special attention to filmmaker Bob Visser, and NOS presenter Winfried Baijens talks to Loes Luca, Mijke de Jong and Rien Vroegindeweij about Visser’s oeuvre, in which poet Jules Deelder played a significant role. Journalist Frank van Dijl talks to Woody van Amen about the mini-documentary Pop Secret and his trip to New York, which had a great influence on his development as an artist in the 1980s. Virtual-reality pioneer Daniël Ernst talks to students from the Willem de Kooning Academy about his three-dimensional opera Die Fernweh Oper, for which he won a Golden Calf. Football club Feyenoord also features in RTM.
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During the advance premiere of We hebben ‘m!!, Jan Oudenaarden talks to ‘Rotterdammers’ about their European Cup win in 1970, with the actual cup itself present. Rotterdam-based RauwkostCollective discuss the way they work as a film collective, with two short films screening, accompanied live by Rotterdam poet Dean Bowen. Rotterdams Open Doek shows new work from Rotterdam, followed by a discussion with the makers, Shariff Nasr and Golden Calf winner Shamira Raphaela. RTM x Off Screen features guests including photographer Stacii Samidin. Hans Groenendijk talks about the exceptional 48 Hour Film Project and the world finals of FILMAPALOOZA, which are being held in Rotterdam this year.
Talk
Girls on Film Live! Fri 24 Jan 19:30 | Hilton Le Jardin | €6/€5 In her fresh, cheerful podcast Girls on Film, well-known British film critic Anna Smith offers a female perspective on the film world, both in front of and behind the camera. For the second consecutive year, Smith brings her show to Rotterdam for a live recording with lots of guests.
Smith shares the stage with director Sarah Gavron and co-screenwriter Thesera Ikoko, who in Rocks paint an unusually grim picture of teenage girls growing up. Critics Dana Linssen and Lauren Murphy will also examine what the festival has to offer.
Talk
Kermode on Film Sat 25 Jan 20:00 | Hilton Le Jardin | €6/€5 His sharp tongue and forthright opinions have made Mark Kermode one of the most reliable British film critics. The film aficionado’s weekly podcast reveals the versatility of this cinema-loving omnivore.
be interviewing several festival guests, but will once again go head-to-head with YouTuber and notorious opponent Jack Howard. In previous editions, Kermode and Howard have clashed in relation to films such as Joker and Once Upon During IFFR, he is bringing his pod- a Time ... in Hollywood – their cast to Rotterdam for a rip-roaring confrontation at IFFR promises to live show. Kermode will not only produce more fireworks.
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Little White Lies x IFFR
Truth & Movies Podcast Truth & Movies, Little White Lies’ (LWL) renowned podcast, is on tour once again: this time reporting from IFFR 2020. Host Michael Leader, LWL’s editor David Jenkins and regular contributor Elena Lazic will be reviewing titles from IFFR official selection. They will also
talk to emerging and talented filmmakers from IFFR’s competitions and keep you updated on industry developments. Tune in via lwlies.com/podcast and IFFR.com/daily
VPRO x IFFR
Festival Podcast VPRO x IFFR: Festival Podcast is your Dutch audio guide for IFFR 2020, produced by the editors of IFFR and VPRO Cinema. From 23 January to 2 February, host Cesar Majorana receives the most inspiring festival guests in the IFFR radio and podcast corner.
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Also on the show: tips from the experts, ranging from films and masterclasses to live music shows and exhibitions. Tune in via vpro.nl/iffr and IFFR.com/daily.
Thu
23 January
Fri
24 January
For the Record
Staging Realities
19:30-21:00 Het Nieuwe Instituut
page 16
RTM Talks
10:00-22:00 LantarenVenster
page 27
13:00-14:00 Het Nieuwe Instituut
page 14
Frameworks - Quay Brothers
14:30-16:00 Hilton Le Jardin
page 12
Terence Nance
15:00-16:00 Het Nieuwe Instituut
page 15
17:00-18:30 Hilton Le Jardin
page 9
19:30-21:00 Hilton Le Jardin
page 28
13:00-14:30 Hilton Rotterdam
page 20
Masterclass
Jenn Nkiru Talk
Masterclass Masterclass
Pedro Costa Talk
Girls on Film Live! Sat
25 January
Talk
The Tyger Burns Film + Talk
Day in the Life – In Conversation 13:30-15:00 LantarenVenster 6 with Karrabing Film Collective
page 13
Masterclass
Screenwriting Rocks
15:00-16:30 Hilton Le Jardin
page 10
15:30-17:30 LantarenVenster 6
page 12
18:30-20:00 Hilton Rotterdam
page 23
20:00-21:30 Hilton Le Jardin
page 28
Film + Talk
Hunting Scenes – Quay Brothers in Conversation with Patricia Allio IFFR x STRP:
AI & Creativity Talk
Kermode on Film
30
Sun
26 January
Talk
Blackness and Our Rituals Towards the Realities of Belonging
11:30-13:30 Het Nieuwe Instituut
page 17
13:00-14:30 Hilton Le Jardin
page 13
14:30-16:00 Het Nieuwe Instituut
page 21
15:30-17:00 Hilton Le Jardin
page 11
Rojava Film Commune
19:00-20:30 Hilton Le Jardin
page 24
Kino Climates Talks
10:30-23:30 WORM
page 18
12:00-13:30 KINO 3
page 26
12:15-13:45 KINO 4
page 26
15:00-16:30 Hilton Rotterdam
page 6
Diego García
17:00-19:00 Hilton Le Jardin
page 8
IFFR x deBuren Muidhond
20:30-22:00 Hilton Rotterdam
page 22
13:00-15:00 Hilton Rotterdam
page 19
15:00-16:30 Hilton Le Jardin
page 19
16:30-18:00 Hilton Rotterdam
page 20
Talk
Frameworks – Rosa Barba Talk
Sacred Beings – On Gendering Masterclass
Eduardo Serrano Freedom Lecture
Mon
27 January
Artist talk
Zachary Epcar Artist talk
Pauline Curnier Jardin Talk
Beth B & Lydia Lunch Masterclass
Tue
28 January
Critics' Choice VI
Countering Images Talk
Sex & Power in Visual Language Talk
Ordinary Heroes Talkshow
Studio Erasmus
20:30-21:45 TR Schouwburg Foyer page 25
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Wed
29 January
Thu
30 January
Masterclass
Bong Joon Ho
16:00-17:30 Hilton Le Jardin
page 4
Paradise Drifters
18:00-20:30 KINO 1
page 24
Erasmus Tiger College Little Joe
19:00-21:30 Cinerama 1
page 25
IFFR x De Balie
For the Record
Music Video as Collective Space
15:00-20:00 Het Nieuwe Instituut page 16
For the Record
Charm La’Donna
15:00-16:00 Het Nieuwe Instituut page 17
Film + Talk
Par-delà les nuages – In Conversation with Marion Hänsel
17:30-19:30 KINO 4
page 7
IFFR x VPRO
De kijk van Koolhoven
20:00-21:30 De Doelen Willem Burger Zaal Fri
31
IFFR x De Dépendance Timothy Morton
20:00-21:30 KINO 1
page 23
page 22
January Sat
1
February
Masterclass
Howard Shore
13:00-14:30 De Doelen page 5 Willem Burger Zaal Talk Asian Stereotyping in Western Media 15:00-16:00 Het Nieuwe Instituut page 16
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Talks & Masterclasses is supported by:
IFFR.com/talks 33
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