Marten Rabarts has a long history with the Dutch film industry, including IFFR. So when the opportunity came along to strengthen that relationship as the new Head of IFFR Pro, it wasn’t a very hard decision for the New Zealand-born film professional, whose rich and varied CV includes credits on the work of Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) and Adina Pintilie (Touch Me Not).
“It did feel like coming home when I walked into the office, and then I realized I’d never actually worked here”, Rabarts says with a chuckle as we meet on Zoom to talk about the 2025 edition of IFFR Pro, which runs January 31 – February 5. “But yes, I’ve had dealings with the festival for 20-30 years. From 2000 to 2012, for example, I was the artistic director of the Binger Film Lab, and many films we supported played at Rotterdam. I’ve also hosted the awards ceremony, and I did IFFR Live, which was a thing we did for 2-3 years where I moderated Q&As and audiences could ask questions from 38 cinemas across the Netherlands. So it’s good to be back.”
Rabarts is a veteran of the industry arm of the festival world, but this new job has been a major leap. “Jumping onto a moving train, because I was appointed in October, has been challenging. The part I’ve engaged with the most is working with the selection committee for the projects we’ve selected, both for the CineMart, which we’ve expanded because the numbers had dropped during the pandemic, and the Dark Room, our work-in-progress section, with twelve works. And all of them involve Rotterdam alumni to some extent.”
Was it helpful to have a pre-existing knowledge of and relationship with the festival, in the context of the accelerated work schedule? “Absolutely. It would have been much tougher. Being familiar with the DNA of Rotterdam, the CineMart, the industry events, the international film industry and the Dutch industry, I had a confident intuition of what we should be doing this year, and what projects to support: they’re all important and urgent. Artistically exceptional, but also eager to bite into the issues of where they come from: we have a few titles dealing with authoritarian regimes and dystopias.”
Last year, Clare Stewart told us the main difference between the UK, where she worked previously, and the Netherlands is the directness of the Dutch. Has that also been the case for Rabarts? “I also came to the Netherlands from London – I was at Working Title – and yes, the down-to-earth quality of the Dutch made it quite comfortable to work here in various capacities over the last 25 years or so. Clare is absolutely right. It was a homecoming.”
Unlike Berlin or Cannes, where the market component is very much its own world, Rotterdam’s industry side is in dialogue with the public element. Rabarts expands on this: “The work the selection committee does on the artistic end, choosing the films to show to the audience, speaks directly to us as well. They find films that the Rotterdam audience, which is sophisticated and curious, is interested in, and that program tells us what we should be on the lookout for when we go truffle hunting among the hundreds of projects we receive. The DNA of Rotterdam is shared across the entire organization.” He adds: “It’s very much my DNA as well, the films I’m most drawn to, which is why I’ve always enjoyed the festival.”
To conclude, it’s well known that being on staff at a festival makes it hard, often impossible, to watch any films during the event itself. But if there was a window, is there anything in the public program Rabarts would be particularly keen on seeing on the big screen? “I have a special connection to India, having worked there to establish the Film Bazar, which started in 2008 and has become the largest co-production and film market in South Asia. So, any title from that region, with the added possibility of catching up with the industry friends I’ve made over there.”
