Incoming Head Marten Rabarts discusses the Dutch component at this year’s IFFR Pro, which includes a whole day dedicated to all things Dutch.
Photo: Marten Rabarts (IFFR)
It is difficult to imagine anybody better qualified to head up IFFR Pro than Marten Rabarts who, for the past 30+ years, has played major roles in some of the core Dutch professional institutions. He was Artistic Director of the prestigious Amsterdam-based Binger FilmLab before taking over as Head of Eye International (now SEE NL), the international promotion body for Dutch cinema, in 2015. Between these stints he was Head of Development and Training at the National Film Development Corporation of India. Later, in 2019, he took over as Festival Director of the New Zealand International Film Festival, where he remained until late 2021.
IFFR has always been one of the pre-eminent events for the exhibition and promotion of ground-breaking global cinema, which Rabarts has always been dedicated to developing and promoting. And at all points during his three-decade career, IFFR Pro has been essential to his work and activities, whether via CineMart (commonly regarded as the mother of all co-production markets) or the Hubert Bals Fund, devised in the early 1990s to give voice to emerging cinema from all corners of the globe. Likewise, Rotterdam Lab has, for decades, helped prepare the most outstanding new international and local production talents for a bright and successful future.
Equally, IFFR Pro has also been an essential staging post for the Dutch cinema sector, whether as initiators of home-grown new works or as investors in excellent new cinema from across the globe.
“My argument is always that we are bringing the finest projects that we are able to find across the world, and we are putting them right down in front of the Dutch production industry,” says Rabarts. “We've done the legwork and they trust our curation. Producers don't have to fly to Buenos Aires, Durban or Busan. We've brought the best of the best to them so that they get to have the first bite at some of the tastiest apples in terms of cinema that are out there - and all they have to do is jump on a train to Rotterdam or cycle over from their office. We've seen the impact of that over the years for the Dutch as co-producers, artists and craftspeople – cinematographers, editors, production designers and so on. They've come on board global projects which have elevated their careers.”
“I actually do believe the Dutch to be among the best co-producers in the world because they're able to bring something to whatever a project needs without imposing particular Dutchness to it,” -
Rabarts adds of the local production sector, whose minority co-pro choices are generously supported by the Netherlands Film Fund. “And I think it's a really special gift that the Dutch have of not having so much cultural baggage they need to bring it to a co-production.”
A key addition to IFFR Pro activities in 2025 will be a whole day dedicated to the Dutch film sector. Titled ‘Pulling Focus: NL 2025,’ the February 4 event will serve multiple functions. The morning session will highlight Dutch directorial and acting talent via a conversation between Ena Sendijarević (Take Me Somewhere Nice**, Sweet Dreams**) and award-winning Dutch actress Renée Soutendijk, moderated by Giona Nazzaro of Locarno Film Festival. Another panel event, aptly named ‘Probably the Best Co-producers in the World ?’ will promote and test the credentials of leading Dutch co-pro exponents, such as Stienette Bosklopper (Circe Films), Denis Vaslin (Volya Films), Erik Glijnis (Lemming Film) and the Ineke pairing of Kanters and Smits who together produced Georgian Tato Kotetishvili’s Holy Electricity, selected for IFFR Harbour.
Central to the Pulling Focus afternoon session will be an examination of AI and its impact on, and influence over, the Dutch film sector. “We'll be dealing with AI in terms of what we might fear, but also what tools are being offered and the experiences of filmmakers who are directly working with it,” says Rabarts. An intriguing feature promises to be a lively experiment during which two CineMart projects will undergo AI evaluation, which will in turn be assessed and reviewed by the teams together with moderators. “We're going to see and hear what the humans say versus what the AI says, the final takeaway being how AI can be used as a tool for better human decision-making.”
The Pulling Focus event will also, in part, replace the former Boost NL programme in providing a script development service for new Dutch projects, courtesy of Franz Rodenkirchen and Francoise von Roy.
“It’s the first time Rotterdam has arranged such an intensive day focussing on The Netherlands, and it will be ongoing from now on,” Rabarts underlines of the February 4 analysis/celebration of all things Dutch.
CineMart will feature one Dutch project in 2025. Marseille* by Yim Brakel (produced by Rotterdam Lab graduate Rogier Kramer) is described as a deeply personal exploration of adoption and loss in Marseille, as the young Kyu, adopted from South Korea, takes a trip with his Dutch father to France during the 1998 World Cup to watch the Netherlands play South Korea.
Two Dutch projects are selected for CineMart Immersive. These are Hyperdam* by Floris van Laethem (produced by Dutch Digital Collectibles), described as a mixed-reality surreal dark comedy escape drama, told through the eyes of Vinny, who is consumed by delusions of a phantom father. The Alice in Wonderland-inspired surreal musical experience One Charming Night* by Robin Coops is produced by Studio Biarritz, Coops & Co.
A further two rough-cut projects from The Netherlands (both immersive) are selected for IFFR Pro Darkroom. The Great Orator by Daniel Ernst (produced by K.O Productions) presents an AI-driven orator that crafts ever-changing articulations based on current events and visitor interactions, challenging you to question what is real and what is not. Meanwhile, in The March, directed by Leo Erken and Frieda Gustavs, and produced by nl12, “a marching rhythm performed by water drops, cracking glass, hammers, bells and gongs bring a VR experience that deals with our relations and responsibilities to war, violence and inequality,” the synopsis reads. The last of six scenes is yet to be created, and will be made in co-operation with the artistic children of the Azi Nizi Maza Studio in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
In rounding off, Rabarts underlines the essential seriousness of the professionals – whether Dutch or international – who will be in attendance at this year’s IFFR Pro. “They are there to present and assess projects that are both artistically unassailable but have some sort of meaning in the world that is grappling with the big questions that face us right now,” he says.
“What is happening with the rise of totalitarianism and authoritarian regimes? What is happening with climate change? What is happening with the erosion of democracy? What is happening in the world right now? The people that I've been hearing again and again around the world are those who have creative resources or are themselves a resource. They might be a great screenwriter, they might be a great producer, they might be a funder.”
“But they're all personally looking for things that they can connect to, that they feel will make a difference, that their contribution is the thing that helps them get out of bed. Because they, like us all, are all living in this state of wonder of what direction we're going in the world.”
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*Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund
**Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund and the Production Incentive