DAILY TIGER
NEDERLANDSE EDITIE Z.O.Z
38TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM #10 SATURDAY 31 JANUARY 2009
photo: Bram Belloni
Tiger meet: eleven of Rotterdam’s fifteen VPRO Tiger Awards Competition 2009 directors pause for a pack shot ahead of the announcement of the three winning films yesterday in the Schouwburg. From left: Yang Ik-June (Breathless), Caspar Pfaundler (Schottentor), Alicia Scherson (Turistas), Leon Dai (No puedo vivir sin ti), Ramtin Lavafipour (Be Calm and Count to Seven), Henry Bernadet (A l’ouest de Pluton), Mahmut Fazil Coskun (Wrong Rosary), Myriam Verreault (A l’ouest de Pluton), Armagan Ballantyne (The Strength of Water), Peng Tao (Floating in Memory), Naito Takatsugu (The Dark Harbour). See page 3 for full story.
Setting the agenda The circus is about to judder to a halt. As the 38th Rotterdam Festival reaches its final weekend, Festival director Rutger Wolfson reflects on his second year at the helm – and explains why he sometimes feels as if he’s in search of a fivelegged sheep. By Geoffrey Macnab
“It has been very good; much better than last year because I felt more comfortable in my role,” Wolfson says. At last year’s event, he had only been in the job
Rutger Wolfson
photo: Bram Belloni
for a few months and wasn’t sure whether or not he would be staying. This time round, he is firmly ensconced. (He is now signed on for a four-year stint as general director.) Speaking on Friday morning, he was in upbeat mood about what he and his team have delivered in Rotterdam over the last 10 days. Attendance figures remain steady (he predicts they’re likely to match the 355,000 figure from last year). Despite the recession, festival-goers have been turning out in the same numbers as usual. “We didn’t fear [a decline] and it didn’t happen. People really want to come to this festival. If people have to economize, they might be economizing on something else, and not on tickets for the festival.” For Wolfson, the high point has been introducing Tiger premieres to sold-out theatres. “It sounds almost sentimental but it is wonderful to be there with a first-time filmmaker who is having a premiere and has a full-house… you really sense the audience is almost hungry for these films. If you exaggerate, it is almost as if you are not at a cinema but at a rock concert. ” Diversity Has Wolfson now put his own stamp on the festival? It is a question he is asked constantly but claims to find bizarre. “It’s a bit of a strange question because it is such a big festival. How do people imagine you would put your own stamp on it? But
I strongly believe in the ability of the Festival to set an agenda.” He cites the way the media and Rotterdam audiences picked up on Size Matters as an example of Rotterdam provoking debate. Wolfson was delighted with the presence of Ahmed Aboutaleb, the Moroccan-born Dutch politician holding dual citizenship who last year became Mayor of Rotterdam, at the opening film. “He sees the Festival as a very important export product for the image of Rotterdam. He knows what its value is for the city.” However, the Rotterdam festival boss acknowledges that the film festival’s audiences don’t always reflect the ethnic diversity of Rotterdam. “Obviously, we would like to have that more [diversity]. At any festival or museum, you always see that it is the more educated, the more affluent people who can afford and are interested in culture. It’s not something that is solely an issue for this festival. That’s a fact of life, I guess.” There are, at least, hints that broader audiences are coming to IFFR films. Wolfson cites the screening of Mahmut Fazil Coskun’s Tiger entry, Wong Rosary. “I was introducing the director and I was looking into the auditorium. I saw maybe eight DutchTurkish ladies with headscarves sitting in a row. At the end, I heard, they came down to the director with tulips. I thought that was a great thing. Tulips are a Turkish flower in origin, but they are a symbol of the Netherlands as well.”
NEW SCHEMES Looking forward, Wolfson points out one or two areas of potential future concern. The festival will hold on to all its screens for next year’s edition at least, but the planned redevelopment of Cinerama may cause logistical problems further down the line. The Festival may also be affected by the decision of the VSB Fund, the largest private donor to arts events in the Netherlands, to reduce its spending on culture in the wake of the credit crunch. IFFR spends the money it receives from the Fund on non-theatrical screenings, live performance exhibitions and lectures. Whatever happens with the VSB Fund, Wolfson is determined to ensure that this part of the festival continues. “We’re going to fight for it really hard. We really believe this is what makes the festival interesting and sets it apart from other festivals.” Wolfson and his team are busy hatching new schemes to boost distribution of IFFR films. He won’t yet disclose details of what form this distribution initiative will take. “What I can say is that we’re looking at different strategies, one more geared toward the traditional way of making and distributing films and one looking at other possibilities,” he says. (continues on page 3)