Rotterdam Announces New Programming Team In Cannes

The International Film Festival Rotterdam has appointed its new team line up and structure as the festival revamps.

The selection committee for features consists of former IFFR programmers Stefan Borsos (South and South-East Asia), Michelle Carey (English speaking territories), Evgeny Gusyatinskiy (Central and Eastern Europe, Israel), Mercedes Martinez-Abarca (South and Central America, Mexico, Caribbeans), Olaf Möller (German speaking territories, Nordic countries, the Cinema Regained programme), Lyse Nsengiyumva (Sub-Saharan Africa), Olivier Pierre (French speaking territories), and Delly Shirazi (Middle-East, Northern Africa, Iran, Turkey), former Shorts programmer Koen de Rooij (Netherlands, Flanders), and new hires Rebecca Depas (Italy, Spain, Portugal), and Kristína Aschenbrennerova (South Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan).

The Shorts programme will be curated by the selection committee for shorts consisting of Rebecca De Pas, Cristina Kolozsvary-Kiss, Lyse Nsengiyumva, Ivan Ramljak, Koen de Rooij, and Leonie Woodfin.

Rotterdam dedicated programme “RTM”, which aims to encourage Rotterdam film talent development, becomes more central to our programming and is led by Ronny Theeuwes as Head of Year-round events, Talks & Unleashed.

The scouts for IFFR’s upcoming programme are: Hiromi Aihara (Japan), Robert Gray (French speaking territories), Wu Jueren (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan), Ralph McKay (North America), Ivan Ramljak (Former Yugoslav countries), and Susana Santos Rodrigues (Latin America).

IFFR also welcomes Bianca Taal as Head of HBF, Inke Van Loocke as Head of Pro, Charlie Vermeulen as Head of Programme Operations, Alessia Acone as Manager Pro, Sara Juricic as Manager Talent. Other posts announced include: Barbara de Heer as Chief of Funding and Business Growth, Marije Stijkel as Chief of Operations, and Anne Wabeke as Head of Communications.

Overall, six permanent roles in total were made redundant across the organisation as part of the restructure.

Korrie Louwes, Chairperson of the Supervisory Board said: “In 2020 we appointed new leadership, tasked with revitalizing and strengthening IFFR’s position in the years to come. The impact of two years of COVID-19 has made this assignment even more urgent, and we are confident in the changes which have been made and excited for the future of this organisation.”

Marjan van der Haar, Managing Director added: “We thank all the team members who contributed to IFFR’s rich legacy. We had two years severely impacted by the pandemic, after which we have aligned the future plan and restructured the organisation to create a sustainable financial future.”

Calls for submission for the festival are now open.