The 2024 edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam is a first, at least as far as Clare Stewart is concerned: the Australian-born programmer and festival director, whose CV includes the London Film Festival and Sheffield DocFest, was appointed as IFFR’s Managing Director in June, running things in tandem with Artistic Director Vanja Kaludjercic.
It’s a job Stewart embraces with joy, as Rotterdam is very important to her: “It’s the first international festival I ever attended, 25 years ago,” she tells TFV over Zoom. How does the Dutch setting differ from the UK? “I’ve acquired a certain diplomacy over the years, which is the British way. Here it’s much more direct.”
Both directors agree the dual system in place in Rotterdam is the ideal solution for the festival, given that the event’s scope extends beyond the main happening in January. “There’s so much going on, I wouldn’t want to do it alone,” says Kaludjercic. “The programming is a very intense part of the job, given the number of films we show, and then there’s the educational side, which is less known to the public but not less important, and the CineMart, and the Hubert Bals Fond, et cetera. Working in tandem allows us to have a better idea of where we are and where we are going.”
Stewart adds: “I’m well versed in the programming side of things through my previous experience, but I’m now at a point where I’m more interested in our relationship with the audience. We’re not quite post-pandemic yet, and there’s still the question of how to expand viewership. This year will give a clearer idea, after three editions that were very different from one another.”
Part of the strategy, which will lead to what Stewart and Kaludjercic refer to as a five-year plan for IFFR’s future, involves the festival’s mission to offer audiences as varied a menu as possible, in the hopes of satisfying existing viewers who come from abroad but also from within the city limits, as well as possibly attracting people who had never considered attending the event before.
The mainstream and the niche coexist, as exemplified by two of this year’s Focus programs: on one end of the spectrum, Hong Kong auteur Scud, whose work is very arthouse; on the other, the Manetti Bros, the Italian filmmaking duo specializing in genre fare. “We’re the first non-specialized festival to host retrospectives of these directors,” Kaludjercic points out. “And when we make these choices, the aim is to increase international awareness for filmmakers who haven’t had it on this level before.”
Another example of the festival’s wide-ranging propositions can be found in the very rich Nordic selection. “Finland, which is usually the least represented of those countries, has a great combination of elements,” says Kaludjercic. “We have a film for a large audience like Stormskerry Maja, which is based on a very popular book, and then something very niche and weird like Moses, which is inspired by Sigmund Freud’s writings and stages a conversation between him and Moses.”
Another hot ticket is Hammarskjöld, a Swedish Cold War thriller starring Mikael Persbrandt as the diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld. “His life was so fascinating, I can’t wait for the audience to see it.” And then there’s the usual spotlight on countries that don’t always get prominent programming slots in other festivals, with one title in particular singled out by the artistic director: “We have a Cambodian thriller in the Big Screen Competition,” she says referring to Tenement, a psychological horror directed by Inrasothythep Neth and Sokyou Chea, that promises to challenge the conventional trappings of a festival competition film when it premieres on January 30.
