It is not very often that a major European festival decides to be an active part of a gathering taking place far from the Continent, but the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has been doing it since 2012, together with the Fundashon Bon Intenshon. The Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam (CIFFR) is taking place in the capital of the old Dutch colony, Willemstad, from today, 11 April, to Sunday 15 April. 

(L'article continue plus bas - Inf. publicitaire)

Over this small period of time, the tropical island of Curaçao, just off the Venezuelan coast, will screen a strong programme of feature and short films, including highlights from the most recent edition of the IFFR. In fact, the opening film of the CIFFR is the Audience Award winner from January’s Dutch gathering, The Guilty [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Gustav Möller
fiche film] by Gustav Möller, while Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] by Paul McGuigan, selected in Rotterdam’s Voices section, will be the closing film.

European movies that will cross the pond to the festival include Andrea Pallaoro’s Hannah [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film], Michael Pearce’s Beast [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Michael Pearce
fiche film] and Xavier Legrand’s Custody [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Xavier Legrand
fiche film], and co-productions such as The Reports on Sarah and Saleem [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] by Muayad Alayan and The Insult [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Ziad Doueiri
fiche film] by Ziad Doueiri, which will be playing in the Feature Films sidebar.

In fact, the main core of the festival shines the spotlight on talent hailing from the Caribbean and Latin America. Alongside the Caribbean Shorts Competition, the Yellow Robin Award Competition will welcome five films by emerging filmmakers from the region and invite them to compete for the award (a cash prize of $2,500 as well as $7,500 worth of training in the context of talent development, via programmes such as BoostNL or CineMart). This year’s selections are Khalik Allah’s Black Mother (Jamaica/USA), Gustavo Ramos Perales’ The Sparring Partner (Puerto Rico), Luis and Andrés Rodríguez’s Hijos de la sal (Venezuela), Vashti Anderson’s Moko Jumbie (Trinidad and Tobago/USA) and Álvaro Aponte-Centeno’s Silence of the Wind (Puerto Rico/Dominican Republic/France).

The CIFFR is also saving some room for industry professionals. Two panels will be held to discuss topical issues in the film industry, such as financing (by the MEDIA programme manager at the Netherlands' Creative Europe Desk, Andrea Posthuma), and distribution and audience understanding (by Mexican expert Paula Astorga). The festival is also hosting an educational programme for students. 

In IFFR director Bero Beyer’s words, “The CIFFR offers a wonderful treat: five days of celebrating independent cinema on a beautiful island that has always been a meeting point for many different cultures.”