International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has announced the competition award winners for its expanded 50th anniversary edition. Southern India-set Pebbles by Vinothraj P.S won the Tiger Award, while I Comete – A Corsican Summer by French filmmaker Pascal Tagnati and Looking for Venera by Norika Sefa from Kosovo both won Special Jury Awards. The VPRO Big Screen Award went to El perro que no calla by Ana Katz from Argentina and Quo Vadis, Aida? by Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Žbanić won the BankGiro Loterij Audience Award.
We had a chance to have a conversation with Vanja Klaudjercic who has been serving as the festival director since February 2020. Prior to joining IFFR, Klaudjercic showed her strong leadership in other film-related activities. . She is the former director of acquisitions at SVOD platform MUBI. Prior to MUBI, Vanja Kaludjercic brought her industry knowledge to IFFR and reshaped IFFR Talks & Masterclasses from 2016 to 2018. Kaludjercic has worked for festivals including Sarajevo Film Festival, Les Arcs European Film Festival, Cinéma du Reel and CPH:DOX. In addition, she has held industry and acquisition roles at companies including Slovenia-based distribution outfit Demiurg and Paris-based sales and production company Coproduction Office. In the last couple of years, Kaludjercic served as a jury member at Berlinale, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), CPH:DOX and many more festivals around the globe. She also intervened as industry advisor for TorinoFilmLab and other expert roles in the European film landscape.
During the conversation, we discussed the experience of running an online festival, the film selection process, and the vision Kaludjercic sees for the future of the festival.