The International Film Festival Rotterdam is approximately comparable in size to other major European festivals such as Cannes,Venice, Berlin, and Locarno. The IFFR also hosts CineMart, for film producers to seek funding. The first festival was organized in June 1972 under the leadership of Huub Bals. From the beginning, the festival has profiled itself as a promoter of alternative, innovative and non-commercial films, with an emphasis on theFar Eastand developing countries. Despite financial difficulties in the mid-1980s, the festival has grown steadily, reaching 353,000 visitors in 2010.

Programs:

Hivos Tiger Awards Competition,
Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films,
Bright Future,
Spectrum,
Signals,
Limelight.

Hivos Tiger Awards Competition: During the festival an international jury selects a winner who will receive Euro 40.000 in cash, to be shared between director and producer. In addition, a special jury award worth €10,000 will be presented to an exceptional artistic achievement within the competition;
Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films: During the festival an international jury selects three winners who each will receive Euro 3.000 in cash.
Bright Future Award. The award consists of €10,000, to be spent on the development of a next film project.
Big Screen Award. Judged by a jury of audience members, who will decide which film will be presented to large audiences. The winning film will receive a cinema release in the Netherlands and will be purchased by NPO for broadcast through VPRO.
Warsteiner Audience Award
All feature length films, having received their first public screening after 1 January 2020, are eligible for the Warsteiner Audience Award, chosen by the audience of the festival. The prize comprises €10,000.

Submission to the Festival is open to feature films, creative documentaries, experimental films, short films and innovative visual productions for digital media completed after January 1, 2023. Student films (with the exception of post-graduate works) are excluded from submission to the festival.
The Festival gives priority to world and international premieres; films that have already been shown in The Netherlands are not admitted.
Filmmakers presenting the international of world premiere of their first feature length are eligible for the Bright Future section.
The film should be entered online through online form.
Please upload your preview copy to Vimeo* and add the link to the online entry form. The Vimeo link should be downloadable and the password should be valid until January 2021.
In case you’re not able to provide us with a digital preview copy please send your DVD by mail.
Subtitles language: English